Most Productive Volunteer Day in a Long Time.

 At least it sure felt that way to those of us who mustered Saturday morning the 22. Eight Volunteers(!) answered Volunteer Coordinator Bryan Oliver's late week plea for a half-dozen volunteers with promise of some varied and fruitful projects in store, which would require several hands. 

Walter Barton, Ken Fonville, Tony Marchesani, Danny Johnson,  and Four Navy men:Dallas Spencer, Lance Halderman, David Reid, and Maxwell Dale  mustered on deck at 0900, for some a a welcome reunion after some absence [duty calls].  Bryan didn't waste any time organizing the first project which would require all hands.. the hoisting and swinging in board our wounded Inflatable rescue boat, which had been suffering a slow leak in her starboard quarter pontoon for five months now, undiagnosed.  

Danny up on the dock, gives a status of his work
 to Bosun' Bryan, at the Mainmast
with volunteer "knot tyers."

Danny had already started on the finishing phase of his own project, the construction of a solid step and bridge from the dock over to the gangway, replacing the high stepped version he had also built two years ago. 

 First, following Tony Marchesani's suggestion, volunteers ran a garden hose across the dock and squirted about 20 gallons of water into the still-hipped inflatable, to check first for bubbles along the inside seam between aluminum bottom and the rubber pontoon. No joy there, we'd have to bring her aboard and soap up the rest of the outer edge of the pontoon... With three hands sweating falls, for and aft, Bryan and Walter guided the inflatable inboard to settle her onto the two chocks just set. Walter appeared with a bucket of heavily soap detergent-laced water and a soft rag to start squeegeeing the stuff along all the seams and worn spots across the bottom and sides of the starboard aft pontoon. 

Ken Fonville gasket coils the inflatable's stern line
 while David runs a soapy film down a seam,
looking for leaks, identifiable by their
 tiny bubbling up thru the soap film. 

After 20 minutes slopping on the soapy syrup, and feeling, listening, and squinting for bubbles, we had nearly given up when Walter excitedly pointed to a single large bubble slowly forming over the junction of 3 seams and the aft corner of the pontoon. We'd almost missed it.. A few more sweeps of the soapy rag across it confirmed a definite steadily bubbling up.  Maxwell climbed below to search the galley cabinet for a magic marker to mark the spot.

Dallas begins on a quick-fix jig,
working an Ocean Plait Mat
out of Manila rope, 

Meanwhile, Dallas Spencer had taken on the task of working an Ocean Plait Mat out of 35 feet of manila rope once donated by the late Joe Gorman, Volunteer Knot Tyer's Guild. Using the guide in the Marlin Spike Sailor Magazine, Spencer wove fairly good rendition (for a first try) of an ocean plait, or Sailor's Lover's knot- just in time to be thrown into use as a deck-pad for launching the dory.

As tools were being returned, Bryan directed Maxell to the rope locker to retrieve the canvas bag of "pet ropes" training stuff,which also contained six new fathom-length ropes to bsede u for the Bloom Knot Challenge.  While Dallas finished up his Plait Mat, the rest gathered around the fife rail to try out a few of the required knots that would make up the Bloom Six-knot Challenge.

Bryan explains the typical trip-ups
in making a slippery reef knot, "on its side"

 Bosun' Bryan coached them thru the finer points of the Slippery Reef knot, deployed only for the taking a reef in the sails. It's not as intuitively easy as it looks, given the knot must be tied in a vertical configuration, simulating knotting a Reef point in a gathered sail along a huge boom. 

First Sea Trial Crew readies
 to climb aboard.

Now for the main event, obviously the project that was drawing the most interest.. the final rigging up and launching of Dory.  Last Saturday, Dory had been lifted over the dock rail along with her cradle and other gear and secured below on the floating dock.  During the week, Bryan Oliver had dropped by to lay on a coat of varnish on the underside of the gunwale.  Now the task was going to be the flipping of the Dory hull back onto her bottom, followed by the up-rigging of the mast, boom, mainsail and standing rigging, not to mention fitting on the rudder and daggerboard, and bending on new bow and stern lines. 

While Dallas works the tiller,
Lance gets self-OJT on the oars,
 and Maxwell in the foresheets
thumbs-up.

When all appeared to be ready, Bosun Bryan asked for volunteers for the first three crew to test sail. Barely avoiding a fight, Bryan handed command of the first sea trial over to Dallas Spencer, who took on Lance Halderman, and Maxwell Dale- the later two,, actually never-ever's. While Lance wrestled with mastering his oars, Dallas in the stern sheets, worked the tiller, and later lowered the boom and handled the Main sheet.  Dory would take her sea trial under mainsail only; her jib still hidden under piles of canvas in the forecastle #2 berth.  Ranging far out into the harbor, Dallas and crew, mostly experienced a smoot operational cruise.. 

Out in the harbor with a parted Forestay,
 Dallas keeps her steady while lance in the
 foresheets  works a jury rig to steady the mast.

But they don't call them 'sea trials' for nothing.  Out in the middle of the harbor, the forestay parted, and with the aft rigged shrouds, threatened to pull or strain the mast aft-word.  Careful sailing, and Maxwell, in the fore thwart keeping hand tension on remnants of the foresail, enabled Dory and crew to return to the dock and tie up.

With forestay now stabilized,
 Dory's crew enjoys a leisurely return to the dock.

Immediately, standing by for their turn,, Bryan and David pulled Dory in close enabling the first crew to disembark. While Bryan and David situated themselves in balanced positions, and tested the feel of os, helm and daggerboard, Dallas, and Lance worked a jury-rigged forestay.  Now it was Bryan and David's turn.  This time carrying a handheld VHF, for maintaining contact with the shore group, Bryan, first on oars, then moving aft to take n the tiller and mainsail sheet, maneuvered Dory thru a series of tacks and jibes, working with constantly fluky breezes sweeping into and out of the dock areas.  As the rest of the volunteers began cleaning up and securing tools and other gear, Bryan and David sailed Dory all the way back into the dock.  Volunteers exercised their first ever drill at exercising a two -man crew process of lifting and pulling the Dory up over the edge of the dock  and up into it's cradle.  There the Dory was totally down rigged and all gear and fittings laid out beside the hull. Step by step, two volunteers lifted up and carefully flipped the dory hull bottoms up,, and began fitting all the gear up into the cradles, to protect from wave and weather, and tempting of pilferage. 

Accomplishments this Saturday were notable in that they pointed to subsequent projects equally significant in moving the maintenance effort foward:   Patching up the inflatable rescue boat, making her available for hull maintenance. Exercising rowing and sailing drills with Dory, 

Spirit of South Carolina is Featured Guest on Derek Astorino's "Food Boat" YouTube Series

She's on YouTube again!  This time, thanks to Derek Astorino, a local entrepreneur and long time supporter of Spirit of South Carolina.  

Schooner Volunteers treated to a gourmet lunch

Some of you may remember many months ago  when our Schooner was temporarily docked at the Carolina Yacht Club, Derek came aboard Spirit of South Carolina with a local Catering Chef, Reggie Miller and his assistant, Adrien, to cook a pretty serious hot lunch for 12 Volunteer Crew.  

Derek has been building a business around a traveling FoodBoat,  making appearances where ever groups of boaters gather on local sandbars, beaches, and marina's.  His marketing strategy is in producing YouTube videos showcasing local culinary arts people, and other and characters in an entertaining and educational way.  Derek has produced what looks like dozens and dozens of these short videos, all pretty entertaining, and has amassed over 4,400 subscribers.. That's a lot of eyes, potentially looking at Spirit of South Carolina.  

He's done our schooner a huge favor, and is likely to be aboard again sometime, so give his YouTube Video's a look, and share.

A few Volunteer are earning front-of-the-line spots when we launch Dory for her first row around the dock and sail down the coast.

 Only three of us mustered  last Saturday morning the 8th.  Weather was, well, simply perfect. so we found reasons to stay up on deck.   After some initial commiseration regarding our all feeling like orphans, which quickly washed away on reflecting we were standing aboard this schooner like we owned her, were essentially on our own, to set our own priorities,, maintain?, train? or play. 

Maintain?  It was becoming a challenge to organize work priorities. All the major pre-shipyard punchlist items had been resolved, now it was looking for other, long-standing issues, long ignored, but  needing resolution; all important but not urgent: The forecastle head, the bent stanchions, scraping and varnishing everywhere, deep cleaning below decks, oiling the pinrails, sampson posts, and riding bitts. The mast hoops could use some scraping and re-oiling. Plenty of other stuff that might as well wait until Shipyard.. Last Saturday, Walter, Lance, and Ken Fonville did finishing touches on Dory's big blue sheer stripe, now looking sharper than ever. Afterwards we pulled out the bag of practice ropes for knot skills and walked thru the rules, and conditions for a fair and fun knot-tying competition.  We are finding the techniques and secrets  knotting in quick succession.. easier than it looks, with some practice. Wait.. is this "play?"

Train?   We're about totally downrigged, so nothing hands'on in that area.. But then there's harbor navigation, hard chart navigation, we have two sextants onboard, then there's the Bloom Six-Knot Challenge. 

Prepping Dory to be swung outboard
 into Boston Harbor for some joy-sailing

Play?  Well, it's all mostly play anyway. am I right?  Still there's some deserved time to specifically enjoy where we are. That's part of the reason Dory is with us.  Now she's only two volunteer sessions from rigging up and launching her into the water for the first time in many months.  If you want to take her out, just show up and volunteer!  

Casting off and bound for
downtown San Juan

   

Announcing Inauguration of the Spirit of South Carolina BLOOM SIX KNOT CHALLENGE

 Yes, kids, you all know this has been in the making since the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show last October when Carin Bloom returned aboard with that shiny medallion and bragging rights to having tied six knots in less than 30 seconds.   Well, we're finally ready. Inspired by the Challenge created by the International Guild of Knot Tyers , and curated by their U.S. representative, our own Dan Machowski, here it is.

Slippery Reef Knot -    Bowline -   Round Turn and Two Half-Hitches  -  Sheet Bend  

 Figure-Eight Stopper - Highwayman's Cutaway  

The Six knots are the same basic marlinespike skills required of all hands working the deck aboard Spirit of South Carolina and just about any other tall ship in the world. The object is to tie, in no particular order, these six knots in six different ropes positioned in front of you. The knots must be completed to the standards laid out in Ashley's Book of Knots and the Bo'sun. As in any traditional sailing vessel, the Bos'un, being in charge of the deck and rigging, retains the authority to require specific standards, as long as they do not violate the Ashley standard. Additional guidelines and rules to be published. 

If you can successfully tie these six knots in 30 seconds or left, you'll earn the right to have your name engraved in the plaque above, displayed in the Saloon, plus all requisite bragging rights. 

Ample practice and coaching available.  When you think you're ready, notify the Bo'sun or designated representative. 

A Clean Sweep of the Punch List, and now ready balance the maintenance list with some skill building.

 So, basically, last Saturday's Volunteer Day went like this;...  While Bosun Bryan took off for Galveston for a family reunion weekend, leaving only a Punchlist full of projects and vague instructions,, Ken Fonville, Tony Marchesani(just off the disabled roster, might be recognized wearing a pirate eye patch), and David Reid, effectively pulled off a Clean Sweep.. (Everything on the list completed)..  That hardly ever happens, in my experience.. there's always some little issue that prevents one or more of those tasks being completed and resolved.  Not only did the intrepid crew make quick work of those, they cleaned out the under-saloon-table mini-fridge, and left open to air out.  With a steady rhythm established for maintenance it's time to balance with some serious skills training.

As for Bryan in Galveston,, he found some way to break away for a couple hours, to locate the State of Texas's own Tall Ship, SV Elissa. It's always an interesting adventure for find another tall ship, do some exploring, and interact with other sailors.  Lots to learn, and ideas to adapt, maybe.
Unfortunately, it was a Saturday, so the people he wanted to connect with,, their Volunteer Coordinator mainly, were all off.. actually at the Mardi Gras parade downtown.  Nevertheless, a self-guided tour was completed, photos taken, and interesting insights made. There's a good YouTube link for the tour below.  

Elissa is a three-masted Barque. iron and steel hull and steel lower masts. 205 feet long sparred. She was built in Scotland in 1877, and sailed the world as a sort of "tramp" sailing vessel picking up cargo and taking it where-ever, picking up more cargo where it could and taking it where ever it could be sold.. In other words,, not real schedule, at some point in those cruises she made port at Galveston twice. 

Gasket coils-a little sloppy,
but same as us. 

At some point she was found to be no longer viable and sent to a scrapyard in Greece.  Galveston was looking for a symbol of the city's late 19th century development into a major seaport, and found the Barque.  The Galveston Foundation bought her, brought her to Galveston in 1978, and restored to as a museum piece, and sailing vessel in 1982. For one month during the year,, April, she actually takes a number of passengers as trainees for a six hour day sail, to basically learn the ropes.. s ame thing as we would do in the harbor, the whole time learning about how a ship like that works.  numerous videos on YouTube. The ship is actually maintained under the umbrella of the Galveston Historical Society.-similar to the Charleston Preservation Society. 

The link below is a pretty good tour-guide video of the entire vessel.

Tour the Barque Elissa

When I boarded, the volunteer crew had just departed after hoisting up the mizzen topmast into position with the mizzen truck(the tippy-top) poking thru the mizzen doubling . The final task would be to set up all the standing rigging at the mizzen truck, then using the capstan, hoist up the mizzen topmast into it's final resting spot. 

Would've liked to have stayed for that.. It's what we'll need to do for our own main topmast. 

mizzen topmast swayed up along side
the mizzen mast
 and suspended for the next step.

Bottom of the mizzen topmast showing the sheave thru which a line is run, back up to a block at the mizzen top, then down to a turning block on the deck finally ending up bent around a capstan, where the crew will set the captstan bars and lay in.

The Capstan- waiting for the line to be  bent around,
the bars placed, the crew leaning into it and a good shanty sung.

Elissa is a well-supported historical attraction vessel capable of going to sea.  I'm hoping to learn some lessons from her, and pass on to whoever may listen.