A History That Stands Tall

Bouncing along the ocean in a historic tall ship is an adventure most people only dream about. But spending the day clamoring up the mast, striking the sails and drifting off to sleep to the rhythm of rolling waves is more than just a romantic fantasy for one young man.

Andrew McKee, 17, has lived the life of a working sailor since age 15. As the second mate aboard the Hawaiian Chieftan, McKee is one of a dozen or so shipmates who are in the midst of a six-month tour of West Coast ports. The Chieftan and the Lady Washington, both replicas of vessels that sailed the coast in the 1800s, are docked in Long Beach through this weekend and then will be moving north to Ventura.

The ships are floating classrooms of sorts, offering dockside lessons in history, economics and science to schoolchildren and the public up and down the coast.

Some kids who visit are just excited to get out of school, said McKee, who grew up in and around boats his father built in Bellingham, Wash. “Others ask a lot of questions about the boat and what we do and what we’re teaching, which is California history and American history.”

Fourth-graders from Sherman Oaks’ Buckley school were recent visitors on board. For three years, the Valley school has ventured to the shore for dockside tours of the tall ships.

“It fits in perfectly,” said Rose Paquirigan, who teaches California history. “We study the explorers, Cabrillo and Cortez. . . . We talk about trading, study the missions and explain what [the explorers] were looking for. Coming here helps them understand what it was like to live on a ship, what they ate, how to navigate a boat.”

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In small groups, the students visit stations above and below deck, where McKee and other crew members, dressed in authentic seafaring duds, explain different aspects of life on board and how the original ships fared. In the process, the kids get to work the rigging, study maps and learn to use a compass.

While McKee is the youngest crew member on board the Hawaiian Chieftan, he’s also one of the most experienced. He began taking sailing seriously at age 12, sailed his first big boat at 14 and started working part time on a schooner at 15, going to sea for a month at a time. He spent most of his junior and senior years of high school on board, earning history credits for teaching schoolchildren and physical education credits for all the climbing, swinging and rigging it takes to keep things shipshape. The rest of his course requirements were completed through a correspondence school. He graduated at age 16.

A typical day on board the Hawaiian Chieftan begins about 7 a.m. with such menial but necessary chores as washing down the deck. On weekday mornings and afternoons, school groups come aboard for the dockside tours. On weekends, the ships are open for public dockside tours, as well as for trips into the bay for mock battles. The crew role-plays a battle, with cannon firing during these confrontations between the ships.

In the evenings, the cook rustles up dinner in the galley and one crew member is assigned cleanup duty. If there’s one thing McKee doesn’t like about life on board, it’s doing dishes. The rest of the crew gets the night off.

In his free time while in port, McKee usually hangs out with his shipmates. “The crew becomes your family,” he said. “Everybody’s left their homes and left their friends, and these are the only people you see on a consistent basis.”

What does he do for entertainment? “Sometimes I try to explore wherever we are, walk around and see what’s out there,” he said. “Sometimes, I just sit here and read more about boats.”

BE THERE

Tall ships, dockside tours, $3; students and seniors, $2; 12 and younger, $1; or $7 per family. Mondays through Thursdays, 4 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; through Feb. 7 at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, Feb. 9 to 21 at Harbor Village, Ventura. Sunset sail this Friday only, from 4 to 7 p.m. ($35; 12 and younger, $15). Battle reenactments, Saturdays and Sundays, $40; 12 and younger, $20. Information: (800) 200-5239.