Thanks to a birthday gift from my wife and first mate, I got to sail on the Pride of Baltimore II yesterday.   For those not familiar, she's a replica of a Baltimore Clipper, a square topsail schooner.  What a thrill..!  The sheer complexity of the running rigging boggles the mind.   Belayed at the shrouds by both masts are at least a half dozen lines on each side of the ship, plus those at the mast.   The effort to set sails is sobering;  yet they sail the ship with a crew of 12.   I, along with a dozen other passengers, assisted the crew in raising the mainsail.  One ton including the gaff, sail and boom.  An exhausting 15 minutes.   An impressive voyage, all too short.   Makes me appreciate the simplicity and modern sail handling equipment  on my C36.!

I have a couple youtube videos of the crew setting sail, if anyone is interested, I can post links.