My husband and I toured both the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain during their stay in the Crescent City Harbor. The ships are lovely historically based designs and the crew members are all well-spoken and professional. We decided to go on the two hour adventure cruise the next day. The weather in Crescent City is often wild and windy, so there were some rough seas for this land-lubber, and I didn't keep down my breakfast. I still enjoyed the ride and watching the crew scurry aloft the rigging, then sing sea songs once the sails were set! It is a great thing to do, so my comment is only to let folks know they need to be ready to rock and roll!
Wanted to see it but after getting lost (trip advisor directions wrong) the website came up in a language without English letters. There was no phone number to call. Very frustrating. Visitors center told us it wasn't even here now. Disappointed. Probably would have been fun to see.
Great crew who will show you around the vessel and explain the parts of the ship, rigging and navigation. Interesting for kids to see this beautifully restored historic ship
The Lady Washington isn't always in port but when it is tours are available. Sometimes rides in the Chehalis River are also available. The organization just acquired a large piece of waterfront property so watch for exciting things to be built there.
We sailed out of Newport, OR on a 'battle sail' on the Hawaiian Chieftain alongside the Lady Washington. (Since it was a battle sail, two ships go out and stage a mock battle.) Holy cow, it was miserable. The weather was good, but maybe the sea was unusually choppy? (I don't sail much, so I can't compare to other days. And the crew certainly didn't say anything one way or the other.)The guy who checked us in and gave us the 'here's how to use your life vest' seemed personable and cheerful, and introduced the crew, who each waved reasonably cheerfully. But then that was it as far as any commentary about the boat, what was going on, what the plan for the cruise was, or anything remotely educational. There were so many passengers that we could, once planted in a seat, only twist around in place but not get up and move around. The sea was so choppy that we couldn't safely move around at all. The first 1/2 hour was a young girl screaming and crying, "The water is going to come up and get us! I'm going to die! I'm never going to get on a boat again! Oh my God!" So, yeah, it was choppy. The fore deck was cleared of passengers because so much water was coming over that bags were being swept away and people were soaked. We moved back to the poop deck. Once planted, we couldn't move. Five people within two yards of us were puking the whole time. Extrapolating to the whole boat, I'd estimate that a third of the passengers were vomiting. The crew didn't appear to say anything to anyone or offer anything like a vomit bag or tissue or towel or acknowledgement. People were just vomiting over the side. One person near me vomited on deck, and it was not washed away until 3 hours later when we were sailing back to port.There were cannon shots, which we certainly heard, but we couldn't actually see the cannon or watch it being fired. I could hear that someone was yelling something from the gun deck, but couldn't discern what he was saying. (It wasn't long enough to be any kind of explanation, I think it was just a sentence or two or 'lingo' amounting to 'I'm shooting off the cannon soon.') So we didn't get much education out of that aspect. My husband told me later things like, "You want to cross behind the stern of your enemy so you can shoot the rudder off, and so your cannon ball goes down the length of your enemy's ship causing lots of damage," and "It was relatively rare that a ship would actually sink from one of these battles, unless it involved one of those ships that carried the big 32-pounders." But we never heard anything like this information on the ship.The crew was businesslike. They called out directions to each other in authentic-seeming language. They certainly weren't hostile, but it seemed to me that, because the sea was rough, they were having to pay more attention to their work and could not really interact with the passengers. They also appeared to be training 2 volunteer crew members, so they had their hands full. One of them answered a direct question from me, but that was it as far as any 'educational' communications. There was certainly no shanty singing. And, again probably because of the rough sea, no one was getting up and helping out or participating, nor was anyone invited to do so. My kids would ask me questions, and I just had to respond, "I don't know what's going on." It was really quiet on our ship, very little talking, very little cheering when the cannon fired, maybe one or two yelled comments. I felt I had to whisper to my kids lest I further upset the sick people around me. The crew members occasionally taunted the other ship's crew members, a couple inside jokes, but not much effort to get passengers involved.I came prepared with vomit bags, ginger candies, we'd taken our Dramamine an hour beforehand. (Don't wait to take it until you're on ship, because that's too late. It can make the sickness worse at that point. That still wasn't enough for my husband.) I brought an ice block and a wet rag in a ziploc bag, and bottled water, because I learned years ago that if you wash your face, wrists and back of your neck with cold water as soon as you feel queasy, then you can very likely derail the coming nausea. (It seemed to work for me and my kids, although my husband turned down the assistance and got sick. It worked for the woman across from me who was feeling really ill, but tried this and didn't get sick.) But not a word about preventing seasickness from the crew or any assistance once one did get sick. That struck me as strange considering how often people apparently get sick. It's not like they had no idea that anyone would get sick. (There was a 'prepare to sail' document online that we read ahead of time which did have a paragraph in it about the possibility of seasickness.)No food or water served on ship, which is very appropriate. There are no 'facilities' on the ship except in case of extreme emergency. None of my party even thought of eating and would not have been able to open up the bag and take food out and eat it without dropping things and/or making a big mess of things. I had a hard time just pulling out and unwrapping a ginger candy. I don't know if they sold souvenirs, I never saw anything of the kind other than online. We bought our tickets on the phone and printed them out at home. That all went smoothly. We showed up 1/2 hour ahead of time and boarded at 5 minutes before the hour. Parking in Newport was more challenging than we had planned for, but worked out fine. I believe I saw a wheelchair being boarded, although I didn't see it once we were on board. (As I mentioned, we couldn't move around at all, so maybe it was there, I don't know. Maybe it was on the other ship.) But I would definitely advise against going if one is wheelchair-bound because of the generally miserable conditions. If one got seasick, how would you be able to vomit over the side?So, we're glad we tried it. The sight of the ships with all their sails up was cool. (I don't think ALL the sails were up, as I mentioned, I think the seas were too choppy. And, hey, I'm just guessing about this because no crew member ever said anything to the passengers in my neighborhood about sails.) My kids really understand that ship-board life in those days was not very pleasant. But the idea of classes of school kids going on one of these cruises is laughable, in a sick way. We wouldn't do it again, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. And I definitely would advise against taking any child under the age of 8 or 9 in a ratio of no more than 2 children to one adult. Maybe the deck side tour is more educational without the downsides.
When she's in dock, the Lady Washington is a must see. She has starred in movies (Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean), TV (Once Upon A Time), as well as a music video for MacLemor and Ryan. I took my father in law (retired Navy) to see her. He loved walking her decks and talking to the crew. Legally blind, he insisted that he take the stairs down to the galley on his own. She also offers sails. If you find yourself driving through Aberdeen, take the time to stop. You won't regret it!
This is an amazing ship to see. So cool it is here in Aberdeen most the year. Great history behind the ship. Definitely worth seeing.
We just took a free tour of the boat. It is fun to be able to say that you toured the boat the Pirates of the Caribbean was taped on. I would like to ride it one day.
My husband and I took a 2 hour sail on the Lady Washington to celebrate our 6th anniversary. We were married on the Lady 6yrs before. It was a wonderful time. One of the crew members that had been aboard when we were married was still there. The Captain put up 11of the full 13 sails. And we were moving pretty darn fast. It was such a fun time that really takes you back in time. They travel all over the west coast, so if the Lady Washington in port near by, go take a tour or a sail. It is an amazing trip back to a long ago time. The crew are amazing people. They work so hard, and yet make it look fun also. We will go again , for sure. It was a truly wonderful time.
This was an amazing day! The ship is more beautiful in person (so to speak) than in any of the movies she's been in. The time out under sail was very special.. we did have a bit of a diversion when one of the passengers passed out and hit her head on the deck. I am an EMT, so I gave aid. The captain was so pleased that we had medical personnel on board and that I was willing to help, that he gave me a great pin of the Lady Washington. GLEE!!! Also, my husband, who is a long time seaman, was given the opportunity to steer the ship., I have a great picture of him at the helm, with the captain. Great day, beautiful boat, great crew, good fun!