Attending Tall Ships America (TSA, formally ASTA) Annual Conference now in the Annual Bucket List

 Well, Wow.  I've been missing out! 

 Davis and I just completed our  attendance of the 51st TSA Annual Conference.  This three full day Conference was held at the Maritime Conference Center outside of Baltimore. Around 160, maybe more people attended, representing most of the tall ships on both Coasts and some in Canada.  Attendees were Captains, other deck officers, a few crew members, Educators, Board Members, Company reps who support the industry. 

I'll add the organization's website at the bottom of this blog entry. You should take a look. 

This was my first TSA Conference.    Given eight years of deep involvement with Spirit of South Carolina, and other Tall Ships, I  had known of it for several years. But not being licensed, nor a professional mariner, I didn't see much of a point in spending the bucks to attend. Up until COVID, Spirit of South Carolina had been an Organization-level member. That would give us status as "crew".  It's still possible, but until our member ship is restored, some features are beyond us.

 I had learned from shipmates that membership included access to a "Billet Bank", a bulletin board for ships to post "positions available" and for mariners to search , and advertise themselves.  The organization's website is a portal to a decent inventory of professional articles, planning templates, training opportunities. 

 Other online resources available to members thru the organization's website are adequate, and recently the organization has been actively adding to them.  For instance, in one workshop all about preparing for Shipyard, attendees conversed on lessons learned, shared tips and techniques, dealing with contractors, vendors, suppliers,, and  warnings. All agreed on the need to post a best practice Project Plan template onto the website for easy access. I know we could've used one last year. Expect to see some contributions there in the near future.

But most of all, by far, attendance was your invitation into a special community. The networking, the sharing of insights, experiences, advice,  was easy and natural. The atmosphere was like attending a huge reunion, and being pulled into it like an old friend.  I reintroduced myself to Hank Mosely, who, 15 years ago was Mate on the Schooner Virginia when I shipped aboard as "guest crew", basically a paying passenger. From that moment on it was like we'd been shipmates all along. Just about all attendees knew Spirit of South Carolina. As a sailing vessel, she's got a great reputation.  Post-session social activities ensured that the camaraderie extended well into the evening. In fact, there's a snippet video involving me and Kareoke that I'd rather would disappear.  

But,, I won't lie, the most fun part was:

The Maritime Center's Bridge Simulator 

Davis at the helm trying to  thread the needle...

..between an oil rig platform to starboard, and a burning Car carrier,
 in a cross-wind gale, in a snowstorm,
in middle of  Baltimore Harbor.  

.. while I stood outside, in the snow, 

smirking and pointing at all our conference shipmates "coaching" 

Of course the sessions, keynotes, workshops.  None disappointed.  You'll be getting take-aways from me over next few weeks .They are listed with their synopses on the Conference Blog, accessible through the website. 

The TSA Website:  Tall Ships America Home page

The 51st Annual TSA Conference:  Conference Page: Agenda, Attendees, Resources