Monster waves and Megamouths.........

Another shot of the ceiling design of the Maritime Museum in Fremantle, this time from the upper viewing level showing the tips of the sails rising to reach their counterpart above. Like the Australia ll, the adventures of Jon Sanders aboard the Parry Endeavour are probably the better known of the exhibits here in the museum. Setting off in 1986 he was the first person to circumnavigate the world three times in just under 2 years, not stepping on dry land for 658 days. Wonder how long it took him to get his 'land legs' back in working order after that :)

The two shots above were taken left from the above level and right from ground level, the explanation for the extreme angle is this... 'It was 3am on 20 Nov 1987, Parry Endeavour is approaching Cape Horn for the third and last time. A storm is building and Jon Sanders must go up on deck to slow the yacht down. He hoists his smallest sail, the storm jib and puts out a sea brake to control the speed of the yacht. While on the foredeck he looks aft and sees a wall of water towering behind Parry Endeavour. He clings to the mast as the freezing water smashes over him!' Dear lord please let me never see a wave like that coming at me :)

 ...and just when you think it can't get any worse, you discover there are these creatures swimming around under the sea! Never fear (?) the Megamouth shark is very rare and a vegetarian, although just the sight of it may cause an 'untoward' reaction :) From whaleboats to pearl luggers these are just a few of the many fascinating sailing vessels in the museum, it took a while but I'm well pleased that we have been in and explored this truly excellent venue. Hope your week has started well, take care...