I agree.....very very nice!!! Do you have a boat of your own DaVinci? :)

Thankies.. I used to.. but no more..

Very nice! Again, your fog effects are so good. I really like how you've made the water semitransparent where it laps against the boat. The shape and position of the sails does a great job of conveying the feeling of the force of the wind. I was up until 2 AM, couldn't put down my book. I'm on book 7 (I think) of the Jack Aubrey stories. They hit an iceberg south of Lat. 40, lost their rudder and are trying to prevent sinking by fothering a sail along the bottom to stop the leak. Half the crew abandons ship in the small boats in hopes of making it 1500 miles to the Cape, the crew already having been decimated by goal pox. They'd been trying to outrun a Dutch 74 gun ship intent upon sinking them in huge seas with gale force winds. The Dutch ship loses a mast, founders and goes down with 600 men. Aubrey is terribly wounded in the battle. The crew has been manning the pumps 24/7 for weeks. It's looking grim. The superstitious crew believe the ship is cursed by a gypsy woman prisoner (they're transporting prisoners to Botany Bay but most of them have died). The surgeon delivers the gypsy woman of a breech birth during the middle of the battle, caesarean section. Remind me not to read this stuff right before bed. I had to keep reading until they made landfall on a rocky island after MacGyver-ing a rudder from a spare mast. Patrick O'Brien is a hell of a writer.

Sounds like a great read. The ship they used in Master and Commander:Far Side of the World, for that movie of it was the HMS Rose, which was a recreation of the original HMS Rose, a British Frigate that once shelled Stonington here in Connecticut. The Rose used to be kept here in Bridgeport for several years and you could go on and tour her. I went several times.. She was eventually sold to Newport Rhode Island, and I don't know where she is now. Thanks Grace edit: Looks like they renamed her Surprise... and she's in San Diego Rose/Surprise

After reading several of the books I watched the movie last week. It's a conglomeration of events that happen in several of the books, rather than following the first book, Master and Commander. Must have been fun to be able to tour the Rose/Surprise. I find reading about that time and way of life so fascinating. I know you would love the books. I'll have a look at that site. Thanks.