TALL SHIPS SAILING (BEFORE KALMAR NYCKEL)

Other historical tall ships on which I worked (in addition to the one I ultimately selected, the Kalmar Nyckel) include Bounty, a full-rigged ship built for the film "Mutiny on the Bounty," Red Witch, a 77 foot long wooden schooner built to serve as a pleasure yacht, and Royaliste, an actual pirate vessel that has all the pirate stuff aboard.

I worked and lived on board of Bounty already during the winter of 2005-2006. This was a great break from Chicago, where we would freeze into the lake at that time, as Bounty's then usual winter port was in Florida. We even had a place nearby where we were able to enjoy an outdoor  jacuzzi tub after work... 

On Red Witch, I was crewing on Lake Michigan. The following pictures are from our winterizing trip to Milwaukee as well as our tourist sails in the Chicago area. In addition to me helming, and on another occasion enjoying the best view "in the house," please, note our captain (Jim Marzano) firing what size cannon we had on Red Witch (and follow the improvement in this size throughout my following ships, up to today). 

During the Chicago Tall Ships 2006 event, the Royaliste captain offered that when I am done at Red Witch, I should sail back east with them. We were supposed to depart in the morning after the last day of the event. But then the Royaliste's plans changed, and they decided to depart right in the evening instead. That left me with about one and a half hours for getting packed and leaving the city. Since, during this short time period, I would not be able to even go back and forth to the Chicago South Side where I lived, should I use public transportation, the Royaliste captain paid for a taxi for me. The driver waited in front of the house as I threw my stuff together, and in another half an hour I jumped aboard Royaliste to depart for a real pirate adventure, sailing throughout the Great Lakes...

In the late spring of 2007, I participated with Royaliste in some ASTA events and pirate festivals on the Atlantic Coast again. When I was almost done with my obligations on Royaliste, the cook from Kalmar Nyckel came to help me move my stuff to their ship. Then I still sailed with Royaliste to her home port/museum in Beaufort, South Carolina. Then I took a train to join the Kalmar Nyckel for the whole summer...thus the story continues here.