Harvey Gamage

Seventy feet above the water line on the Harvey Gamage provides a 360° view of the lovely deep blue ocean on October 23. After passing off on round two knots including: the stopper knot, anchor bend, midshipmen bend, rolling hitch, and the double sheet bend, as well as memorizing the name of all standing rigging, you have earned your trip aloft! With a harness strapped on, though not attached to any rigging, you’re able to start your ascent up the shaky, swaying ratlines. Pausing occasionally as the boat rolls over the swells, the ratlines get narrower and narrower until you reach the top of the main mast. Here you must hoist yourself up through the crosstrees and futtock shrouds to reach your ultimate destination that is the topmast. Clinging on to the topmast shrouds I am able to peer off far into the distance. I experience a change in my usual perspective by being able to see the whole ship at one time. Everyone is waving at me and cheering me on while Brooke lies on her back snapping pictures of my ridiculously goofy grin. Up here my horizon is expanded and I can see the fluffy white clouds reflected on the surface of the water. I linger there; enjoying a whole other world that I never knew existed on the vessel. The sound of everyday ship life fades and I’m alone with my thoughts. How many other people are experiencing what I’m experiencing now? None.
~Al