Coastie04

Eyes of A Wolf

-Wendy Joseph

The ocean watches

With the eyes of a wolf

Follows the ship as she puts to sea

Strong bones and strong hands to guide her

But the eyes of the wolf, they watch, and wait

Tanker northbound, trawlers ahead

The eyes of the wolf are watching

Purple tides rush forward faster than plotted

And eight million barrels meet fish holds

The eyes of the wolf, they gleam

A silent watchkeeper updates the log

Radar says all is clear ahead

Below a submerged container awaits

New delivery for the contents

The eyes of the wolf watch it near the bow

A bare pole zig-zags fifty degrees

The mast of a single-hander

At the helm, unaware dark bilge water's rising

The skipper thinks of a shower at home

And the eyes of the wolf, they dance

Northwater blue meets indigo south

And two weather systems combine

Force ten gale turns blue to white

And canyons to mountains they rise

The eyes of the wolf pierce the spray

Ashore they watch the sky

And think out six hundred miles

Where is the soft wind to blow mine home

Let the wolf hurl savage howls round my ship

Let the eyes of the wolf draw away

The eyes of the wolf be devil

Side stove in, stern going low

Dark undershores wait as the Mayday goes out

Final arced wave silver green dashes all

And the eyes of the wolf delight

There is no safe sea

Pitch bottomed sun blue waters

Drawn into a current no one can claim

Vanish the soul past last breath's chill

Under lantern glowing eyes of the wolf

Dawn comes again to safe harbors

The chief brings the engines to life

Cook's beating eggs in the galley

Deckhands cast off the last line

And the eyes of the wolf, they watch, and wait

I just noticed that the link I had didn't work properly. I've since fixed it.

Coastie

I just found out that during the September hurricane that hit Halifax, the junk-rigged schooner Larinda went down.

Many might recognize the unique figurehead of a frog in uniform holding a brass telescope.

Apperantly, the ship was struck by an unmanned vessel that broke free of its moorings. All the crew got off safely. For more information, go to:

Save Larinda

Well, I don't know th' answers t' your questions, but I've been aboard that fine vessel. She's actually a hermaphrodite brig, not a brigantine. I've seen her frequently in the Great Salt Pond in Block Island. Of interesting note, there's also a bar in Newport, RI called the Black Pearl. Inside, it looks much like a ship. The aforementioned boat used to be tied up next to the pub, as they were built by the same man.

Coastie

For real pirate stories, this site is updated weekly with world-wide reports.

ICC

Enjoy,

Coastie

OK, here's a stretch... Concrete mixer on a boat. That way, when a deeper draft vessel goes over a reef while being chased, it can dump enough concrete to make the shallower drafted vessel run aground. And if they don't heave off in time, they'll be stuck for quite a while. The chasing vessel will never figure that one out.

Coastie

to say that Billy The Kid and Captain Kidd weren't related?

Umm, interesting conclusion...and there might be some merit in it, but you've got the wrong pirate. Billy the Kid's real name was William H. Bonney. Maybe related to Anne instead?

Coastie

There is little man has made that approaches anything in nature, but a sailing ship does. There is not much man has made that calls to all the best in him, but a sailing ship does.

-Alan Villiers

Most everyone who has inherited a love of the sea feels that the clipper bow is a bifitting finial to a sailing vessel, as a beautiful head of hair is to a woman. Perhaps neither the long hair nor the bowsprit is necessary, but when either is removed there is a loss of character that is hard to replace.

-L. Francis Herreshoff

The perfection of a yacht's bearty is that nothing should be there for only beauty's sake.

-John MacGregor

If a man must be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most.

-E. B. White

What color is the trailer going to be? If it's blue, for instance, then you can get a different kind of paint than for the rest of the boat. Also, it would probably go with the blue shimmery fringy things.

Coastie

No aspect of the sailor's world is more mysterious to the landsman than the practice of navigation. To find a precise point in a trackless waste seems neither art nor science, but magic. Yet, in no other sphere of progress has the continuity of development been so clearly based on the heritage of the past, nor has the accumulated knowledge been so universally shared by men of all races, creeds and nations.

-Carleton Mitchell

The first feeling the shipwreck gave me was one of incredulity. "It can't happen to me," I muttered as I bit my lip. "Wrecks only happen to other people, because my preparations and my seamanship are too perfect."

-Hal Roth

First of all, define a nautical knot. Probably everyone here can tie a reef knot (commonly known on land as a square knot). That aside, I do a bit of fancywork from time to time, as well as functional lashings and such while on the Lady Washington.

Coastie

Wear the clothes through all kinds of weather. Don't wash 'em for a while. Or, sail a tall ship and get a bit o' tar on 'em (the latter two selections be my method). If'n your a poorer pirate than th' average, then clothes that don't fit perfectly or are a bit ragged help. Also, if'n you either make yer own, or at least modify the clothes a bit, it will help on the whole 'home made' kind of look.

Coastie

Cows don't float and ships don't sail across deserts.

Actually, a bloated cow will float, and they can kind of swim (at least that's what it looked like when the cowboys were all driving 'em across the Rio Grande). As for boats across the desert, just check out the picture...

Plus, whose mode of transportation is better? Both can be rough rides, but a horse doesn't go on 24/7 as a boat can (no offense to the horse lovers out there-I like them too, but not as much as boats).

Which looks better?

-or-

-or-

There's at least two tall schooners there. I've heard there is a third, but never saw it. The confirmed schooners are the Western Union and the Liberty. I heard that there was also one called Wolf. That might be a fun pre-cruise sail.

Coastie

That is what sailing is about. You sail and sail and sail, enjoying the lovely aspect of God's seas and then you wish for a little change, a bit of adverse weather, something to show off your expertise, perhaps just to prove to yourself you're good at playing the chess game of nature and survival.

-William F. Buckly, Jr.

They that go down to the sea in ships,

that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the Lord,

and his wonders in the deep.

-Psalm 107

Lookin' great. A fake wave would be good for the hull, though a couple of plywood boards might also cover it up and make it look like it's just a regular hull. Or, have a little boat being crushed under it with a british flag flying or something. That would be an interesting touch.

Coastie

Now I remember the name of the person suspected of using Shakespear as a pen name: Francis Bacon. I haven't heard that Shakespear necessarily copied the work, but that he was used as a front for Bacon. Supposedly, Bacon also used other notable writers of the era as pen names. I don't know how sound the theory is, but it definitely is interesting.

Coastie

At takin' th' Lady, o' course! She's got a new bottom, new paint job, and a crack crew. No chance that a Canadian vessel rotting in a Californian port could take her. Nope, not at all.

Coastie

In addition to the Knights Templar, another theory is that the original scripts of Shakespear and other notable writers of the period are buried there. I forgot name of the guy they think wrote them, but apparently someone found 'clues' in a compilation of the works that pointed to a secret chamber beneath the Thames River. They actually excavated and found a sealed room under the river, but it was empty. Some say that the works were moved to Oak Island. I wish I could embellish you all with more detail, but it's been a few years since I heard this theory. Can anyone else confirm/correct this?

Coastie

And, there's a reproduction sailin' around somewhere.

Coastie

And in reality, you just knew you had no chance.

Coastie

OK, a question that maybe anyone can answer...

Does anyone know anything about the pirate ship Rotter Lowe? The name doesn't ring a bell, though recently I've been plowin' through a book o' American fur traders, so I'm a little, I say again, a LITTLE rusty on me pirate facts. Any info on the ship would be nice.

And, as everyone else has asked, WHERE'RE YE BUILDING THIS PIRATE SHIP???

Coastie

When I was a kid, I had an awesome dream where I was a pirate involved in an Errol Flynn style sword fight on the deck of a ship. No fear, no sense of danger, just all the fun and excitement, swinging from the rigging and battling other pirates with a cutlass!

Only when you were a kid? I still dream o' that, though not necessarily the Errol Flynn style (I'm a diversified pirate :) ).

Definitely a cool little dream, though.

Coastie

The car threat really doesn't scare me, as I do not have one. However, I get yer meaning. No sinking th' boulevard barge. Though wouldn't it be more authentic to have just a few cannon holes? You did like the idea o' ripped sails, this would just compliment the effect.

Seriously, though, I do have another thought. Make sure that when you make the bowsprit, that it clears not only the trailer, but whatever vehicle be towin' ya. A steep bow sprit might be appropriate, and why not put a sprits'l on it? That would look cool. Or, if th' winds be light (I'm thinking future o' the float here, as it looks to have a VERY long one) why not actually make a small stays'l or something t' hoist?

Will the rigging be strong enough to have people at least hangin' on to th' shrouds an' leanin' out? I think that would be a cool effect, or even have someone halfway up, if'n it be safe.

Final suggestion for now: Decorate the truck that's pullin' you. What I thought of was some sort of small ship to put on the cab top that can be 'running away from you.' Or, in future years, see if you can design one of those magnest that can go on a truck door or something with a crippled ship in terror.

Good luck, and don't work Saber too hard...though too hard is such a relative term, isn't it?

Coastie