Spirit of South Carolina to host SC Aquarium Teen Interns in February. Maybe a Haul-out too.

Eight Volunteers mustered on a cold but clear Saturday morning to focus on a near term event; the hosting of two groups of Teen Interns from the SC Aquarium for two consecutive Saturday mornings on the19th and 26th. The visit is  a traditional annual event, cancelled last year due to COVID restrictions.  This year our Volunteers will welcome them aboard and lead them thru the experience of sailing a traditional sailing vessel,, without leaving the dock.

Ken Fonville, Nate Mack, John Hart, Danny Johnson and David Brennen will be training and coaching  the visiting interns through five interactive stations: Safe Line handling, Watch Standing, Sail Trim-points of sailing, Harbor navigation, and finally, raising sail.

They say that the best way to master a skill is to teach it to others, and this group is well on their way to that level.  Since last weekend they have been studying the crew manual, walking thru various scenarios, and practicing on each other. A couple of new returning Volunteers, Richard Behling, and Christian Lawyer, will serve as "trainees' for our trainers, and pick up some initials on their Skills checklist at the same time.

 

The Schooners Maintenance Punchlist demanded some attention too, in view of a renewed possibility of  her delivery to Thunderbolt, Savannah around end of February.  Several hurdles to be overcome for that to happen, and Capt Hackett has been focused in that direction. 

And so Calvin Milam took up reefing hook, sandpapers and caulking gun to clean out a deck seam suspected of leaking water into the Engine room. 

Nate Mack and Frank Thigpen discussing
next steps for the dory

Nate, John, and returning Volunteers, Layne Carver and Richard Behling , spent part of the morning on the Dory, sanding and prepping her gunwales for recoating. 

John Hart taking off the gunwale's
weathered surface to fresh wood.

Tony Marchesani laced on an anti-chafe leather onto the clew end of the Jumbo boom, then pitched with some navigation training insights with David Brennan.

The irresistible attraction of spending cold Saturday mornings creating sawdust and griming up your denims notwithstanding, the widely acknowledged best volunteer retention tool, is the reward that comes with lunch time, and Chef Hunter gift for kicking up a simple comfort dish like Beef Stew by several notches.

Volunteer deckhands enjoying  Hunter's latest
. Somebody with their hat on at the mess table,
 is owing us a round at the pub.

Richard Behring pitches in
with John on the Port gunwale.

 

Volunteer Coordinator, Bryan Oliver
explaining to Tony Marchesani paying
 oakum into a seam with a caulking iron.