Sailing on the Sultana

This is the Sultana, an almost exact replica of a British schooner that patrolled the North American coast just prior to the American Revolution. We sailed on her today. The weather was perfect for sailing! It was hot on the pavement, but once we were on the water there was a cool breeze. We were never hot, nor cold....it was truly perfect!

This is Captain Tonya giving the kids a life jacket demonstration. Connor is the little guy in the middle with the big hat.

Eager kids, looking forward to helping out.


This is Captain Tonya preparing the main sail to be hoisted.

This is a working ship so they put the able-bodied workers to work.

The kids brought up the main sail.

This is the top sail, the kids set all the sails on the schooner.

This is below deck. The crew (4 women and 2 men) actually live on the boat, in these quarters except in winter. They work with one another all day then spend their nights together. I spoke with one of them about living and working together and she said that they don't know anyone when they go in to a port so they even hang out together when they're on land and off duty. In this picture you can see some of the games and medical equipment used during the time of the boat's operation.

Connor was a willing participant. He was a crew member of the Sultana, working for the British King as a tax collector. He got a cut on board, the medic would wrap his hand and hope for no infection. Unfortunately, infection set in and now Connor's hand must be amputated. Here we see the tourniquet used to reduce blood flow and the saw for getting through the bone. you can see Connor's excitement :)

The kids were able to steer the boat using the tiller, under Captain Tonya's supervision, of course!

They learned some navigational skills, including reading charts.

This is a lead for measuring depth of water.

Yep, you just toss it over the side and let it sink. Pull it in and measure between the weighted end and the dry part of the rope. See that little swivel gun beside Connor? They fired one of those, too. No pictures though because the sound was so loud we had to cover our ears.

What a fun day we had on the water in Annapolis. Sultana sails from several ports in the area and you learn about the ecosystem of each area. I can see us taking several Sultana trips in the coming years.