While gazing at the window one morning at work (easy to do when you have a good view like my desk) I was rather taken aback by the sight of a giant sailing ship being towed into harbour. Neat. End of thought.

Once I arrived home though, I had a big four masted sailing ship peering at me in my bedroom window, so I rode over to have a look up close. And found that I could even wander on board. Free of charge, donations accepted, and their's a souvenir shop set up in the mess, with drinks for sale too.

Had a good look around. It's a bloody big boat. Pity we couldn't go below decks, I'd love to have a closer look. Eventually, I got into the souvenir shop, and worked out the story. The ship is called the Sedov, built in Germany in 1921, running wheat from Australia, and saltpetre from south america. It's the biggest sailing ship in the world today, but I'm not sure if it was always the biggest. (Apparently, this may no longer be the case, the "Royal Clipper" built in 2000, is apparently 12m longer, but it's a cruise ship that has sails)

Anyway, the Sedov is 118m long, has a 58m mainmast, 65 crew and 164 trainees. It must be pretty crowded on board, because it's not THAT big. These trainees were extremely visible in downtown for the two days they were here. Traditional sailor boy outfits, and little cameras, all speaking russian.