Onboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. It was a training ship called Horst Wessel when it was taken from Germany as a war prize in the 1940's. It reminas a floating classroom today, providing fundamental lessons in leadership, teamwork, and seamanship for Coast Guard and Naval Academy cadets. To maneuver the ship, cadets must haul more than 200 lines--their first lesson is to learn the name and function of each--forming more than six miles of rigging. They must also learn about standing watch, navigation, engineering and first aid.
At 295 feet, the Eagle drawfs the historical tall ships one third it's size. It's masts tower up to 150 feet, supporting 22,0000 square feet of sale reaching across teak weather decks.
The Eagle has retained other historical details, such as Germany writing on the VIP stateroom's bathroom sink, and the old title that remains beneath the Coast Guard nameplate nailed on top of the brass.
As the ship was coming towards Astoria, they encountered a storm about 150 miles off the Columbia River's mouth that pelted cadets with hail as they lowered and tied up sails in winds howling up to 30 miles/hour. Some of the cadets had painful red welts as a result of the hail.
The top photo was not actually on the Eagle, but in my livingroom after everyone came home and was relaxing with a book. Calviln and Hobbes has been a HUGE area of interest for the kids. Bryce gave me a book for my birthday and I already had 3 others.
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