The tall ships are gone, leaving humans bereft of slow-motion sea battles in Eureka’s Inner Reach but bay birds rejoicing at the absence of sporadic cannon fire.
Here are some scenes from Sunday’s “battle” between the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Lady Washington.
But may we just say that whilst the Chieftain’s seasoned captain kept his predominantly green crew busy hoisting sails and adjusting and readjusting them — and staggering at times under the learning curve — the small ship still managed to pop off several good wallops of smoky cannon blast at the stately Lady.
May we also add, the Lady appeared to spend much of her unruffled time, far as we could tell, motoring about with her engine on and, when she did fire, aiming not at her worthy rival but at the pods of innocent gulls on the tip of Indian Island and, once, straight at the Wharfinger Building. Just an unbiased observation from one who was aboard the Chieftain …
This article appears in How Green is Humboldt?.
