This is what work's been like lately. A seemingly endless tangle of interrelated threads (of information rather than rope, admittedly) which need to be understood and put into some sort of order.

Of course, the rigging of a tall ship already has a sense of order, to those who understand how to make it work. As a metaphor, eeeeh, yeah, I admit, probably stretching it a bit. I really just thought it was time for a more expansive photo of the day since some of the more recent ones have been close in. (Although I did briefly consider dropping this shot in favour of 5948 You Can't be Sirius, but in the end I decided that the latter would be more at home in the Fun Stuff gallery.)

This is the James Craig (originally the Clan Macleod, 1,500 tonnes, 54.7 metres (70 from flying jib boom to mizzen boom), 9.5m beam), a 3 masted iron-hulled barque built by Bartram, Haswell & Co in England in 1874. She's now part of the Sydney Heritage Fleet.

The James Craig carried cargoes around the world until she was laid up in 1911 because of competition from steam shipping. Returning to service briefly after World War I, she was consigned to being a coal hulk in Recherche Bay Tasmania until being abandoned after breaking her moorings in 1932. The volunteers of the Sydney Heritage Fleet adopted her remains in 1972 and it's been an epic and problematic reconstruction task since then. Her reconstruction was completed in February 2001, and she now lives at Wharf 7 Pyrmont offering regular sailing trips.

Another image of the James Craig can be found elsewhere in these galleries. The (PBase Link is here.)