We’ve had some distinguished guests in Montreal this weekend, the Roald Amundsen, the Bounty, the Pride of Baltimore II, the Lynx, and the Unicorn. Five tall ships from the yesteryear called at the Old Port, on the Saint-Lawrence river, from September 16th to the 19th.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday so we decided to go downtown and enjoy the day.
Unfortunately, there was no way of visiting the ships without waiting the better part of the day in slow-moving lines. Besides, the real attraction was not in rubbing elbows with visitors with digital cameras in their hands.
Unless you get to really sail on them (which can be done, as I found out on the Internet), their polished woods, their lovely worn decks are much more likely to reveal their beauty and their secrets to the imagination.
I love ships because I love the sea. Tall ships, in particular, make me think of unbound adventures, of the mysteries of the high seas, of Captain Blood and Captain Jack Sparrow (The Bounty was used in “The Pirates of the Caribbean”), of the Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, of everything that allows the spirit and the mind to soar unhindered.
11 comments:
Your beautiful pictures remind me of one of my old favorites:
Sea Fever
I MUST 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 gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.
I must 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 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.
John Masefield
Makes me long for the heady days of sail.
Oh I would love to see these,up close, for now it's nice to share them her. Thanks V !
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What great pictures of these beautiful boats. A few years back a flotilla of tall ships sailed by our stretch of water. My husband is crew of the local lifeboat, so we all went out in a boat to see the wonderful sight. It was quite a foggy morning and I got some excellent photos of the tall ships looking all ghostlike and spooky coming out of the mist. It's a memory I treasure.
Those are real beauties.
wunderbra! ;) lol
we get a bunch in halifax, too... i love em!
Oh, Vesper - I love this post. I know how much you love maritime adventures. I fell in love with ships and high sea adventures while reading Kidnapped and Treasure Island. At Disney World -they have to drag me out of the Pirates of the Caribbean! HAAhaa!
Oh, if only a bandana'ed lady pirate would abduct me onto the high seas....
Absolutely gorgeous, Vesper. Sorry it's been so long between visits, but you and I can take turns disappearing!
My dear friends, please forgive me for being such a bad blogger...
Karen, thank you so much for reminding me of this poem. It is beautiful... I long for such a life...
Charles, yes, it looks so romantic... although I’m certain it was a lot more prosaic...
Geraldine, I’m very glad you enjoyed them!
Akasha that must’ve been wonderful... *sigh* Why don’t you post some of those photos? I'd love to see them.
Glad you liked them, Bernard!
I think they were headed your way, laughingwolf. :-)
Kaye, you don’t know how your comment made me smile... Yes, I love them! And I love the Pirates at Disney World! :-)
Fireblossom, the captain and the crew of The Unicorn were all women...
Thank you, Rick. You have much better reasons than me to disappear, or shall I say more interesting.:-)
I’m so sorry about your story being stolen. :-(
LOVELOVELOVELOVE LOVE!!!! The ships! They are spectacular!!
Let's commandeer one, shall we? Where shall we go? Off into the waiting horizon... to take on the world!
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
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