The Old Ship's Wheel and the Captain

"I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."

~John Masefield

Exciting news!  Today I received confirmation that my application has been approved and my Merchant Mariner credential has been issued and is in the mail.  Translation: I am finally, officially a United States Coast Guard licensed Captain!

And progress on the boat continues.  The boards for the coffers on the ceiling have been stained and are on the boat ready for installation.  I love the color, and I cannot wait to see what they look like assembled.

The color is exactly what I was hoping for.  To see what it would look like, I held it against the ceiling:

I think the ceiling is going to be spectacular!

So...last weekend I was browsing an antique store.  While browsing, I ran across this old ship's wheel (circa 1800s):

I think it is absolutely beautiful, and I love the mental images it conjures:  a storm-tossed ship in 1824--the captain's gloved hands gripping the wheel tightly to bring his vessel safely into harbor.

I didn't buy the wheel--I walked away.  Just as it is still sitting in the antique store, it also still sits in my mind.  I really love the idea of bringing this old wheel back into service on my boat.

I called the store and had them take some measurements.  The radius of the old ship's wheel is 20.5 inches (so, 41 inch diameter).  The wheel that is currently on my boat has a radius of about 11.5 inches (diameter of 23 inches).  My contractor feels the old ship's wheel is much too large for my boat.

...but I still couldn't get this wheel out of my mind (I call it determination--some call it obsession).  Today, while I was on the boat to see the color of the beams for the ceiling, I decided to try to build a model of the wheel so that we could see how it would look installed.

I looked around to see what materials I could find.  I found some scrap styrofoam and wide, yellow painting tape.  Perfect!  When I told my contractor what I had done, he replied, "you are truly crazy."

I know.

Anyway...here you can see the current wheel, and next to it is my very artfully crafted, very fancy model of how the old ship's wheel would look.

Here they are side-by-side.  The yellow tape circle represents the wood circle of the old ship's wheel.  I still think it would be absolutely beautiful, and I would love for this captain's gloved hands to grip the wheel, steering the vessel to safety.  We just need to be sure the wheel would not block the controls of the boat.

Dreaming of this boating season, on the great Ohio River in this tall ship, looking at the stars with the old, worn wood of this beautiful wheel in my hands steering my vessel wherever I want to go.  I think I need to buy the wheel...