Bill of Rights
January 25th - April 6th

My recollection of times on the Bill includes hard work, fast sailing (in which I became a fan of schooners), and being with Bhodi. And, Stacey forgive me, but I have to mention this. One of my favorite times on the Bill, was when we were sailing into Morro Bay with the Lady ahead of us. Captain Christopher loves to sail as much as possible, even onto the dock, and today was a day we were pushing it, maneuvering into a narrow and shallow bay. The Lady struck sail her sails as she rounded the bend, but Bill kept on going under the jib topsail and foresail. As we passed each other, Stacey (with Lady pride) yelled out, "Don't you wish you were a brig?" And in a moment of rare brillance, I yelled back, "Don't you wish you were still sailing?" And as a show of friendship between the vessels, both crews laughed. In all, my fingers turned raw stitching her sails and there were moments of apprehension in the main saloon when the crew appraised each others' weaknesses, but I remember my time aboard her with a smile. She is still in her prime, and I hope she continues to sail for a long time. Bhodi, anything to add? :D
~ Erin

For more recent info, tune in to www.schoonerbillofrights.blogspot.com

Above : Bill of Rights photo by Cheryl Jones

Bill and Lady passing Morro Rock













After riding the main gaff to free the topsail sheet














The awnsail, or mini-sail, or whatever we ended up calling it. As you can see, our first attempt in rigging it was slightly embarrasing.














The crews of the Lady Washington, Bill of Rights, and Lynx in Sausalito, CA.












Beautiful shot of the Lady and Bill outside of Morro Bay (kudos to Kim Carver for the shot)













Happy Sweet Sixteen Lady!
Jim, Jess, and I fire cupcakes at the nearby Lady, much to the enjoyment of a hungry crew.









The SF transit crew as we near the Golden Gate.
(Photo by Kim Carver)













A brief stepback in time to the SF transit. Elf, Cappy, and young Dave on the helm.










Yes, it rained a lot during those months on the the Bill. I thought I would never dry out.











Elf, Bhodi, and Dave constrain that wiley staysail boom.












A beautiful day near Morro Bay.

Hawaiian Chieftain
January 4th - January 25th

I wish I could have sailed with Chieftain under different circumstances. She is a fine vessel and I would love to get to know her better. Actually... I hear she may be coming back to the west coast to sail again with Lady.. so, who knows what the future will hold? Anyway, it was strange switching to the 'enemy' of so many battle sails, but the Chieftain grew on me and it wasn't long before I was cheering on Elaine while she fired the cannons. "It ain't over till the fat Lady sinks!" (With as much affection as can be portrayed in that sentence). I learned some good lessons and made some great friends. Till we sail again, Chieftain!
~Erin

The Chieftain during a San Diego Battle Sail

(Photo by a Californian crew member)

Super sailors Ken and Gracie

On the fore royal of Star of India, in San Diego

Underway to San Diego, racing the Lynx and Lady Washington

Bhodi and Elaine firing cannons from the Chieftain, during a battle sail from Long Beach.

(Photo by Cheryl Jones)

Girls of sail

Lady Washington
July 1st - December 16th

This will be a photo post with little commentary, but I have to take a moment to speak about the Lady. The 6 months I spent aboard her were unlike any sailing experience I've had so far, and any Lady alum I think will agree about their own experiences on Lady. The crew is truly a family, or pack of puppies, which ever description you prefer. My time on her will always have a special place in my heart. Now, most of these photos were taken by me, and I am always looking for more to post here as well. Remember, Bhodi is the one with the piece of paper proclaiming him a photographer. My paper stays I can dig in the dirt, so picture taking is not my forté. However, I hope these shots will mean something to you. If you have some photos of the Lady you would like to share, I would be more than happy to post. For old crew, I hope these bring back memories.
Cheers, Erin

So, the following three shots were taken by Ms. Cheryl Jones, my first few days on the Lady (Thanks Cheryl!!!). All I have to say for this one is 'Don't I look sassy?'

Eric, the Beard, Bott (that's all one name), Micheal Kellick, Miah hiding behing Micheal, and JB.

Me and Micheal. I look morose, I don't know why. We didn't watch Shakespeare till September.

Time to furl JB. 2-6!













Emmet dances at the helm, while underway to Blaine, WA.










The crew hard at work during the microscoft film shoot in the San Juan Islands.



















You go to admit, I look cute....












Nate, JB, and Alex preparing to come into Seattle


















Yours truly on the bowsprit, the Space Needle in the background.










A new and creative way to kill gnats on Lake Washington, near Kirkland.











Lady Washington as she comes out of the water, preparing for two weeks of refitting in Port Townsend, WA.
















Long live the Brig Olympics!
There were times of boredom in Aberdeen during our month of wrestling with the black water tanks. So, we played games like, Can you squeeze yourself thru the scuppers?

Underway to San Franscisco with the Mighty C watch, led by Stacey and with JD and Brian Day.

A happy captain. Ben McKee with our first real following wind during transit to SF.

And, arrival in the Bay.

Freedom Schooner Amistad
April - December, 2003

I'm not going to get into too much detail with this post. I just didn't want to exclude this chapter, since it was my first professional gig on a tallship.

So... I was walking to my job as a bartender in Jacksonville, FL one day, When I saw on the waterfront a Tallship. Lately, I had been SERIOUSLY interested in landing a job on a tallship, so I could get out of the rut I was in and get paid to travel to interesting places and do fun work, while continueing to persue a carreer in Photo-Journalism. So.. I stood on the pier untill I could talk to the captain, and after " days of their port visit, I had talked my way into their purser position.
I joined them, about a month later, in Mystic, CT. From there, we traveled to New Haven, CT - Newport, RI - Portland, ME - Lunenburg, NS - Summerside, PEI - Gaspé, QUE - (The St. Lawrence River) - Quebec City - Montreal - (Lake Ontario) - Kingston, ON - (The Welland Canal) - Port Colburn, ON - then Erie, PA - Cleveland, OH - Toledo, OH - Port Huron, MI - Mackinah Is., MI - Beaver Is., MI - Sheboygan, WI - Muskegan, MI - Chicago, IL - Hammond, IN - Harbor Springs, MI - Detroit, MI - Sandusky, OH - Ashtabula, OH - Buffalo, NY - (all via lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan) - then back through the Welland Canal to Oswego, NY, where we downriged for a transit down the Erie Canal and back to Mystic. In Mystic, we uprigged and then to Boston, NYC, Norfolk VA, Charlston SC, and eventually back to Jacksonville.

I will never forget that trip.

Freedom Schooner Amistad
April - December, 2003

I'm not going to get into too much detail with this post. I just didn't want to exclude this chapter, since it was my first professional gig on a tallship.

So... I was walking to my job as a bartender in Jacksonville, FL one day, When I saw on the waterfront a Tallship. Lately, I had been SERIOUSLY interested in landing a job on a tallship, so I could get out of the rut I was in and get paid to travel to interesting places and do fun work, while continueing to persue a carreer in Photo-Journalism. So.. I stood on the pier untill I could talk to the captain, and after " days of their port visit, I had talked my way into their purser position.
I joined them, about a month later, in Mystic, CT. From there, we traveled to New Haven, CT - Newport, RI - Portland, ME - Lunenburg, NS - Summerside, PEI - Gaspé, QUE - (The St. Lawrence River) - Quebec City - Montreal - (Lake Ontario) - Kingston, ON - (The Welland Canal) - Port Colburn, ON - then Erie, PA - Cleveland, OH - Toledo, OH - Port Huron, MI - Mackinah Is., MI - Beaver Is., MI - Sheboygan, WI - Muskegan, MI - Chicago, IL - Hammond, IN - Harbor Springs, MI - Detroit, MI - Sandusky, OH - Ashtabula, OH - Buffalo, NY - (all via lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan) - then back through the Welland Canal to Oswego, NY, where we downriged for a transit down the Erie Canal and back to Mystic. In Mystic, we uprigged and then to Boston, NYC, Norfolk VA, Charlston SC, and eventually back to Jacksonville.

I will never forget that trip.