Nautical Knitting Cruise on Schooner Zodiac

Home is the sailor, home from the (Salish) Sea…

I’m home from the nautical knitting cruise on the Schooner Zodiac. That was a ton of fun! But just before that, I taught a steeking class at Northwest Yarns in Bellingham.

I love teaching knitters to cut up their knitting.

It’s low stakes cutting; they’re coasters!

Easy-peasy.

The next morning we boarded the beautiful 99 year old schooner Zodiac, and set off on our adventure in the Puget Sound. The Zodiac is a sail-training vessel; you can choose to help sail and be assigned to a crew (based on which sail you’re operating), and also to a rotation of watch duty: chart house/navigation, bow watch, helm/steering, and messenger (between the bow watch and the wheel). Well why not try it all? How often does this kind of opportunity arise? And I taught 4 knitting classes, too. Busy busy!

That was the question, and my answer was “Not me!” Mainsail crew was the first to volunteer.

Well, I’m more agile than burly. The jib crew hops over the bow onto the stays to untie the jib sail. I was glad there’s a net under it, just in case.

And then we raised the jib. Haul that line!

Once we were sailing, we could knit until it was time to tack (turn the bow through the wind so the wind changes from one side of the sails to the other). When it’s time, it’s time. You can’t say “Just let me finish this row!”

Tacking! I’m on the wheel pulling hard to port, and the people behind me are turning the mainsail.

Diane at the aforementioned bow watch. There’s a bow watch because the person back at the wheel can’t see what’s directly in front of the 160 foot long ship. (Oh, and that’s a good look at the stay and netting under the jib, too.)

Abby the cat lives on board, and she likes to nap in the chart house.

Hoist that sail, Abby!

I couldn’t take a picture of the sailing schooner while sailing on it, so here’s the Zodiac in full glory.

The wind died down that afternoon, and we were becalmed. What goes up must come down. We took the sails down and stowed and tied them back up. (I climbed up on the booms to help stow the other sails, too.) We then motored to Clark Island to explore a bit. Shells, beach glass, cool rocks..

The sunset that night was reflected in the water through the trees.

And the moonrise was even more spectacular.

The second morning was foggy and a bit chilly.

It was a great opportunity to break out the knitwear. I’d never actually worn this sample set before. It was perfectly cozy.

Crew member Sarah’s double knit compass rose hat was inspiring! She improvised off a pattern. We still had no wind, so we motored to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to shop at Island Wools and see the town.

Our classes on board were in the salon, which is also the bunkroom. See the curtained bunks around the edges? Some people sleep here, and some sleep in small staterooms. Vickie was on sunset/moonrise watch during the evening classes, to alert us when it was time to peek.

After our last class on the third morning, I was a bit sad that we didn’t have enough wind to sail back to Bellingham. But that also meant we could just relax and knit. Mixed feelings, indeed.

There’s all sorts of craftiness on a boat. I wish I had a picture of some of the thump mats on board. They’re like small rugs made of rope, meant to protect the deck from dropped rigging blocks.

NOAA (Ironic Noah?) used 3 fathoms of rope for this mini project; a fathom is 6 feet or 2 yards. A fathom was originally based on the span of a man’s outstretched arms. Your best measuring tools are the ones you have with you!

It turned out well. A mini version of the heavier rope thump mats on deck.

I don’t know what these weighted knots are called, but they remind me of the little Lantern Moon stitch markers. (Googling tells me they’re called monkey’s fists. They’re worked around a sandbag or other weight, and help when tossing the lines.)

Baggywrinkles! These are made from frayed rope to protect the sail from the rigging.

Every meal felt like a work of art. That’s craftiness, too! Vegetable forward, interesting seasonings, delicious. Caz Ludtke (@seasonedatsea on Instagram) does amazing things in a small galley kitchen.

I had a great time! Thanks to the Cephalopod Sisters Echo (right) and Heather (center) at Northwest Wools for inviting me to teach on this adventure.

And thanks to Abby for endorsing my book! Or at least the cardboard box they came in…