Red over Red

Red over Red

Friday, October 15, 2010

Voyage of the No Weight - Maine Maritime Museum's Square Rigged Pumpkin

Some pictures from the Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival's Pumpkin Boat Race. We built a square rigger for Maine Maritime Museum (a bring, to be precise) and my daughter Elizabeth took command, her first stint as captain. The No Weigh did pretty well down wind, but once Elizabeth rounded the weather mark and tried to claw to windward, things fell apart. Sails all aback, she had to be towed back to dock. Part of the problem of course was that there was no way to trim the sails or steer the vessel.

Next year we'll do better.

 Elizabeth Under Way
 The proud ship at the dock
 Captain Nelson and her first Command
 Jim Nelson prior to launching

8 comments:

  1. Well done! It's the time of year for Pumpkin Regatta's,Goofy Gourds and Autumnal Arks. Our own little gang has our annual Pumpkin Paddle. Jim, I have just finished G W's Secret Navy and enjoyed it immensely. Some of us from the Malden Yacht Club had the pleasure of attending one of your talks on Lake Champlain last year and obtaining some of your books, keep up the good work!

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  2. Greg,

    Glad you liked the square rigged pumpkin! You guys are the paddling experts - maybe you should retrace Arnold's retreat from Vacour in pumpkins! How about reenacting the Battle of Valcour Island in pumpkins? That would be a sight!

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  3. Could there be a sequel in the future? Will the pumpkin be identified as the mystery ingredient in George Washington's Secret Gravy? Aren't you glad that you started a blog?

    Well, Jim, we are!

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  4. The battle of Valcour Island eh? That might present quite the gourd-ian knot. One thing's for sure, someone would get squashed.

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  5. Good to hear from my family of punners, or as I call you, my Pun-kin.

    I think I'm going to like this blog thing, and God knows I need another time-suck!

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  6. Looks like you could have used the assistance of Ma Foote.

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  7. Woo Hoo! Another thing to check daily! But seriously--the No Weight looks like an awesome vessel and congrats to my niece on her first Command!

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