Sailing on a privateer

The day we arrived in Lahaina, a woman in one of the shops told us about a tall ship that was coming into harbour on Friday, and doing public cruises. Tod called right away, and he was able to book us on the 11 a.m. tour today.

I was worried that I might be seasick, but I was fine. Meg was a little ...unwell, and was happy to be back on dry land. There were 10 crewmembers, and on our sail were 11 passengers. 'Twas very cool, especially when we got fairly far out and hit some waves. We got a little spray, which was fine, because it was so hot.

Passengers were encouraged to help with letting out sails and stuff. I decided I could help best by staying out of the way and being official photographer. Towards the end of the 3 hour tour (insert Gilligan's Island joke here), the ship's gunner (who just happened to be female) shot two of the cannons. She waited till we were coming in, so that we could get the echo off the land.

We talked to one of the other crewmembers, also female, who told us that she used to be a teacher, but after crewing on a tall ship during her summer vacation one year, she decided to do it full-time. She says she's happier than she's ever been.

Didn't get a chance to chance have a personal chat with others in the crew, though one of them telling us the history of the original Lynx.

Sailing along with us was a local family with a 14-year-old son, who said, as we left the ship, "I could do that again."

Me, too.


The Lynx