What lies at the bottom of the ocean twitching? Can you guess? A nervous wreck! Arrr! Want another one? Okay, how much does it cost for a pirate to get his ears pierced? A buccaneer! Arrr har har! Okay, okay, I know you want one more. So, when I was a wee young lass, I wanted to see a pirate movie, but me mum and dad wouldn’t let me because it was rated ARRRRR! No groaning, now. I heard that.
What’s with the pirate jokes? Let’s say I was inspired by visiting the pirate ships at the Portland Rose Festival yesterday.
There were actually two tall ships, the Hawaiian Chieftan and the Lady Washington, along with their crew dressed up as pirates that were docked at Waterfront Park. David and I toured them both. While looking around, I eavesdropped as some of the sailors told their tales. One young sailor told of his scariest experience of a storm that took out the bow sprit which holds all the rigging together for the mast sails. He was sent out to retrieve it, as it was still attached by the rigging, while two shipmates watched from the quarter deck to see if he was still there and still alive through all the monsterous waves crashing over him. He’d said he gave the thumbs up signal everytime he resurfaced, but he was scared for his life.
The ships’ home port is in Grays Harbor. There are programs for people to learn to sail, as well as a program for inner-city kids. There’s also the chance to have weekend cruises for those willing to pay $500. The Lady Washington is the 112 ft. long ship they used as the Interceptor in the Pirates of the Caribbean. For the movie, it sailed from California, down the coast of Mexico, through the Panama Canal, and to the Caribbean. Other than that, the ships usually sail between Canada and California 360 days a year.
The rest of the afternoon, we watched various pirate acts, and took pictures.