Sea Fever

[Tronhard]

The Chilean barquentine tall ship Esmeralda brings back thoughts of another era of sea travel and a favourite poem that inspired my own boats' names.




by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

[mknittle]

A timeless image Trev, I love tall ships

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[madcrow]

Fantastic and majestic tall ship well captured.

[rpcrowe]

Nice image of a beautiful ship. We have a tall ship festival every year in San Diego. Esmeralda is a frequent participant. I missed it this year due to other commitments.

I can understand the rationale behind using a sailing ship to train Naval Academy Midshipmen but, don't necessarily agree with the concept. There is a finite amount of time in any academy curriculum and I suspect better use of that time would be made by working on more modern ships.

Of course, I am a guy who thinks that shooting film in a photo curriculum is also a poor use of time and money in this digital age.

I am sure that there are folks who disagree with my ideas. I have been on boards in the Navy that plan curriculum. Doing a survey of the skills required for any job and translating that data into a curriculum in line with the time and money available is a very interesting concept. Sometimes dispensing with ideas that are dear to some old timers' hearts is a necessary time and money saving plan.

Our Coast Guard Academy uses a sailing ship for training, The Eagle ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Eagle_(WIX-327) ). However neither our Naval Academy nor our Merchant Marine Academy use large sailing ships in their curriculum...

By the way, a mock-up of a ships bridge with all the controls and a computerized harbor plan can really do a better job training than sailing a full masted ship. You can repeat the errors and introduce new problems at will. https://www.google.com/search?q=comp...OzzX-FiKR7M%3A

[tbob]

I miss the ocean, although I sometimes think of the prairie as a "frozen" ocean with sky and foreground interaction. Even the rippling effect when the cereal crops are tall and windblown.

Great image

[Manfred M]

My bad - I see a shot like that and think that ship would make a wonderful wreck dive.

That bit of smoke coming out of the rearmost mast / stack is a tiny bit of a giveaway these modern sailing ships have the ability to "cheat" when the weather is not cooperating.

I like your choice of B&W - it give the image that "period look".

[Wavelength]

Excellent shot