What is a Schooner?

over 1 year ago

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It's not secret that I am sailing the Atalntic Ocean, although I have made it to the Caribbean yesterday. The sun's warmth gently caressed my entire body. I have no words to describe just how beautiful that felt, but, I embrace it fully. Come along as I share a few days with you, mostly as they happen. Go upstairs and get your life jacket, then head out to the deck to get your drill. Safety first. We all need to know how to do a muster drill. I alway want to know how to do one. I do know how to do one, but, I don't know that station, so that is why it is important to go through it. They do an organized drill, and take roll call to make sure everyone has been educated.

According to the Royal Caribbean Muster Drill pamphalet nanded out: A muster drill is a mandatory safety exercise with the objective to familiarize all guests and crew with the location (muster station) where they are to assemble in the unlikely event of an emergency. During this drill, additional safety information (i.e., how to don a life jacket) is presented. Aploogies! I couldn't find the picture of the drill, but hopefully will before I end the cruise.

Look at that ocean right now. That is when I left home. The waves looked cold, not at all pretty like the Caribbean Blue. Below is one of the lounges/bar on the ship called the Schooner Bar. Every ship in the fleet of Royal Caribbean has a Schooner Bar, almost like a signature watering hole. They all look alike and so it is a comforting place to walk into. Okay, I have never called a bar comforting, but, their bars are multi-use places. In the morning or afternoon, they play a trivia game. Not so lame! It can be fun, especially if you have good partners or a nice bottle of wine. I thought it was old people stuff, but, you know what? It is a relaxing, fun way to meet new people and I even won a Royal Caribbean hat. Shhhh! Everyone covets the hat.

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What is a schooner? I wanted to see if the dictionary had a better explanation of it than my boat with sails. It did, thankfully and here is how they call it: A vessel with two or more masts, with the foremast shorter than the mainmast. (The foremast was the mast furthest forward towards the bow on a ship) A schooner usually has fore-and-aft rigged sails, but may also have square-rigged sails. The typical schooner has only two masts, but can have up to seven. source

Canadians call really large beer glasses a schooner. However, if you are in a South Australian pub, the term schooner is referencing a glass that holds 285 ml. A mite bit small compared to Canada. Good things come in small packages, so I have heard.

It's Wednesday! We are walking! As always, I want to thank @Tattoodjay for hosting the #WednesdayWalk challenge! It is a challenge that allows you to share what you see as you walk through your day. Show me where you walked today, I want to see what you got to see and hear what you have to say. If you want to do the challenge, drop him a link on his #WednesdayWalk post, so he can try to visit yours! Whatever your day looks like, it is worth a walk-through. You can't always have sunshine and rainbows, but, you can always have a #WednesdayWalk! So cast your hooks out to reel in some sunshine and happiness! To be fair, I had already walked around the ship by this time, so I walked throught the bar and over into the Spotlight lounge too. Thanks so much for coming along! No drinking and walking!

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She is a pretty little deal, isn't she? They have decorated the bar with the usual nautical motifs, which is unremarkable, yet, it would feel funny without it. The Schooner bar is used for many purposes, but the one I like best is when the piano man comes to play. He is practicing below for later tonight, but, it is nice to listen to him warm up the ivories. Life goes on around him and he responds with some popular music and then a bit of his own. I close my eyes and just take in the range of harmonics, mostly a mello sound that goes well with the atmosphere.

The little cozy corners and cafes, bistros and just places to sit and take in the beauty of life, right outside the windows or off the deck. They rythmic sound of the waves may just soften your breathing, letting you relax into another state.

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Or right there, with them still imposing all their nautical paraphernalia
on you. Don't get me wrong, I love all things to do with the ocean and water and sailing, fishing and boating. So I joke about overdoing the theme. As if that could happen. :)

The people? I love the people that work there. It takes a special person to be able to work the long hours and days on end. Do they get a break? Of course. But they never get to leave their place of work and remove themselves from the whole scene. Most work on contracts, usually 7 months of a little more or less. They come from all over the world, enhancing your already amazing cultural adventure.

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Thanks so much for coming along, singing my song. So far, it has been a great trip and tomorrow, an wonderful little island! Have a great night! ❤️

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The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost