R Tucker Thompson

The Tucker Thompson at Sail

Andrew climbing the rigging

 Today Andrew and I had the chance to sail on the tall ship the R Tucker Thompson. She is a gaff rigged, square tops'l schooner. It is operated as a not-for-profit organization that runs day sails for tourists in the summer and then educational youth sails in the winter.

We had an absolutely wonderful day for sailing. Beautiful and sunny with a strong enough wind to get all 8 sails up in the afternoon! We started off the morning relaxing on deck and enjoying a morning tea with scones and cookies.

Sails up

Looking down on the boat

The crew and volunteers then asked if anyone was interested in helping as they were starting to put their sails up. I, of course, immediately said yes. I have always wanted to learn to sail and, hopefully, living this close to the ocean for the next two years I can learn! I certainly enjoyed helping today. I helped hoist the sail and the first mate showed me how to 'make fast' or tie off the rope so the sail didn't come loose. She then asked if I wanted to help clean up the ropes and learn how to coil it. I was quite surprised that they were letting tourists touch the ropes! We were welcome to help as much or as little as we felt like. I decided to take the opportunity to help and learn as much as I could! Once the main sails were up, they asked if anyone wanted to climb the rigging to the top. Andrew jumped on that immediately and scrambled up like a little squirrel! The views were absolutely incredible from the top.

The bay of islands

Mid-morning we reached a little cove that had a nice beach. A few people took the zodiac to shore for a walk. Andrew and I decided the water was warm enough for some swimming...especially after the captain told us there was a rope swing on board! We took turns swinging into the water. I went for a nice swim further out to get a picture of the boat with the two main sails up. One of the volunteers then attached a trapeze to the rope swing, so of course we had to swing off the boat a few more times!

There was still some time before lunch so I took the opportunity to climb the rigging myself. There were a couple of long reaches for short legs, but it was a lot of fun. I spent some time sitting on the mast, just hanging out. Then lunch started cooking and I decided it was time to come down.

Lizzie climbing

Lunch was fantastic. Fresh-made potato salad, green salad, and BBQ chicken made fresh on the boat. They were very accommodating of food allergies and had no problems preparing something gluten free, which was awesome. The food tasted great and was a nice treat before the sail back to the wharf.

The wind was perfect after lunch to get all 8 of the sails up! They asked if anyone wanted to help with the rest of the sails and myself and a few others volunteered. We got the upper and lower top sails up, then the Inner and Outer Jib, then the Gaff Tops'l. It was windy enough that the captain decided to put the Course sail up too. It was a wonderful sight to see all that canvas above me. We tacked a few times as well. The first time, myself and another girl helped pull the lines for the jib sails. By the third time we tacked the crew was letting us do most of the work on our own because we had learned enough! It was so much fun. I was a little sad when it was time to take the sails down and go into port, since it was such an amazing day. Definitely a dream come true! I would love the opportunity to come back to this wonderful boat, either as a passenger again, or to volunteer on the crew. SO MUCH FUN!!!!