Elissa left drydock yesterday and made it back to her slip. The two tug boats helped get us get from dry dock back to Elissa's dock, but the crew manually got her from the end of the dock back into the slip.
Fun fact: Elissa is in the middle of getting a brand new diesel engine, the old one has been removed but the new one hasn't been installed yet so she doesn't have an engine right now. Her first diesel engine was installed in 1918.
Tall Ship Elissa evening party during the annual Dickens on the Strand festival, Galveston, Texas, 2025, her jibboom is missing here because it was being replaced
Fun fact: Elissa's original hull is made of wrought iron. There's some sections of the hull that have needed to be repaired over the years which has been done with steel.
Elissa's main capstan with a line tied in a tugboat hitch around the capstan, wooden bars that are used to turn the capstan are leaning against the mizzen hatch in the background (next to the signs reading 17 and 18)
To put simply, capstans are mechanical devices that are meant to help the crew handle lines that are carrying a heavy load. They're basically just a giant winch. They usually have a ratchet mechanism so that they only turn one direction to help prevent the line that's wrapped around from just coming unwrapped from the capstan.
Capstan on the main deck of the USS Constellation
Capstans come in a variety of styles and may look a little different, but all carry some similarities. They're always sitting up vertical. (If you see something that kind of looks like a capstan on it's side, especially if it's near an anchor, it may be an anchor windlass.) Old capstans are designed to be powered by the crew pushing bars around in a circle. The bars are usually meant to be removed so that they don't get in the way while the capstan isn't being used which is why capstans usually look like they have holes around the top of them. Modern capstans are often powered electronically, with hydraulics, or a motor.
Capstan found below deck of the USS Constellation
Capstans can often be found on the main deck or head deck, though some are found below deck as well, such as on the USS Constellation and the USS Constitution.
Capstan found below deck of the USS Constitution
Capstan on the head deck of the Joseph Conrad, Mystic Seaport
Capstans are useful in a lot of different situations, it can really depend on the type of ship and number of crew available. On the Elissa, we use the capstans a lot especially while sailing. The Elissa has two capstans, one on the main deck and one on the head deck. They're often used to help haul on and hold mooring lines during the sailing season, to lift up or bring down yards and/or masts for maintenance, to bring heavy cargo on or off the ship, or to help lift Elissa's small rescue boat off the ship and get it into the water in case of emergency. Some ship designs can use the capstan to assist hauling up the anchor as well. When you need to haul on a line that's attached to something really heavy it's a lot easier to use a capstan.
main capstan on the Elissa holding the main course tack line while sailing
fore capstan on Elissa's head deck with a yellow and black mooring line secured to it
If any sailors would like to make any corrections or think I should clarify something, feel free to leave a comment! Open to feedback
plus original photo, without the edits. The angle of the photo makes the jibboom look extra long. Elissa's bowsprit is steel while the jibboom is solid wood. Elissa also has three headsails, the outer jib, inner jib, and foretopmast staysail.
Hello! I love all of your photos! I am so grateful for this blog i love your content so muchhhh
I wish I had the opportunity to get closer to tall ships and sailing like that, but due to a variety of reasons, it just isnt in the cards for me unfortunately. Because of this, I do not have any way to see any ships up close for myself to study them, only models and photos and illustrations.
Studying your photos, I have many questions! But because I am self-learning, I do not have any teachers to ask nuance-type questions that someone of experience and expertise would be best suited to answering, since certain questions have answers not easily found in books or other resources.
I was wondering is it okay to ask nuance/oddly specific questions on your photos?
Please do not feel obligated! If you would rather just post pictures and not get any technical questions that is okay <3 it will still give me things to research on my own regardless and i appreciate the learning opportunity!
Hey, thanks! Glad you're enjoying the photos! and yeah! Totally open to questions about anything I've posted. I'm still learning a lot myself though so there's probably plenty of questions I don't know the answer to. Feel free to leave a comment/ask/message
I've been able to visit a lot of ships (I've pretty much just been posting tall ship stuff here, but also have a lot of photos of old U.S. Navy museum ships as well), but I'm on my second year as part of the Elissa crew. So I'm definitely more familiar with the Elissa than other tall ships, but I'll do my best to answer questions about the others as well!
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