Very quiet here these past two days. The weather has been pretty good, upper 70's for the most part, with a rain shower or two at night, but now that my case of introvertism has passed I am a little bit bored and once again wanting to dance and talk to people.
    So I spent yesterday out and about in Ocala running errands. The only one of any consequence was getting the oil changed in the truck finally. They were busy so it meant spending a couple of hours just roaming the aisles of Wally World but that was okay.
   Also stopped by the local hobby shop later to pick up the latest issue of Model Railroader magazine and then on to the local Tractor Supply store for the newest issue of Chicken magazine.
    So I have spent the last two night reading books and magazines and watching old Andy Griffith shows on the computer. But that isn't the only thing. One good thing about having some down time is that I finally got the last pictures from the St Croix week cropped and ready to go. There will be two batches of them to be posted with the first 15 going tonight. They are all from our evening sail on the Schooner Roseway near the end of our stay there on the island. We had a good time, even Rima, who suffers from chronic motion sickness. But with a seasick patch and an ocean that was nearly flat even she had a good time.

St Croix Contra Dance Week - February 2015

Schooner Roseway Sail - Part I  

Getting ready to board the first thing you notice is the bowsprit.

I seem to take the same pictures every year, but I really like how the crew keeps thier throwing lines neatly coiled and stowed and ready for use at a moments notice. I use to use these all the time when I was in the Coast Guard, and even got pretty good at tying up the 'monkey's fist' at the end. 

The ships anchor... also neatly stowed and ready for use.

Rima on the left with my sister Cheryl and Mary to her right just staying out of the way while the crew got the boat underway.

It is fascinating to me to see how such a huge and heavy machine like a 137' long sailboat can be controlled and actually made to function by such a small crew. It is remarkable how this old, old technology still works just as well as it would of 200 years ago.

The foresail sheet.

Rima looking pretty cool and calm with her island braids.

Looking forward at the fore jib and staysail jib.

These are the wooden sail hoops that connect the luff of the sail to the mast.

They raise all of the sails just like they use to in the old days... by hand. The mainsail weighs in at 4,000 lbs., so it takes nearly everyone on board to hoist it up.

Looking up one of the masts at all of the standing and running rigging. The stuff that looks like old mop heads that is on some of the standing rigging is called 'baggy wrinkle' and is used to prevent parts of the sail from chaffing against those lines on certain points of sail.

The two forsail's in the bow also had to be raised but they only took a couple of people apiece. Rima got paired up with this Danish amazon women to hoist one of them.

The sails are up and starting to pull. Time to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Heading out of the harbor... you can see some of the resident fleet of sailboats anchored behind Rima.

Last photo for tonight. This is one of the mainsail sheets turning blocks and the piece of 'fancy work' that protects the deck from being banged up when the line goes slack.

brk*