Sea Chanties - Nov 2019

A dozen Explorers gathered on November 2nd to partake in the San Francisco tradition of Sea Chantey Sing-alongs. As it was the last night before our time fell back an hour, some gathered a bit early to appreciate a fiery sunset over the Golden Gate. We bundled up and crossed our Line in the Sand, ready to learn about the history and traditions of sea chanteys and sea songs in the Explorers Guild.

We made our way to the Hyde Street Pier but first stopped to meet some of the taxidermied specimens of Dr. Seuss’s imagination. Here we learned a bit more of the Huffelewufzlus, a stout antlered creature whose derpy grin seemed to be a defensive mechanism for wayward photographers, the Flimp-brounus, a flop-eared herbivore whose wide mouth allows for eating kale leave whole, and the Contents-Shellius, otherwise known as the warm and fuzzy tailed turtle.

Without much delay, we made our way to the Chantey sing-along and entered the large decommissioned ferry boat. We could hear the sounds reverberating throughout the massive hull of the ship and I could sense that each Explorer was getting a bit excited. We sat down and what happened next was a bit of a blur, a time bubble if you will. The stellar cartography was getting put down fast and furiously as each song came up. There was a man blown down by the wind, a set of women (Holly, Dolly, Sally, Sue, Mom & Sister, n’ Sweetheart too), a mermaid, a whale, a dead horse (in which to beat on), the death of Mr. Storm Along, a vampire, a poor old man and some orders to just keep hauling.

The group took a break for warm beverages and we sang our own song of Let Whimsy Be on the back deck under a beautiful night sky. Though we were warned of it being bitterly cold, we were all rather surprised at how temperate the weather actually was. As Explorers, we agreed to read Semper Explorandum and let ourselves loose on the rest of the night. As each Explorer decided their fate, the night was full of the joyous sounds of chanties, sea songs, and applause.