Prep 5 trip to SS Discovery and Frigate Unicorn Gallery

Please click on thumbnails below for larger images

Some observations about SS Discovery from Prep 5H:

It was very hard to imagine how the men got up into the crow’s nest.  Also, I think it was very stupid of a man to climb to the top of the ship just to wave to the audience.

Joel Skipper

I was astonished to find out that the crew had to go out in the freezing cold to chop up all the ice and melt it to get water.  I don’t think I would be that great as a sailor because I would probably freeze and hate the crew’s food.  Still, I loved the trip.

Ellen Niven

I was amazed by the rigging.  It must have been a lot for the man who built the ship to take from mast to mast.  It was attached to many of the outside parts of the ship to hold it together.  I t was also used for hanging sheep’s carcasses.  When the sailors went to Antarctica, they used the cold air to freeze them.  I thought that was a good idea.

David McIntyre

One other story that I liked was about the brass tube.  When a member of the  crew was steering the ship, the steering wheel was at the back so the sailors could not see where they were going.  There was a giant brass tube running from the front to the steering wheel.  There would be a man at the front of the ship and he would shout through the tube to tell the people at the wheel where to go.  I think that was smart.

Jamie Wills

The models in the exhibition were very life-like.  I especially liked the model boat which was cut in half so that I could see inside it.  The detail was excellent.

Alice Thomson

Frigate Unicorn:

I loved hearing about the powder monkeys and how they would carry around the gun powder and cannon balls.  They sounded funny and agile.  I love the name powder monkeys.   
Evie Gammack

I liked the ship’s bell and how it was made into a font for babies to be christened in.   I thought it was good that they wrote the names inside the bell so you would be able to know who had used it.  I hope you get the original bell that you bought in an auction soon so I will be able to come and see it.
Jennifer Harkness

I loved listening to the story about the snitch stitch.  It was a bit yuck that when someone was dead, he was put in his hammock so that it could be stitched up.  The last stitch was put in his nose!
Georgia Summers

I also liked the room with all the ropes in it.  It smelt like tar and it also smelt very fresh.  It was based at the very bottom of the ship.  I liked the route that we took to get there.  We had to crouch because it was a very small space.
Ross McCran

The model of the ship gave me the idea of what the ship would look like all those years ago.  It must have taken a great deal of patience and skill to make it.  The rigging was amazing.  There was so much rope and when I think of rope it reminds me of that room in the hold that smelt of tar.  It is good that the ship has a roof to keep it sound for many more years to come
Imogen Watson

The mess deck was really interesting because there were lots of tables.  Imagine the sailors eating maggots in their biscuits!  Because it was dark and hard to see, they wouldn’t know.
Robert Retson