Hey kids! It’s me. Betty.
I’m still on the sailboat – her name is Elizabeth M. They don’t call her Betty though. She sure gets going fast sometimes. And when she does, she leans over (Grampy calls it “healing”). Once I fell right out of my hole in the bookshelf. I could have broken my shell! Nanny picked me up and got me back on the shelf.
Sailing is fun but I like it when we stop too. Sometimes Grampy bakes bread. Once he even made Pita breads – right from scratch. Nanny makes mostly muffins. I like it when she lets me help. My claws are perfect for cracking eggs. And I help her watch to see when they are done. (She forgets sometimes!)
We have seen about a million boats on this trip. Every place we go is full of them. There are lots of sailboats and many other boats too – like tugboats, fishing boats, and tankers. Tankers are huge!
Nanny says there are different types of sailboats, and each type has a different name. Apparently, it all has to do with three main things – how many masts they have, the shape of the sails, and the direction the sails are arranged. I only learned about the names that have to do with the masts.
Here’s what I learned:
If there is one mast – it’s a sloop. (kind of a funny name, eh?) That’s what Elizabeth M is.
If there are two masts, it can be a few different ones:
If the back mast is shorter than the front one, it’s a ketch or a yawl. The difference is that on a yawl, the sail in the back sticks out the beyond the boat. On a ketch, the back sail is further forward.
If the front mast is shorter, or the same size as the back mast – it’s a schooner. That’s what the Bluenose is.
Phew! Complicated, isn’t it? Nanny drew some pictures to help sort it out.
Ok, want to see if you can see the difference in some real boats? Nanny said we could have a contest and that she will send you a prize if you get your Mom or Dad to send her a message with your answers.
(The prize will be a tiny thing that Nanny can fit into an envelope in the mail. 😊)
By the way, this boat was my favorite – it matches my shell perfectly.
Get your guesses in soon. Ahoy!
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