At Sea Again
It's that time of year again. Suzanne and I are off to explore the Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River, and Albemarle Sound.
She's writing again and her blog address is:
https://sailinggracefully4.wordpress.com/
My traveling squadron consists of an Indiaman, the Constitution, a pair of 38's, a Concorde, 2 Amazons and some sloops. I'm ready for foul weather sailing - on the tabletop.
Last edited by Dobbs; 03-30-2024 at 11:45.
Great news Dobbs.
You know I always enjoy following your exploits via Suzanne's Blog, and your own skirmishes with your smaller ships.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
We found this on our way up the Potomac River to Washington DC. Fort Washington
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Washington_Park
With that info and the plan of the old fort Warburton Dobbs, are we about to see yet another wonderful model for your 1812 squadron to protect against those confounded Limeys?
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
I'm thinking so. Maybe the burning of Washington will have a water feature in my history.
Suzanne is working to find us a slip at a nearby marina later this week so we can tour the fort. More to come!
We found this in Alexandria, just south of DC. She's a reproduction of the sloop Providence. I imagine that there will be a bowsprit on her in the near future.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Providence_(1775)
Here's our home for the next few days. The Smithsonian Institute is about 7 blocks away. We went for a walk through the cherry blossoms and checked out the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
Suzanne approaches (in the red coat). Big!
Tall! 555 feet, 5-1/8 inches (169m).
Last edited by Dobbs; 04-01-2024 at 20:04.
Lots of pictures I hope Dobbs.Originally Posted by Dobbs
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
A very interesting article Dobbs.
Thanks. Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Turtle Power!
We found this in the Spy Museum lobby as we were walking to the American History Museum.
Apparently some engineers decided to see if the sub was practical. It was. They had footage of this one being put through its paces.
Legend has it that it was scuttled when the Americans abandoned NewYork. I keep hoping that someone will find it like a tiny Mary Rose.
Last edited by Dobbs; 04-02-2024 at 19:49.
Ah! Mr Bushnell's invention in the round as it were Dobbs.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Yesterday afternoon we explored a corner of the American History Museum. They had a nice collection of commercial sailing vessel models.
When talking about American merchant vessels, you can't leave out privateers. Talk about cutting out the middle man.
We want a picture of the gundalow "Philadelphia" !!
Here is one to be going on with Eric.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Garr! It was upstairs. There's just so much to see!
I took this especially for you, Rob.
Ape House, Apiary, what's the diff?
Even riding the Metro (English translation - Tube) is a treat
This was a perspective shot of a moderately long escalator down to the trains.
Looks like you used the tube to get to the bottom ;)Even riding the Metro (English translation - Tube) is a treat
This was a perspective shot of a moderately long escalator down to the trains.
No-one expects a ship full of dwarves.
Here's another one for you, Rob
An ice cream shop just up from our boat has these cow-ches (couches) out front.
And there I was hoping
that the Apiary joke was going to be the Bee all and end all of these puns.
Bligh.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Now you have gone and milked it for all it's worth. Have you no sailing to be getting on with?
An ice cream shop just up from our boat has these cow-ches (couches) out front.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
More sailing, Aye, aye! Today is a day of victualing and watering. We sail in two tides.
Good luck sailors.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Random acts of Piracy
Sunday morning we left Washington DC and moved down the Potomac to George Washington's house, Mount Vernon. We anchored off his dock, and the park folks actually gave us permission to tie to the above sign.
George lived on a bit of a bluff, so we got to gaze down on Grace from his backyard.
A very lovely view of the river from the slope Dobbs.
Not only did George live on a "A bit of a bluff" it seems that using a bit of a bluff was employed several times to enable him to run rings around the British Army for years!Just glad that he was not an Admiral.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Looks like it was a beautiful day at Mt Vernon!
Coincidentally, I got an e-mail from Model Expo advertising a sale on a Model Shipways "Philadelphia" gun boat wooden model, "only" $199 on sale!
https://modelexpo-online.com/Model-S...ALE_p_996.html
Garr! 3 days of riding out gales at anchor. For the last one, the wind veered unexpectedly and left us on a lee shore. The picture just doesn't describe it (land immediately behind me with surf sounds and wind in trees all day) .
I was hoping to get in some gaming, but neither of us felt much like it with the boat jumping.
The weather has improved and we're off again tomorrow.
At least you did not need to do any club hauling to get off the lee shore Captain. I look forward to your next log entry.
Bligh.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Yep, Magnificent Hayes is a hero of mine. Here's an excerpt from "Seamanship in the Age of Sail".
The last few days, Grace did heel a few times like that bottom picture, but I am happy to have an engine to extricate myself from situations like Captain Hayes confronted (Grace also sails a little closer to the wind than a two deck squarerigger).
Last edited by Dobbs; 04-14-2024 at 13:05.
Today we moved a bit farther south. I believe that picture is before the small craft advisory arrived 3 hours early. We finished the day with the 2nd reef in the main and the first in the jib.
Last edited by Dobbs; 04-14-2024 at 13:08.
What a superb explanation of the proceedure Dobbs.
Engines are great when they work, but when they fail !
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
We've been exploring the Albemarle Sound for the last few weeks. It's challenging, but two days ago we had a ripsnorting sail east down the sound and arrived in Roanoke. Roanoke, North Carolina is the last known home of Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony.
The ship is the Elizabeth II a reproduction of one of the ships that helped found the colony. It's neat how primitive she looks compared to ship’s of our age.
Last edited by Dobbs; 05-01-2024 at 17:24.
Lovely ship Dobbs. Reminds me very much of Cabot's Matthew in Bristol docks.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Wow, Rob, you got me by almost 100 years. That's a great picture that shows how things changed up to Elizabeth's time! It's like Cabot's is the Wright Flyer, Elizabeth II is a WW1 biplane, and Nelson's generation is late WW2.
Last edited by Dobbs; 05-02-2024 at 16:54.
It is interesting that in that time clinker built had gone out and so had the huge stern castle.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Yep, trying to put gunports in a clinker hull had its challenges. I think it would have been interesting if Ares had followed through with different time periods. The high sterncastles on the older ships would have made Nelson's 3 deckers windward performance seem impressive.
The voyage is over and after 7 weeks we're back at our land home. We covered somewhere between 750 to 1000 miles and got in some mighty fine sailing. Both of us were surprised that on this voyage the gaming shelf remained entirely unvisited.
Glad to hear you are back safe and sound Dobbs.
Pity about the lack of games though.
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
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