Steamy Saturday and another check'-offed the Maintenance Punch List.

 This Saturday, 7 June, was sunny, hot, humid, breezeless,, what else can I say describe the situation four of us volunteers faced as we mustered together at 0900 onto the deck in the brilliant sunlight. The good thing was, we had a specific job to do, to keep us focused away from this sultry morning.  Ken Fonville took on the task of posting the National Colors on the transom, then hoisting the Palmetto Flag and Tall Ship's America courtesy flag up the mainmast. It was the resurrection of a maritime tradition we had allowed to lapse for several months.. Now onlookers knew that Spirit of South Carolina was indeed alive. Lance Halderman rinsed out the igloo water jug then filled it over a big chunk of ice Bryan Oliver  had picked up at Harris Teeter on the way down. Walter Barton and Bryan teamed up to lower the gang way a reasonable amount to make disembarking and reembarking manageable. The last task, and most critical, was to rig up the deck awning over midships.  Actually only the port side could be rigged, due to the starboard gangway setup. Already half rigged up, it was an easy four minute drill to unroll the awning from its lashing, hoist up the lifts and belay on the sheer pole, tie off the apron line extending between the shrouds, then tensioning the come-along strap on the main shroud.. Voila! Shade!  

Next came our focus single project.  The prior week, Lance and Tim Kolb had completed sanding the boat hooks, now waiting for linseed oil. and had started grinding off old peeling varnish  on the main gaff. Unfortunately, the sticky-backed sanding disks, the only ones left in the locker would not adhere to the hook and loop style orbital sanding pad, and they could complete only two square feet before muster off at lunch.  

Now Nick Swarts and Lance went below to bring out two orbital sanders, a handful of assorted sanding disks,  extension cords.  With everything powered up. Lance and Nick started grinding way at the old, blackened and flaking layers of varnish.  Meanwhile, Ken and Bryan conducted their own search for any remaining remnants of thinner, and varnish left over from previous projects.  The heat and absence of any breeze made the open deck oppressive, so crew took regular breaks filling up bottles from the ice water igloo, and stretching out under the awning.  

Ken Fonville securing the thinner after mixing up
 a pint of thinned varnish for the first three coats.
Nick is starting at the aft end.

Now onto the home stretch, Ken mixes up a diluted mixture of thinner and varnish while Bryan, Lance and Nick use the remaining thinner to tack down the surface of the gaff, taking off all sawdust  and sanding debris. Bryan and Ken stretch out a drop cloth under the gaff.  Once tacked down, Lance and Nick with clean rags, soaked in the thinned varnish start on opposite ends to apply it down the length.  

Bryan and Lance starting from opposite ends
 of the main gaff,  wipe on successive coats
 of thinned down varnish for sealant.

The thinned varnish soaks in quickly, and dries as fast, allowing for applying a second coat.  Meanwhile, everyone else starts securing tools, hardware, rags,  and deletris to trash cans.  As Bryan laid down the third coat to set in the sun, remaining crew disembarked. Next week, maybe one more thinned coat, then the varnish, full steam. 

The gaff will be saved.. ;-)

We Happy Few This Weekend.. and it Worked.

 [This entry published a week late,, have mercy on the editor] This past Saturday the 31st of May disrupted the normal rhythm of Volunteer effort with the annual Salute to Veteran's Regatta, hosted by the Charleston Offshore Racing Association, and sponsored by Blackbaud. Over 130 competitors in over 35 sailing vessels of all sized competed. 

At least six current or past Volunteers participated, including myself.  There would have been more, I'm certain, if our Navy contingent had been better informed.  As it was, Volunteers, Lance Halderman, and Tim Kolb, and I believe David Reid, all mustered Saturday morning on deck.  While the Punchlist was full, it turns out a shortage of tools and materials frustrated some of the effort. Nevertheless, Lance and Tim finished sanding the three boat hook staffs-now waiting  for the linseed oil now on order.  

The Gangway configured at High Tide, just clears the cap rail.
No worries, one can simply step across from the dock
 to the rail, or we set two aluminum "gangplanks across."

We also adjusted and set marking twine in the starboard bow and stern falls - to mark point around the belaying pin that will keep the gangway sufficiently high to clear the schooner's cap rail at high tide. Of course, the low tide situation results in the gangway resting a full seven to eight feet above the deck. In the days when the schooner had a liveaboard crew, someone was always responsible for adjusting the gangway twice per day to insure it's accessibility.  

Emma pauses in making the bow falls fast
to expose the position of the black marker twine
 at the belaying pin, marking the correct length
 for the bow falls.

In an unusual arrangement that turned out just dad-burned pleasant, Volunteers Benji Norman, Emma Etheredge, and Kevin Mirise, making his first appearance, mustered on board on Sunday afternoon, 4PM, and stayed for over three hours. The weather was mild, seas were calm perfect on deck, and the late Sunday afternoon vibe..perfect for a Scavenger Hunt. But first, Benji and Emma, tested their memories from their first time last week, and took charge of handling the bow and stern falls for the gangway, carefully taking lines off, controlling strain, safely easing and hauling, finally taking the line back to the pin, making fast, coiling and hanging.  

Bryan then explained to the three, the significance of "The Scavenger Hunt". The object is: given a list of tools, hardware, and consumables, and a map of below-decks and on-deck,   find the location of each of the objects by their location. The second part of the exercise involved an illustration of the mainsail rigging, and the Head rig, with numbered points designating a part of the sail, rigging, or spars. Objective, match the numbers with the name of the object.  

Both these exercises were aimed at accelerating  the familiarization of new deckhand volunteers with where things are, and what things are called-the two most challenging memory tasks of any new person coming aboard such vessel. 

The Six Knot Challenge; from left..
 Round Turn and 2 half-hitches,
  Bowline,
Figure-eight Stopper,
Highwayman's Cutaway,
 Sheetbend,
Slippery Reef Knot

 The last segment of the evening was devoted to introducing the Bloom Knot Challenge. Bryan arranged six ropes of a fathom's length (six feet) along the fife rail, and explained, then demonstrated the six most common knots  used aboard the schooner.  The Challenge is to complete all six knots within 30 seconds.  Kevin, having a bit of a background already in the "arts" gave it a go, and on first try, without trying,  came within 25 seconds of hitting the 30 second mark. His could very well be the next name to go on the plaque in the schooner's saloon.  Unless Nick shows up.

2 h