As Jonathan says,

"We went to the store to get groceries, instead we found a 370 ft Chilean tall ship halfway through it's yearlong voyage tied up alongside, so we hopped aboard to say hi."
#homeschoolinginSingapore
The Esmeralda tied up out front of VivoCity Mall

Walking to the grocery store, Ms.C started shouting,

"What's that? What's that? No, What is THAT? I think it's Pirates!"

It was actually the largest tall ship I've ever seen. We went for a closer look and the crew of the Esmeralda called us aboard. They were giving free tours. Us big girls found the ship pretty amazing. Ms.I was concerned, because we had mentioned "Pirates". She insisted on being carried while aboard just to be on the safe side.

All aboard!

We were escorted around the ship by a very nice young sailor in the Chilean Navy. I told him this was way better than grocery shopping.

I pointed out some very basic features on the ship for the kids, like the Steering Wheel, the Captain's Chair, Mooring Lines, etc. We talked about how the sails are used to make the ship move, and how the crew has to walk up and down the steep steep stairs while the ship is boobing around at sea. The last part really amazed the kids. The kids kept our family motto in mind while aboard:

One hand for you. One hand for the ship.

I was pretty impressed with myself. I was going up and down the stairs carrying Ms.I, our bag of water bottles, and helping make sure Ms.E  didn't fall down the stairs. They were very high and very steep stairs.

"What's up there?" asked Ms.C "Go up and see," said the Sailor. 
Checking out the Pilot House. 
Us girls in front of the Esmeralda's wheel. 

Apparently this ship has a bit of a dark past and was used for torture by the Chilean Navy under Augusto Pinochet’s regime in the '70s. I guess Ms.C was right about it being a pirate ship.

We walked by later in the evening to show Jonathan the ship. The Esmeralda was hosting a dinner party complete with a live band - What a place for a party! The deck is certainly large enough.