Gramps and I just returned from a three week vacation to the west coast.  A lot of the trip involved time on boats, a ship and other sailing vehicles.

One day we spent on a tall sailing ship, the Californian, for an excursion out of San Diego Bay.  That ship is a replica of an old revenue cutter, well-used and well-built.  These are photos of the “Bountiful,” another replica at the Maritime Museum, used in the film “Master and Commander – Far Side of the World.”

She has tall masts, plenty of sails (not always visible), a bell, a wheel and, as I learned, lots and lots of ropes called sheets.  That’s right.  The sheets are the ropes, not the sails, as might sound logical.

It seems nothing can happen on a ship without many people pulling on sheets.  Sheets tie things securely.   Sheets make sails go up and down. Sheets turn sails into and out of the wind. Sheets keep everything . . . well, shipshape.

The crew takes great care to keep the sheets neat and tidy. There is even a special way to coil a sheet on the deck.  Pretty impressive!

So take a lesson from the Californian.  Never leave without your equipment and make sure it’s always in ready-to-use condition.

I’m practicing coiling my sheets right now!