It took the first half of the 2-hour sail for Alex to feel comfortable enough moving around the ship. He was really into watching Daddy help hoist the sails, even though he first objected. ('Don't walk around the ship, Daddy. It's dangerous!') After Daddy helped hoist the second sail, Alex felt a little bit more at ease walking around.
After staring into a cabin porthole for about 20 minutes, he felt a lot more at ease. He even walked up to the First Mate and declared 'I want to help!' They had a hard time locating a small line for him to haul, so we allowed Alex to explore some pretend jobs on the ship.
The sights didn't interest him at all; not even the tugs all over the harbor. He only took a passing interest in the Statue of Liberty. It was all about the boat crew for him - and that he just loved! He was soon parroting the First Mate's commands about the "jib" and the "main peak". He was shouting out commands himself as he "steered" the ship by turning a small wheel on a line peg. He was walking all around the cabin tops (with our sturdy grip), pretending he was hoisting line. This was just a pretend play date come true for him.
Our sail wasn't until 4 PM, so there had been some time spent on the Ambrose before we went sailing. That hadn't been enough of a visit for Alex, so I promised him that we'd be back soon for a Mini-Mates play class at the museum. I also hope to get him to Governor's Island before the ferry there ends this month. He asked ALL about it as we cruised back and forth past its shores. He actually remembered the island from last year's NY 400 festival.
And, yes, the Pioneer proved to be just as quiet as Alex likes his ships to be.
Saturday, October 2
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