Many, many years ago, when I was about 6 or 7 years old, my Irish grandfather took me to watch a ship launch in the San Francisco area. He was an old Navy man and he knew I had a great interest in all things sea-going (my father was also a merchant marine, so I had dual influences), and he thought I would enjoy the sight. It was the old fashioned, stern-down-the-ways sort of launch, complete with a lady smashing a bottle across the bow. The ship was a freighter and I remember being awed by the sheer size of the ship out of water on the ways. I was even more impressed when the blocks were set loose and the whole craft slid down the ways into the water with a lod rumble and spalsh and then slowly drifted back and settled down. If you ever get the chance to watch a proper ship launch, it is not to be missed...
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