Breaking the sense of Stagnation while waiting for Spirit's Shipyard and beyond.

 I think it was Thomas Paine that wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls".. whadya know! I was right, actually,, just googled it. more significantly, they were the first words of his series of pamphlets "The American Crisis" in 1776, written to inspire and encourage the Continental Army. 

I can't help but feel a similarity to what we volunteers for Spirit of South Carolina are facing.  Of course, we are not trying to birth a new nation - only save a wooden traditionally rigged schooner. Still, the situation feels stark.  Since the departure of our last Captain, there are: No programs, no shipyard, no perceivable operating budget, no crew, and most unsettling,, no communication from, well, anyone up the chain. The last message in February alluded to plans being made.  Nothing else since. It appears to be, just us.  So, appearances are just that, appearances.  This week, I'll be taking extra efforts to identify what's ground truth.

Volunteer Bos'un Bryan Oliver building a picture
 for his student tour group of this schooner
 hiding enslaved African Americans
  in their escape to New Bedford

  In the meantime I'm exploring organizing a volunteer cadre of tour guides, with a specific mission; engaging  in conversation, the people who routinely walk down the dock;

•  offer them teasers of  information they likely had never known before, 
• offering a deck tour, 
• while telling a story or two, based on Spirit's historical role as a 19th century pilot schooner, 
• or more broadly,  ships of her class and the part they played in the sea-borne Underground Railroad from the early thru mid 19th century. 

Volunteer, Carin Bloom; Educator,
Historian, Reenactor,
 and former deckhand on Delaware's Tall Ship, 
Kalmar Nykel is helping organize
 our knowledge material into easy-to-digest
 Tour-guide sound bites.

Our Donations Box sits ready, beneath the saloon table, to be hoisted up onto the dock and made easily visible to visitors, when pointed out by our deckhand/tour guide at end of the tour.

  That's part of the purpose of Spirit of South Carolina, and its something we volunteers are capable of continuing, while we weather these other uncertainties.  Look for SignUP opportunities on our SignUP Genius web site. 

Link to Volunteers SignUP Genius

There will be some sessions of orientation and familiarization with our source material, Some walk thru's, and then going out and doing it! 

This can't be a one-person show.  If you love this schooner and want to honor all the things she stands for, then this should be an easy step. 

Bryan describing for an impromptu group invited aboard,
 the competitive world of 19th century Bar Pilots

Captain Heath Hackett using charts as visuals
 to lead his student tour thru the difficulties
 of ships getting into and out of this harbor
 before the Jetties were constructed.

Bryan with group of young racing sailors,
 getting a hand's-on lesson
 in 19th century seamanship.