What Goes Up Must Come Down

 

Time for this impressive spanker sail to come down - along with all the others

Monday, July 4 - Trip Day 5

We sailed for about 2 hours on our first day of the journey.  While we were sailing, we had a lecture by the National Geographic photographer Jose Calvo on improving our photos with smart phones.  And we prepared for lunch on the lido deck.  As it was 4th of July, they served hamburgers (along with many salads, fresh fruits and other delights) as well as strawberry shortcake.

Soon, it was time to take down the sails - much the reverse of what we saw earlier in the morning.  Most impressive is watching the mast crews climb the rigging to their respective yards and then travel out on them to gather the sails tightly and bind them to the yard so they don't catch in the breezes.

Time for these beauties to be hauled in, as we were approaching port

A video of the mizzen mast crew climbing up to their respective yards:

The six members of the mizzen mast crew

Anastasia leads the mizzen crew up the rigging and climbs the highest

Five crewmen on a mast:

Six crew members climbing the fore mast - and in front, crew members of the main mast begin their climb:

Closer view of the crew out on the yards, securing the sails to the spars: