Methinks the wind hath spoke aloud at land;
A fuller blast ne'er shook our battlements:
If it hath ruffian'd so upon the sea,
What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them,
Can hold the mortise?
-Othello


Did you see Pirates of the Carribean? Like it? Why not ditch yer shit-kickers and Wranglers, don a period costume, and go sailing for yourself?

Arrrr!

Here are some links to get you started:

The American Sail Training Association (ASTA) is something of an umbrella organization of all most of the US-flag sailing vessels that do sail training as a large part of their mission. Yeah, there are a lot of 'em. You can learn to sail, become a weevil-eatin' salty sea dog on any of these girls, and some of 'em will let you do it for free.

Of the members of ASTA, I've got my favorite:

The tallship Lady Washington is the official tallship of Washington State. She's a working replica of the brig Lady Washington, which was built circa 1750 and lost circa 1799 in a river delta in the Phillippines (IIRC). The replica is 112' spar-to-spar, 68' on deck, has eleven sails (Coasties don't allow stunts'ls or royals because she's rated for passengers), and generally operates with twelve crew, all of whom live aboard. The original Lady Washington was, as one captain of this replica is fond of saying, "The UPS truck of its day," a common utilitarian design that was subject to minor-ish alterations. She likely took the name Washington in order to more swiftly gain a writ to be a privateer during the revolutionary war (if you named your vessel after the general of the American forces, or his wife, it was much easier to gain such a writ).


The Lady Washington (right) and Hawaiian Chieftan at dock.


Later the Lady Washington was purchased by the financiers of the first significant American voyage of discovery to what would eventually become the west coast of the United States. With her mother ship Columbia Rediviva ("Columbia Revived"), Lady Washington rounded Cape Horn and became the first American-flag vessel to make landfall on the west coast. The Lady Washington and Columbia Rediviva described and mapped much of the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia river is named after the Columbia Rediviva, and Gray's Harbor is named after the captain of that ship. The information gathered on this expedition was essential to Lewis and Clark when they set out to explore the Louisiana Purchase.


The Lady Washington later traveled east to Asia, to trade beaver furs gathered in the Northwest to the Japanese, who valued them very highly for hats. Her captain (Capt. Kendrick) was killed by an errant cannonball during this voyage, and she was sold to the cook for $1, as the story goes. Contact with the vessel was, for most purposes, lost and she is believed to have been sunk in the Phillippines.


Today, the Lady Washington is crewed by twelve volunteer men and women from a range of backgrounds and of various ages. Her primary mission is as an educational ambassador to preserve the lore, art, and romance of the age of tallships and the history of the tallships era. Her home port is verdant Aberdeen, Washington, though she has sailed as far north as Skagway, Alaska and routinely sails as far south as San Diego, California. Volunteer crew are generally invited to work a 2-week volunteer training stint, paying what amounts to the cost of food for that period (~$200 I think), in order to learn the ropes and see if the life of a square-rigger is for them. After that training stint, crew come back as often and as long as they like (when there's a berth available). To learn more about her, follow the link above, see where she is right now (maybe she's in your town!), or call 1-800-200-LADY. Sailing aboard this ship, should you choose to do it, may well be the highlight of your life.