Recently two replica sailing ships entered the harbor. The Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain. The Lady Washington visits quite often, but this is the first time since I've been in Oregon that I've seen the Hawaiian Chieftain. They are both beautiful replicas of the old sailing ships of long ago. The pictures below were taken before they set sail, and during a mock cannon battle.
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Passengers are allowed to buy tickets to go out on the ships, and to participate in the mock battles. The cannons are quite loud even from about a mile away, and the plums of smoke were seen before the sound reached the area I where I was taking these pictures. The trip is about a 2 hour voyage. The ships are docked downtown, but the mock battle takes place after heading under the Conde B. McCullough Bridge then heading west through the railroad bridge. The best vantage point to watch them is from the Airport, but it still is quite some distance. I had my camera on full zoom to capture these sailing pictures.
These old sailing ships just pale in comparison, as you can see, to todays modern vessels. The one in the backdrop is a ship that carries wood chips and is rather average in size for today's vessels. I had a great day taking the pictures. It was warm but breezy (good for sailing), and it was a beautiful sunny day.
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