Master and Commander

This morning as we were tidying up the deck for the expected storms this afternoon, we saw the schooner America gliding up the river to Mystic Seaport, where she'll spend at least a week. The America was the schooner that started it all: the namesake of the America's Cup. The original has been lost; scrapped in 1945. This replica was built in 1995 and plies the East Coast with her grace during the Summers.

I was somewhat surprised that the captain invited us aboard (I don't recall whether I had puppy eyes or was drop jawed gawking, but it worked) and allowed us to roam above and below, except the forward deck where the crew was getting some work done. Just wow! David looks like he might be up for the job! Waddayathink?

We have weekend passes to Mystic Seaport, so we took a lay day and roamed around a bit this morning with a weather eye out so we could scramble back to Alizée pronto when the storms moved in. We participated in the "Poor Old Horse" ceremony/shanty, watched a whaleboat rowing demo, chatted up the cooper, and such. Finally, we skedaddled at the first drops of rain and cool down drafts. Tomorrow we'll head back for some more fun and song.