Diana's Day Off Part One,

I have spilt this post into 2 parts,

as usual I took too many photographs, so glad rags on,

and we were walking towards the number 54 bus stop,

on the bus we sat at the front on the top deck as we passed Foxgrove Lodge,

feelings of déjà vu as I passed this sign, I remembered I was here yesterday!

we walked through Lewisham market,

past which building work was ongoing,

we walked around the building site,

to Lewisham DLR, (Docklands Light Railway),

just time for a quick pose,

before our train arrived,

in no time we were at South Quay,

looking across one of the docks,

as another train arrived, driverless, it is a pity that we can not follow France, Italy and Japan and have driverless underground trains, especially as they are far safer than trains with drivers, their record on safty is enviable, but there it is, 

we made our way down to the waters edge,

a relic from the heyday of the docks,

and this is what we were going to see,

we made our way towards the ship,

and there she was,

the Götheborg of Sweden,

time for a pose,

or two!

the figurehead,

looking resplendent in the morning sun,

the ship is a sailing replica of the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg I, 

launched in 1738. the original ship sank off Gothenburg, Sweden, on 12 September 1745, while approaching the harbour on her return from a third voyage to China,

thankfully all of the sailors survived the incident,

it is a long way up!

we had already bought tickets,

so straight up to the deck,

and up our first ladder,

time for a pose,

behind Diana looking forward the bow of the ship,

I mentioned before, it is a long way up!

an item of interest, a pin compass,

above, how it works,

looking down on the deck we had just been on,

the stern of the ship,

after snapping away,

time for a pose,

in the distance the O2,

in front of it a Viking cruise liner making its way up the River Thames,

there was a bit of a queue to go downstairs, 

whilst waiting I had a look at this,

more importantly what was inside of it,

a compass,

before going down a look along the deck,

we passed a couple of guys from a film crew being given instructions on how to go aloft,

there were so many buildings here on what was once all dockland,

down to the lower deck,

and here we are,

we made our way aft,

looking down a companionway,

as we entered the wheelhouse, with no clear line of sight, it is important to know where dead ahead is,

hence this handgrip with a black line through it,

'left hand down a bit!'

then it was my turn,

 and hard it was too,

in front of the wheel a second compass,

we made our way foreword,

past the capstan,

the width of one of the masts is impressive,

regular sailors would know what function each of these ropes would perform,

but as guest sailors are joining the ship every so often for a week or so onboard, there are name tag behind each belaying pin, on modern vessels they have been replaced by cleats,

on the deck I noticed lots of timber,

enough for repairs,

should a accident happen,

and timber a long way off,

down we go!

I should mention,

the stairs are remarkably steep,

into a store room,

past the ships library,

and on to the gundeck,

on its maiden voyage in 1739, the ship carried 30 cannons and an initial crew of 144,

and this is what the guns fired, Diana commented on how heavy the cannon ball was,

a nail and a cannonball,

better put them back,

the crews mess tables,

situated between the cannons,

as with all ships, no space is wasted,

the lower half of one of the main masts,

one of the cannons,

and the view of the gunner,

some of the cannons are still used,

to fire a salute,

a little about the cannons,

and the ship,

we passed a few more signs,

that tell the story better than I,

we made our way forward and up,

the ships bell,

naturally a pose from Diana,

and myself, I tried ringing the bell, but some one had removed the clapper, 

one more pose on the deck,

and a look forward,

and a few more poses,

for the family album,

looking back towards the stern,

one more of myself,

I mentioned wood being kept, just in case, or for maintenance or repairs, this beam,

runs the entire length of the deck,

getting the jolly boat out must be a bit of a problem, with all of that timber over it,

a last couple,

before,

we hit the gang plank,

I applied to be a crew member for the next 8 days of the voyage, but alas, I failed at the first hurdle, no over 70s! I am stopping the blog here as if there are too many photographs it takes a long time to make the post, if you would like to see the rest of our day, please click on the 'Older Posts' button on the bottom right of the page.