Topic starter
09/12/2008 4:50 am
Greetings From The HMS Bounty ,
Today , the 8th. of December , Capt. Chris Rieder ( NOBRA 37 ) and I went on board the replica of the HMS Bounty , in Baton Rouge , and piloted this fine vessel from Baton Rouge to the Grandview Anchorage ( mile 147 , LMR ) . Well , this was certainly a milestone for me to pilot a " Square Rigger " on the Lower Mississippi River and to say the least it was certainly a unique and exciting adventure for me . After thirty-five years of piloting steamboats , towboats , ships , ferries , crewboats and now a " Square Rigger " , I am pleased to say that for the most part , I have done it all , in the realm of piloting . Personally , I firmly believe that this experience of piloting a
" Square Rigger " was in actuality a very humbling experience for me from the standpoint , I now fully understand just what it must have been like for those " ancient mariners " and navigators to man and navigate a relative tiny wooden vessel , in all weathers , in all types of seas , both day and night in a very harsh and unforgiving marine environment with only the very basic of navigating equiptment . On this ship there was no bridge or pilot house , there was no air conditioning , there was no heat , there was no cover or inclosure , there was no other helmsman , there was no mechanical or electrical or hydrolic steering mechinism , there was only me , a wooden pilot wheel with a rope and pulley system connected to a wooden rudder . The good ship Bounty did steer relative well when the wind was not blowing her topsails , when the current was not running aganist us , when the traffic was absent , and when the wind and sun was not blinding your vision . In all honesty , at no time in my career did my imagination ever come close to what these early mariners had to deal with as they circumnavigated the globe , discovered the New World and made history . Also , in my opinion , any one that would care to make a career in the marine industry , should first experience this type of sailing vessel and under these conditions , before they move up to a modern day and high tech and creature comfort loaded ship or towboat as we have today . Futhermore, any one that does witness and experience these conditions will certainly have a whole new and total appreciation of our marine ancestors and just what they had to endure to just survive . Just food for thought folks .
Smooth Sailing ( literally ! )
Ted Davisson
09/12/2008 1:57 pm
Lucky Dog
Captain Ted,
You lucky sea dog! What an experience that must have been. Now you must steer her under full sail. My first time offshore was on a square-rigger that made sail excursions out of Key West. I could have had a job aboard, but the pay was only $6.00 a week (I'm serious), and as frugal as I am, I couldn't afford to ship out on her, though, looking back, I wish I would have stayed.
"Captain Tom", a fellow captain on the GVI had a square-rigger Master's endorsement on his license that he got while working for Windjammers. How I envied him for that. He, like you, is now a ship pilot, but over on the Carolina coast.
Now that you got the sail bug, do you envision a sail endorsement to add to your extensive resume?
09/12/2008 3:57 pm
Ted: Thanks for taking us along with you on this sojourn in a square rigger. Five years ago when the reinactment of the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through Big Bone, they stopped overnight. They had a boat rigged for sail but powered by a hidden engine in order to stop for celebrations along the way but make up time between. It was our honor to be the "lead goat" in MISSIE to bring them up the creek to the boat dock. MISSIE has a depth finder and the serpentine route from the river switches back and forth and featured what seemed to be a sunken wreck or two which may have been an errant refrigerator or washing machine. I seem to remember that they drew some five feet of water. We went all the way to just above the juncture with South Fork. Ted, one of the reasons we know so little about such ships is that the "grave worms" start working on then from day one and they simply did not last into our time share. As the saying went: "wooden ships and iron men"...thanks again...Cap'n Walnut
09/12/2008 5:44 pm
I, too, was going to make the comment about "wooden ships and iron men" but Capt. Walnut beat me to it. Lest we forget, though, ALL life was hard then, and what an adventure to go to sea on one of those ships, being a real pioneer!
Topic starter
10/12/2008 3:14 am
More HMS Bounty Pictures
Greetings From The HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted
Bob Reynolds;14606 wrote: I, too, was going to make the comment about "wooden ships and iron men" but Capt. Walnut beat me to it. Lest we forget, though, ALL life was hard then, and what an adventure to go to sea on one of those ships, being a real pioneer!
Topic starter
10/12/2008 3:49 am
More HMS Bounty Pictures
Greetings From The HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Ted Davisson
Ted Davisson;14613 wrote: Greetings From The HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted
Topic starter
10/12/2008 3:55 am
More HMS Bounty Pictures !
Greetings From THe HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted
Ted Davisson;14614 wrote: Greetings From The HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Ted Davisson
Topic starter
10/12/2008 4:02 am
More HMS Bounty Pictures !
Greetings From The HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson
Ted Davisson;14615 wrote: Greetings From THe HMS Bounty !
Just a few more HMS Bounty Pictures !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted
10/12/2008 2:11 pm
Wow, Ted, ratlines, buntlines, backstays, belaying pins, pin rails, deadeyes, blocks, dolphin striker, bowsprit, crow's nest, booms etc, etc. How do you keep it all straight? Did you have to go aloft or stay on deck? I'd know what the ship's wheel was for and what that capstan was for and saw the bars to "run" it...but that's about all! I see lots of things of OSHA concern. Don't see how you could legally run one of those things as a paid workplace with, what is it, ten employees...let's see, all workers above 4 feet off deck have to be tied off, scaffolding, toe boards, hard hats for swinging booms. I see open pinch point in the wheel drum without guards, etc etc etc. I bring this up to show a tiny bit of the contrast between a work-place back then and today. Cap'n Walnut
10/12/2008 2:30 pm
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! What an experience! (Great photos too!) I don't suppose you'll get to steer her under sail........
10/12/2008 3:26 pm
Now you've made me dig-out the family scrapbook.. Here are some photos of the Bounty at Tampa on a cloudy day in 1972.
First photo shows the stern. Second photo shows some of the exterior paint on the boat at that time. Third photo shows me (the little kid) at the wheel, with mom and grandmothers. In the foreground (lower-left) are some Belays, where the term meaning postpone comes from (or vice-versa). Also you can see a Parot gun at the far left, atop the gunwhale. Unfortunately I don't have a full shot of the boat by itself, from that trip.
10/12/2008 8:57 pm
Not to get all nautical, but the items you refer to are belaying pins in a fife rail- you belay to the belaying pins. The gun is a light swivel gun- parrot guns did not come along until the 1860s and are much heavier artilliary. The term gunnel or gunwale derives from the mounting of light guns on that topmost wale. BTW, if my memory serves me correctly, HMS Bounty was origianally a collier before the RN bought her and fitted her for the south seas expedition.
10/12/2008 9:48 pm
Hank: correct about the Parrott Rifle being later (Robert J. Parrott developed it in the 1850s; patented 1861) and that swivel gun mounted on the wale (gunnel) was of small caliber (usually about an inch though often less. Anything much larger and the recoil would have torn the wale clear off of the ship. Thanks for the gunnel nomenclature info...din't know that! Cap'n Walnut
10/12/2008 11:42 pm
Hank,
Right, that's what I meant... I was just calling belaying pins "belays".
I did not know that parrot guns were a later invention. I think I picked this up from some other information that was wrong...
11/12/2008 1:07 am
Neat pictures and what an experience!
One of my great-great grandfathers was a captain on the Great Lakes, starting in the 1840's on lake schooners...
12/12/2008 5:05 pm
It's been, oh, about 15 to 20 years, when the square rigged Elissa, port of Galveston, putt-putted up the Mississippi to BR. On her final approach to the dock, she set sail, idled the engine and sailed under the BR bridge, upstream. I was aboard at the time as a volunteer sailor. In addition to that, the DQ was also in port.
Iffen any of you want to get the experience for real, go to Galveston and sign up as a volunteer sailor on the Elissa. You will learn the ropes, climb the rigging, and go sailing. Elissa is restored. She was built in 1872, ergo the real thing. Like those commercials, the pay is $0 but the experience is priceless.
13/12/2008 9:54 pm
Greetings Tom & Hank:
Interesting thread on HMS BOUNTY. The Admiralty's specifications for outfitting the ship designated her as "Armed Vessel." On Oct. 9, 1787 the ship received her 'gunner's stores' in the form of:
1. Four four-pound 'carriage guns.'
2. Ten half-pounder 'swivel guns.'
Also included in the equippage report: 'small arms, muskets, powder and bayonets' locked at all times under a certain John Fryer. Among the three smaller boats for the expedition requested by Capt. William Bligh was 23 ft. X 2 ft. 9 in. launch that played such a pivotal part in the infamous mutiny being regarded as one of the 'most historic craft in maritime history.' The BOUNTY's former name had been the BETHIA.
The Admiralty of the day played their usual games in ratings and cutting costs by terming the BOUNTY as a 'cutter' and not a 'sloop or war.' This move cut the number of required officers along with the traditional company of Royal Marines used to enforce ship security. Designated as a 'cutter,' she would only require 'Lieutenant' William Bligh as a commissioned officer. 'Warrant officers' were: a master, boatswain, carpenter, gunner and surgeon. Such a voyage in that day was comparable to a flight to the moon or Mars in the present era.
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River.
15/12/2008 2:30 pm
And she is a real beauty of a little iron bark (barque?) Lexie, do you know where they sheltered from the recent hurricane? Is she back in Galveston?
16/12/2008 6:54 pm
Bark, barque, whatever. I think she stayed at the dock and is still there. She did sustain some damage but it was relatively minor to my understanding. We were in Galveston in May visiting friends, and ate at the dockside restaurant next to the Elissa. What a thing to look at for the duration of an evening meal! Unfortunately, things in Galveston are not too good. There is New Orleans-style devastation there, even though it has not gotten the news coverage. They put on their Dickens-on-the-Strand celebration, a brave effort, to say the least.