For anyone who yearns for the sailing life, for the romance and adventure of “a tall ship and a star to steer her by,” this is a directory full of photos and statistics about a number of ships still sailing in the traditional way. What’s traditional? you may ask. When the captain shouts “All hands on deck!” and you’re asked to go aloft, up the ratlines in the rigging to the yards to furl the topsails, and you’re balanced up there 50 feet high, hung out over the yard gathering in sail — that’s traditional. (Working aloft is not mandatory, however.) Traditional sailing is also an attitude about the sea and the tall ships who grace her waters. It is an understanding of the natural ways of travelling through the water; the combination of wind, waves, and manpower that keep a ship moving.
