| | The original ships that carried men to Jamestown were named the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. Those ships are long gone, but thanks to modern technology and the desire to portray a complete story, Jamestown Settlement has recreated the three ships in full scale. These sailing ships float in the sunshine and give visitors an accurate picture of their arrival. When our group of 20 teachers arrived at the dock, they immediately put us to work. It seems there was a heavy pile of rope that needed to be loaded onto the smallest of the three - Discovery. Separating us into three groups our hosts taught us some of the language the crew had to know to safely operate the ropes and heft the load onto the deck of the ship. "Avast" was a word that was oft-repeated. For all my life, I had figured this was a made up pirate word to get someone's attention, but little did I know it was a real word to get someone's attention. In fact, avast simply means "stop" or "pause", and methinks mayhaps we should use the word more often every day. I was in the forward position on one of the three axes, and had the added tasks of making sure the rope was not moving too fast and keeping my fingers away from the rigging. It was interesting to see how the three rope teams had to work in tandem to complete the loading. It wasn't the least bit difficult for those of us pulling and letting out the rope, but for the person shouting the directions, this couple really be a tedious operation. A mistake in the instructions could easily cause serious injuries. We would have enjoyed some more time with the ships, but we also needed to get to some shade as the day we were there, we were facing the sunshine blasting us in the faces with its full force. |
For more on head to the 2022 Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute page.
