Unique sailing ship to dock in Galveston

[seamusTX]

The Juan Sebastián de Elcano, only sailing ship in active naval service, will dock at Pier 21 in Galveston from Friday, April 3, until the following Monday. It will be open to visitors during hours stated in this article: http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... aeadfe28ea" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The ship is operated by the Spanish navy and has sailed around the world 10 times.
http://www.armada.mde.es/ArmadaPortal/p ... ue_escuela" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



- Jim

[Commander Cody]

Well... thank you for the post. I gotta see this one.

[stevie_d_64]

I thought we didn't allow nukes into Galveston???

I thought Old Ironsides was still on the rolls??? Now thats a pretty old ship ragth thar!

[seamusTX]

I didn't know that the original USS Constitution was still an official Navy ship. It is, but it hasn't sailed since 2000.

- Jim

[HighVelocity]

I didn't know that the original USS Constitution was still an official Navy ship. It is, but it hasn't sailed since 2000.

- Jim

I was in Boston and saw it sail.

[tfrazier]

I gotta go down there! I just got my new casting equipment and I hear they used tons of lead in the keel for ballast...

[seamusTX]

The Spanish marines might be just a little testy about you stealing their keel.

- Jim

[stevie_d_64]

I heard Spanish steel was fabulous for swords and such...

So their lead has got to be the bomb for...uhhhh, bullets...

Yeah, thats my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

[Oldgringo]

Some two dozen years ago, when Mrs. Oldgringo and I were newlyweds, we lived in Pensacola and sailed in the waters thereabouts. One day, the Juan Sebastián de Elcano made a call to Pensacola and we sailed out to meet her. She is something to see and she can definitely outrun a fixed keel Catalina 25.

[seamusTX]

Is the crew friendly?

I'm wondering if I can get aboard wearing all my usual, um, accessories, since I ride a bicycle these days.

- Jim

[jimlongley]

I was able to board the Elcano in Palma, Mallorca, Spain in 1968 and got the tour. I wish I could get down there and go aboard again 41 years later. Somewhere in my files I have several pictures of her alongside our destroyer squadron as salutes were exchanged.

[seamusTX]

It is a bit of a drive and short notice, unfortunately.

-Jim

[boomerang]

Are they coming for the gun show in Houston this weekend?

[seamusTX]

Some photos attached. It was impossible to get a good perspective at this pier. If anyone is wondering, this ship doesn't have any artillery that I could see. There could be a couple of machine guns in there somewhere.

It looks like you must be able to climb a ship's ladder to go aboard.

- Jim

[seamusTX]

More pics.

In case anyone is interested, the tour takes about an hour. You can actually stay on the ship as long as you like. You can see the tiller, the helm, the bridge, and the open decks. You can't enter any structure.

There's no guide, but the sailors who are on deck will answer questions if they speak English or you speak Spanish.

You must be able to climb up and down ladders to complete the tour.

The ship itself is an unusual combination of practical 1920s engineering, very fine woodwork, and some modern electronics like radar. Everything was perfectly maintained, painted or polished, clean, and tidy.

I asked about weapons. As I thought, the Elcano has no artillery. She carries light weapons, including machine guns, grenade launchers, and shotguns. Some of the officers were carrying sidearms, and some of what I guess were the lower-ranking officers were wearing approximately foot-long bladed weapons.

All bags larger than a small camera bag had to be checked before boarding. There was no impediment to carrying a concealed sidearm, though I'm sure that there must be a rule against it somewhere. Maritime law is extremely complicated.

- Jim