by The other day I was trying to decide where to sit and read. I went with the River. That reminds me, I have questions about the currents in the East River and I was wondering who to ask. The Coast Guard? I will start there. I mean yes, I’ll google it too, but come on, contacting the Coast Guard is more fun.
My view of the river while reading. Beautiful boat. Ship. Whatever you’re supposed to call it.
That’s a schooner! Dad bought a sloop when he turned 40 and we had many happy hours sailing on her, down the James River and into the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, and later on Lake Ontario. We had to learn lots about boats and it has stuck with me. Sometimes you describe a boat by its hull configuration, but often by its masts and sails (that’s a gaff rig – the small spar at the top of the sail is a gaff). Mostly, small boats are boats. They get to be ships when they are quite a bit bigger, have more than 3 masts for example. But in the Navy, they call them all boats.
As for currents, apparently it’s the NOAA: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.html?gid=62
We had paper charts for that in the olden days! Now, they use satellites. Much more sophisticated except when your batteries die. Then you need to know how things work without the tech!
Look at you, so … sea worthy knowledgeable about boats and ships! Thank you the explanations and pointer.
I envy your happy hours sailing, sounds lovely.