Lynx comes to Kona

The Privateer Lynx has been prowling the Kona coast the last couple of weeks. She's a replica of a ship that was used to help protect the United States in the war of 1812. Back in those days America didn't have enough ships in its navy, so privately owned ships were basically deputized to prey upon the enemy's shipping; thus, "privateers."

Their goal was to capture English merchant vessels and sell the boat and its contents to make money. Heck they'd even sell the crew that was on it. So basically privateers were bounty hunters of sorts.

The Lynx will be here till July 30th. Then she sails to Lahaina Maui. While she's in port there are tours daily except Mondays. She also does an afternoon sail and sunset cruise.

A couple of years ago a replica of the ship Captain Cook sailed, came to Kona and I didn't make time to go take the tour and I always regretted it. So when I found out about the Lynx visiting the big island I made it a point this time to take a tour. Shoot, we took an afternoon 3 hour sail instead of the tour.

We picked a Saturday afternoon cruise and there was a total of about 47 people total, including the crew. This is a real ship not the Love boat, even though one couple was a little confused. Where was I? Oh yeah, seating. Pretty sparse. Even still though, the time flew by. In the picture here you can see one of the cannons. The crew called them guns. I don't remember why. It fires a 6 pound iron ball. These are real guns by the way. If this ship was to actually run in to pirates, I think they'd have second thoughts. The crew fired a blank round, it was loud with lots of smoke. Very cool.

It was fun, you could help raise the sails or just hang out and watch. On deck that is. The crew was the only ones allowed above deck. Which was fine with me.

Eila's no slouch, she was right there in the middle of helping get the sails up. Even the little one in front of her had to work!

The cruise was 3 hours long and it seemed like the time just flew by. The crew was very knowledgeable about sailing 200 years ago and did an excellent job sharing their knowledge with us. It was very informative. We learned being a sailor back then was a HARD life.

One Last Thing

The crew was very very professional in all aspects. I was surprised, they looked very young but they sailed like old "salts". I would highly recommend taking a cruise with these folks anytime.

The Privateer Lynx will be here in Hawaii till around the middle of August and you can call 866-446-5969 for their schedule.