Maritime Passage
by James Williamson
Title
Maritime Passage
Artist
James Williamson
Medium
Painting - Oil On Canvas
Description
Maritime Passage to the sea and sky, with the wheel's kick and the wind's song, the vagrant gypsy life. -thanks to poet John Masefield
Artist James Williamson, ASMA
Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists
Artwork helping to preserve the golden age of sailing vessels; schooners and all windjammers that navigated west coast waters. An appreciation for the vessels and their crews bringing the age of windjammers to life.
A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts that may be square rigged, or fore-and-aft rigged, or a combination of the two. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English Dictionary records the word "windjamming" from 1886 and "windjammer" with reference to a ship from 1892.
Lumber for homes and industry went south by sea from the Pacific Northwest. Nothing to guide the mariners but wind, compass, sextant, stars and a sixth sense. Ships and intrepid pioneers sailed through good weather and bad.
In our present-day maritime world of super-ships, it can be hard to realize that for nearly seventy years the basic commerce of the west was carried by sailing vessels manned by daring and resilient men and women of the sea. Imagine the era when sailing ships reigned supreme in a world of maritime transportation. Artwork that brings back the days of salty air, intrepid sailors and sailing ships.
During the age of sail some of the finest coastal and offshore windjammers were created. Predominant was the schooner; spritely, fast, and commodious; two, three, four, five, six and seven masted vessels. The perfection of the schooner could take full advantage of the prevalent inshore and offshore winds, which could maneuver tight spots in any weather with a small crew and was the vessel that dominated.
A topsail schooner: A square topsail is a square-rigged sail, carried above the foresail only, on gaff schooners. (A brigantine is a two-masted vessel with a forward course.) Schooners carrying square tops are referred to as "topsail schooners"; gaff topsails are taken for granted on gaff-rigged vessels and pass without comment in a vessel description.
A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. A vessel with both a gaff topsail and two square topsails; the partly obscured sail between the topmasts is a topmast staysail.
Uploaded
June 29th, 2022
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Comments (1)
Jeff Burgess
Like this work even more.
James Williamson replied:
Jeff: Thanks for your positive comments. Keeps me painting. Oil painting adds an interesting dimension to the art.