Cannon Aboard

The rigging and the sailwork on the Tall Ship Windy was quite interesting. All the sails are operated in a modern fashion, by pulling the lines from the deck. No one climbs up into the rigging, taking life into hands, anymore.
The instructional talk on our cruise was the history of the tall ships in Chicago, so the cannon on the starboard side was not used. I do understand that some of the cruises talk about the history of pirates on the Great Lakes, and that the cannon is fired at that time.