…or is it a figurehead? Meet the sailing ketch "Desperado" berthed in Newport, Oregon. She hasn’t sailed much recently, judging from her rig, but looky here:
(For lubbers, a dolphinspike is that rod that goes underneath the bow to the chain running from the hull to the far end of the bowsprit, basically to create an angle and tension that allows all that rigging to support the forward stay that holds up the mast and the forwardmost sail when there’s wind force on it. It supports the bowsprit and allows it to take the weight of a sail further forward than the boat’s design would otherwise allow. If this support structure fails, the forward sail and the mast come tumblin’ down.)
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