The Niña

The Tall Ships have left Victoria but before they leave this site I want to share with you this photo of the Niña, a replica of one of the ships that sailed with Christopher Columbus on his 1492 voyage and later became his flagship and favorite. What amazes me most about this ship is how small it is. You can see by the figures of crewmen in the above photo just how tiny this ship is. There was no accommodation, not even for the captain. Everybody just slept on the deck. It took them just over two months to reach the Caribbean, a very long two months I suspect, since they had no way of knowing they would ever sight land again. You can find out more about the Niña by clicking here.

Columbus' voyage led eventually to the founding of the United States of America, which country celebrates today the anniversary of their Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and I take this opportunity to wish all my American friends joy and happiness on this day.

OMG, it's NOT Johnny Depp....

Well, when the Tall Ships are in port you can expect pirates and maidens should beware. As well as pirates, there is a pirate school for kids, face painting, lessons in knots and other activities.But the festival is really all about these splendid ships. In a time when we are becoming more painfully aware of our gasoline powered abuse of the environment and its high costs, these wonderful wind-powered machines serve as a reminder that environmentally harmless devices can be beautiful as well as functional. Below is the Adventuress, a schooner from our neighbors in Port Townsend, Washington, with the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula in the background. This photo was taken last night when the ships came out of the harbor into the Strait of Juan de Fuca to engage in a mock cannon battle.

The Bounty

The Tall Ships have arrived in Victoria. Here in the Inner Harbour is the replica of the HMS Bounty that became infamous under the command of William Bligh when his crew mutinied and cast him adrift in a small boat. The crew, under the command of Fletcher Christian, went on to settle on Pitcairn Island, where many of their descendants still live. Bligh, then only a lieutenant, was set adrift with 18 of his loyal crew members in a 23 foot launch. Without charts or a compass he then sailed over 6,000 km of open ocean in 47 days to reach Timor, a "remarkable act of seamanship." He went on to become a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy.Above is another shot of the Bounty approaching the Inner Harbour with the condominiums of Vic West in the background.

This Bounty was built especially for the film, "Mutiny on the Bounty," with Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard.

A Hug and Three Kisses

Today is the opening day of the Tall Ships Festival here in Victoria. It will start in a few hours when the 25 sailing ships enter the Inner Harbour and tie up along the Causeway, Ship Point and Wharf Street piers.

One of the most fascinating aspects of sailing ships is the intricate web of ropes that forms the rigging. These enable the sails to be raised and lowered in various combinations to best take advantage of the wind that is available. For a ship to be quickly maneuverable these ropes have to be secured so that they don't all just get tangled up and yet can be easily loosened when needed. The upright wooden pegs above are called belaying pins and are used to secure rope ends on square rigged sailing ships. In the photo above they are plugged into a pinboard and the ropes wound around them are in a pattern called "One hug and three kisses."

Captain Cook

Another statue graces the Inner Harbour, as prominently displayed as Queen Victoria's, facing the Empress Hotel, that of Captain James Cook. Victoria must be excused a bit of shameless name-dropping here. The famed explorer did not actually stop at Victoria. However, in 1778 he must have passed nearby on his way to Nootka Sound, further up the island. He was looking for a western exit to the fabled northwest passage. Not finding it, he turned around and went back to the South Seas, where he met his untimely end. Travelling with Cook on this voyage were two other later-to-be-famous sailors. Midshipman George Vancouver, who later returned to these waters as Captain Vancouver, has the honor of having Vancouver Island named after him as well as two neighbouring cities, one in British Columbia and another in Washington State, USA. The other famous seaman on Cook's last voyage was the Master of one of Cook's two ships, the Resolution, one William Bligh, later captain of the HMS Bounty when her crew mutinied.

I am particularly fond of this period of nautical history and am looking forward to the Tall Ships Festival later in the year (June 26-29), when Victoria will host sailing ships from many parts of the world. This year we have been promised a visit from the replica of HMS Bounty that was commissioned especially for the film, "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring the late Marlon Brando. I am looking forward to photographing it from stem to stern.