# Eye Candy for our LJ Sailors



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

I had to go to Stavanger today to get my eyes checked after the laser surgery. Luckily there were a couple of tall ships tied up to the quay right in front the ophthalmologist's offices. The first two photos are of a German ship and the third one is Norwegian, the 'Christian Radick' with it's home port in Oslo. It has been used as a school ship for a long long time.




























I took a few more pics to show you old Stavanger, now surrounded by modern buildings, the old customs building which was finished in 1906.



















The photos aren't the best as they were taken with my mobil phone,but I hope you enjoyed them anyway.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Hi Mike
Very cool looking tall ships,I enjoyed the photos of Stavangerr too.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Fine old ship Mike and that customs building reminds me a lot of the old customs building in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Usually when I compare buildings in Europe to those at home the European one is waaaaay older. In this case the one in Victoria is about 50 years older….. but it is one of the oldest remaining buildings there and is considered a "heritage" building.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Very good photos and wonderful ships, if kids had that school ship it would really be interesting.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Thanks for sharing Mike. I was in the modern Navy and not so sure I would like climbing around on all of that rigging. A bit too high for my liking… *;-)*


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## JADobson (Aug 14, 2012)

I sailed for a week on a tall ship (a school ship) about 10 years ago out of Victoria. She was the Pacific Swift. One of the best weeks of my life. I wonder if you've seen her Shipwright?


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

The customs house is pretty new. When I first moved to Stavanger there were big cranes running along the dock, but they have been since removed do to the lack of freight business. Most of the boats tying up there now are mainly oil industry related vessels, some cruise ships, and a lot of privates yachts in the summer. I'll try to get some photos of the latter this summer. They also have beach volleyball tournaments there in the summer. They just dump the sand on the quay and set up the court there. The Stavanger Cathedral which is just a short distance away is about 800 years old. I didn't take a photo of that because it is currently covered with a huge tent and is undergoing restoration work. There is also a fresh fish store there where they keep live fish in the tanks which they cut up for you.


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## cmaxnavy (Dec 23, 2007)

Wonderful post! I have some very fond memories of Stavanger and Narvik. I sailed with the Standing Navy Forces Atlantic (SNFL) many years ago and Stavanger was a port visit. It is where the Norwegian sailors introduced American sailors to Aquavete (sp). I don't remember anything after that!!!! What a beautiful country that is only exceeded in beauty by its wonderful people. Great post!


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Those are nice shots Mike. Any of those used for anything but cruises and training?

H-Mike, Climbing around in the rigging should be less challenging that walking steel carrying tools and material, but adding sea sickness and the ship pitching back and forth might make it a bit more challenging ;-))


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

Hello Stefang, thanks for the post. It is great to see the Christian Radick is still well. I had the opportunity to spend 3 hours on her many years ago. What a great ship.
Hope all is well with you.


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## fatandy2003 (Apr 4, 2012)

Beautiful ship! Hopefully they will still be there next week. I will be in Stavanger on Monday for work.


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## jinkyjock (Feb 2, 2014)

Hi Stefang,
was checking out your blog and thought I recognised the pics and sure enough the Christian Raddich was one of the ships that visited Greenock (in Scotland) for the 2011 Tall Ships Race. Only have one word for such vessels, *MAJESTIC*.


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## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

When ships were made of wood and men were made of steel..


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Nice to look at, Mike.

I always enjoy going down to the riverfront here in New Orleans because you never know what kind of old ship or modern yacht might be in town for one occasion or another.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

Just in case you are interested, here is the histories of the Christian Radich, a Norwegian ship and The Gorch Fock, the german ship. It was interesting that the Christian Radich won the 2010 tall ships race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Radich (Norwegian)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorch_Fock_(1933) (German)


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

It's great to get all the replies from you guys to this post and also that some of you were acquainted with the Christian Radich and/or Stavanger. I spent 4 years in the US Navy aboard a small freight ship. I loved it, but I would give my right arm to have served aboard a real sailing vessel.

*John Ormond* I was saddened to see Folsom lake empty in a recent photo. I had a lot of good times there with my friends and my little Rockholt 16 footer in the 1950s. I hope it gets filled up soon again!


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

Beautiful ships indeed…


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

Great old sailing ships thanks for sharing, Mike!!


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Friendship isn't that big Mike but if you ever get to this side of the world I would take you out sailing for a lot less than your right arm. Could be as cheap as a half dozen beer.


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

arrr me bucko's…pull in the anchor, and lets set sail…would love to go out on thqt ship, yea not to sure i would want to climb the rigging myself…maybe mike and myself could hang out in the galley..thanks mike for the great post…


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## Schwieb (Dec 3, 2008)

Nice post Mike. Always enjoy seeing those wonderful tall ships. Your photos are getting me more excited about plans my wife and I are making to come to Germany, Denmark, and hope to make it across to Norway and perhaps a little of Sweden.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks for the offer Paul. I'm sure it would be just as much or maybe even more of a thrill on a smaller boat than those 3 masted beasts. Alternatively you and your wife could take a trip to Norway sometime and let us show you around. We have some wonderful sights to see in our district. Mountains, fjords, and a beautiful coast with some great little towns. We even have a spare room. BTW, I was amazed at the size of the crew on that German ship. It was literally crawling with people fore to aft. Even the ship I sailed on in the Navy with 198 crew didn't look nearly as crowded as the Gorch Fock. They were friendly and even waved to my wife while I was putting money into the parking automat. That's sailors for you, they have no regard for age as long as they are females!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

*Ken* I hope you will let me know when you come as it would be nice to meet you personally if you could come to our part of the country and show you around or conversely offer you some Norway travel tips if you like. I do hope you come in the summer though because it's no fun in the winter or fall.

*Bob* I was thinking it would be fun to be tied to the mast in a full gale, but on second thought the galley might not be too bad either.


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## neverenougftackle (May 6, 2013)

Hey there Mike,
I will add my thanks also !!! I too spent a hitch in the US Navy in the air wing side out of San Diego 's North Island. Something that always comes back to me is when I/we go on a vacation onto ether coast and as we get near that water, the smell of that salt sea air, snaps back a lot of fine memories. If a guy is a water lov'n soul those tall ships and the sea seem to be a natural match.

But so is the bow pointed into the wind, of one of our slant deck carriers , as it's cutting its path threw those swells, and the filling the air with the smell of burnt high octane avation gas.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

It is wonderful being out to sea no matter what kind of ship. It's one thing I really miss. We used to spend a couple of weeks in San Diego on exercises, each year if I remember correctly. I lived a long time in L.A. but I loved the climate in San Diego. We always anchored out in the harbor or the inlet there. Our home port was Oakland, but we spent most of our time in Japan, the Phillipines, Formosa, Hong Kong for R&R, with side trips to other military ports in the Westpac. It was nice to sleep up on deck when we were in tropical waters. There's just nothing quite like it.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

I have never been on a sailboat, except the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor, but I have always been fascinated by the craftsmanship that goes into building one of these vessels.

When my family immigrated from Germany we spent 11 days on the USS General C.C. Ballou which was troop carrier from WWII. Men and boys over 12 years were segregated from women and children under 12. No frills, same bunks the G.I.s slept in when they used it a few years before.

This one posted by *stefang* is no exception as it is a real beautiful vessel indeed.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Wonder how long it would take to cross the Atlantic with one of those 3 masted sail ships?


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

probably not to long once they fire up the auxiliary diesel engines…lol


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

oldnovice saying they took 11 days on a WWII troop carrier made me wonder how long it probably took my ancestors from customs in England to Philly. I Goggled it but the answers were 21 days, 45 days 3-6 months. I thought some of the sailors here might have a better idea. Are these ships ever sailed across the Atlantic?


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

In 1858 the American packet Dreadnaught made the crossing from New York to Queenstown Ireland in 9 days 17 hours, passing a couple of steamers on her way. It is said she was never passed in more that four knots of wind.


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## revieck (Dec 29, 2009)

I always liked the tall ships!... Stefang, if you like sail boats, I found a YouTube channel about a couple who are building a 75 or 80ft. steel sail boat in their back yard! I sent this link to one of their videos of their three year old Grandson, Aiden explaining why are they building a sail boat..


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

Very awesome!


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Thanks Paul, that was quite a ship. I goggled it. Then I thought about goggling the Mayflower and sure enough there was well documented time of crossing, 2 months and 2 days. Duh? ;-)) I suppose the rest of them took somewhere between 3 to 5 weeks. WE have the Lady Washington here in the NW. I have seen it several times and occasionally there will be others. Last time I remember a bunch stopping by, they were in Tacoma for some reason for a few days.


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## Druid (Sep 30, 2010)

Great photos Mike. There's something special about those sailing vessels. When we lived in the Toronto area, my wife and I always looked forward to the Tall Ships Festival each year, and the opportunity to tour many of the ships. Here's a link to some photos of the Sorlandet which participates in the event. Interesting how many hands it takes to handle the sails, and how many kms of rope was needed.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/20/tall-ships-visit-toronto-as-part-of-waterfront-festival/


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks for those wonderful pics of Sørlandet John. Great to see it with all those crew members aloft. I'm pretty sure we saw the Sørlandet when we visited Aalesund, Norway during the 2001 tall shops race where they were tied up. We had the tall ships fleet here last summer in Stavanger. Regretfully we didn't go there to see the fleet. I'll try to get some photos next time. I seem to remember reading that the Cutty Sark sails when fully set generated about 16,000 horsepower. That must have been a really fast ship!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

If you remember the photo of the customs building on the quay, my wife was telling me that after WWII many packages were received from America sent by family members who had emigrated before the war to the States. She said that the packages were opened by the customs officials and a lot of stuff was stolen by them. Mainly food stuffs like coffee and such. She also told me that they would go to town when the 'America ship' arrived and crew members and passengers tossed oranges to the kids from the ship. Decent food was hard to come by during the war and people ate a lot of rutabaga, boiled, fried, baked, etc. My wife's father worked at a sardine canning factory in Stavanger during the occupation and they were usually paid in sardines instead of money. The factory is in the area from the photo showing old Stavanger. it's a small museum today.


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## jinkyjock (Feb 2, 2014)

Hi Guys,
as we are on a wee bit of a nostalgia-fest (and no bad thing) thought I would throw in my tuppence worth.
The Cutty Sark was launched on the River Clyde at Dumbarton and rigged-out "Doon the Watter" at Greenock.
She was 280ft. long and the mainmast was 152ft. from deck to tip, what a sight it must have been in full sail.
The standard of workmanship must have been astonishing considering the available tools compared to what we have at our disposal today. It certainly brings a lump to* MY* throat, and if you're not inspired to emulate those guys (and gals) then IMO you don't have a pulse.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

The practitioners of hand crafts were very good at what they did, but they were more specialized than today. I'm sure, they took great pride in their work even though for them it was very hard work and probably very long hours too. I have visited the Cutty Sark and also the Norwegian wooden ship 'Fram' used by The polar explorer Roald Amundsen. Both vessels have an extremely high standard of workmanship. Of course the Cutty Sark has been rebuilt recently after the devastating fire it suffered a few years ago, so a great deal of the workmanship on it has been done by today's woodworkers.


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