J
James
The thread about the movies made me wonder - How many boats are there out there which you can tour and what are your thoughts about them, both good and bad. What do I mean - well for example if you visit Plymouth MA you can tour a replica of the Mayflower - the boat which brought the Pilgrims from Plymouth England. The boat is staffer by guides, some in period costume who give a great tour. What I found remarkable about this was the size of the boat and that there were 102 people on it for the voyage from Englandhttp://pilgrims.net/plymouth/history/mayflower.htmlThen there is the USS Constitiution in Boston harbour - This tall ship is still part of the active US Navy. I was a bit dissapointed by the tour of this boat - the tour guides are enlisted men and .... well the seaman who did our tour was only half there - he certainly was not that enthusiastic about this role of bringing the boat alive.Check out http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/oldiron.htmlThen there is HMS Victory in Portsmouth England. I have toured this a number of times since I used to live in the south of England - and I still think it is one of the best tours - The enlisted men of the British navy give a great tour - for both adults and children there is much to see - guns, the actual place where Nelson was hit by a French musketeer and the place below decks where he died and is reported to have said the famous words to his right hand man Admiral Hardy- "Kiss me Hardy"http://www.hms-victory.com/And then there is Greenwich England - east of London on the Thames with the Cutty Sark and Sir Francis Chichester's Gypsy Moth IV (the boat he sailed singlehanded around the world -no arguments from me about Slocum being the first) I have seen these boats but have not toured them. But the Cutty Sark is an impressive boat.http://www.greenwich-guide.org.uk/cutty.htmSo here are a few but what about other "boats" perhaps you have a favorite - I thought about suggesting limiting this to boats rather than ships but living near Fall River Ma it seems unfair not to include boats such as the USS Massachusetts, the submarine Lionfish, PT boats etc etc.So what is your experience - share your recomendations aboutany great boats to visit?Any to stay away from?CheersJames