One of the fun classes I’m taking as a Senior is Nautical Science 002, aka Sailing Class. For the last few weeks we’ve learned about boat basics, such how to identify different types of boats and what all the different ropes and sails on boats are used for. Learning about boats in the classroom is OK, but in order to really see how it all works, we had class this past Sunday at the docks at San Pedro. Our teachers showed us the Atlantas while we watched from the dock.
dockside sailing lecture
After the lecture was over, they let us take a tour of the boat as well as the Brigantine ship (similar to the picture below) that was docked nearby. The Brigantine ship looks like an old pirate ship with its huge square sails. We walked through the berth and got to see the triple decker bunks beds that the crew slept in.
Brigantine ship
After our tour, the crew said we could climb up the mast of the ship. We put on simple harness and began climbing up the ropes. For the most of the way up there’s nothing to clip your harness into, so I can’t imagine how scary it must be to climb up the mast with rough seas! The view of the harbor from the top of the mast was beautiful and way worth the scary climb back down.
beginning to climb up the ropes
getting closer...
almost at the crow's nest!
I have a few more lectures before my sailing trip to Catalina Island at the end of March. On the trip, our crew of 5 will be in charge of not only sailing the boat, but navigating the old fashion way using charts too! We’ll spend the night docked at Catalina before sailing back to LA the following day. I’ll update you on my sailing adventures post-Catalina trip!
