The Lady Washington is a full-scale period reproduction of the first American vessel to make landfall on the Pacific Northwest Coast in 1789. According to Bolton, the Lady Washington was a very appropriate choice to star as the Interceptor. “Vessels of her type were considered very handy and maneuverable, and quick to accelerate. They’d move in quickly and easily harass larger, more powerful ships, which is exactly how the Interceptor is used in the movie.”
Various modifications were necessary not only to transform the Lady Washington into the Interceptor but also to make the vessel seaworthy enough to tackle the 4,500-mile trip from Port Townsend, Washington to Long Beach and then to the Caribbean. These changes included everything from re-planking sections of the deck and installing traditional grated hatch covers intended to provide ventilation for sailing in warmer climates to increasing the number of gun ports and giving the ship a fresh paint job.
The Lady Washington departed Long Beach for St. Vincent and the Grenadines on December 2nd, stopping first in Acapulco to refuel and restock. On Christmas Day they made their way through the locks of the Panama Canal. Traveling against heavy trade winds at the worst time of year, sailing through some of the very roughest weather, the ship’s jib boom was completely sheared off. Once the crew retrieved the equipment that went over the side, the ship headed for the nearest port, which was Cartagena, Columbia. Once the Lady Washington was again seaworthy, they sailed on to St. Vincent, arriving on January 12th, 2003.
The Lady Washington’s crew was also used in front of the camera. The crew was a combination of men and women, experienced professionals as well as trainees, ranging in age from 16 to mid-50s, all of whom can now claim to have appeared as a pirate in a major motion picture, the ladies even on occasion sporting facial hair.
Stranded with no apparent way to pursue Barbossa, Jack and Will Turner have no choice but to ‘borrow’ a vessel, so they jump aboard the Interceptor to make way for open water. As the crew filmed running shots of the Interceptor from the deck of the Dauntless, Verbinski decided Jack Sparrow should be at the wheel, captaining the ship, while Will hoisted and trimmed the sails. Unfortunately, the actors had no clue how to do any of these things. Verbinski yelled across to the Lady Washington crew who were actually sailing the Interceptor to duck and hide so that only the two actors were visible on deck as the two ships passed one another.
“The cameras were rolling, they’d just done the sticks and next thing I know, the captain kind of disappears and it was just me by the ship’s wheel, so I had to grab it,” says Depp incredulously. “No one told me I’d be steering the ship. It was trial by fire. On the second take, I thought we were going to hit the Dauntless barge, and then Gore says to me, ‘Johnny, come closer, bring the boat closer.’ And I thought, ‘Oh man, I just steered a massive ship for the first time at what felt like breakneck speed! Come closer?’” he laughs. “But we survived.”
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