Cruise to St. Augustine postponed due to Heavy Weather Offshore

 I apologize if news of the postponement never reached you.  Following our glowing Training Day last Saturday, You were likely looking for details Spirit of South Carolina's pending cruise to St. Augustine.   It is no doubt a major disappointment to Volunteers as well as crew, and our North Charleston passengers, that this cruise would not happen as scheduled.  These are tough decisions to make because of so many different people impacted.  But a careful weighing of benefits vs disadvantages, plus a Risk analysis pretty much guarantees a smart decision. In the end, a look at wind patterns down the coast clearly indicate against an attempt to put to sea from Saint Augustine for a northeasterly course back to Charleston. 

I have no firm word about future cruises, but I do understand that Dan Cleveland is discussing with the Board, the possibility of a cruise to Wilmington later in the Spring. Volunteers might be requested to supplement crew.

So, in the meantime, stay connected by following the Volunteer Blog. I'll be posting updates as I get them from the Director and Charley or Dan. Just add your email address in the box under  "Follow by Email" and click submit.

And  most important, take the opportunity, when you can, to spend a few hours or a day helping out the crew. Add your name on the Volunteer Calendar along with the time you're available to help. We'll make sure your time will be well spent.

"Brine"

Volunteer Deckhand Training Day  Kicks off a Resurrected Volunteer Program.

Just last Saturday, March 16, eight Volunteers for Spirit of South Carolina reported aboard for a day of deckhand training with the professional crew.  Only two, Joe Gorman, and Phil Frandino, from the Ships original corps of volunteers,  had much schooner deck-hand experience, having  participated in her early building, fitting out, and sailing her early programs.  The rest were basically starting from scratch.  Miki and Chuck Waring, Ken Fonville, Jonathan Shew, Sean McQuilken, and Meryl Huckabey turned out to be a pretty motivated bunch.  By the end of the day, they could boast of accomplishments they had not expected to make so soon.
Thanks to Charley Porzelt, the Mate, who led the training for the day, taking advantage of Joe and Phil as coaches, everyone received a full day of hands-on demonstration, practices, and do-overs to get it right,, rope-handling, essential knots, Docking procedures, and heaving line techniques, hoisting, dropping, and fish-furling both headsails.  A welcome hot lunch of  Chicken Enchiladas put out by Chef Hunter, made for a well-deserved break.
A few of the many positive comments by participants in the experience.
"the most thorough and professional instruction day ever spent in my many hours on gaff schooners."
"Charlie did an excellent job of having us practice and get comfortable doing various tasks.   
I'm definitely feeling a lot more comfortable being able to be a functional member of her crew."

All that effort was not just for fun, the ultimate goal is to build a sufficient corps of Volunteers that can supplement the professional crew when needed.  Saturday's training was just a start of a steady path for Volunteers to acquire the skills and demonstrate their readiness to work beside the professionals.
If you'd like to join in. start by putting your name with a time period into our Volunteer Calendar at right.  There's plenty of things to do making the ship ready, that could use your help, and in the process, you'll pick up skills and have them documented.  If you have difficulty opening and editing the calendar, review the "Instructions for editing the Volunteer Calendar" in the green column.

Volunteer Deckhand Training Day Coming this Weekend, Saturday March 16.

For interested Volunteers, here is  some additional information to help set you up for success and an enjoyable experience on Saturday aboard Spirit of South Carolina.  If you had not yet responded to my initial invite, and are still interested in attending, please respond with an email to me at 

bryan@spiritofsc.org

Meet at the gangway at 0900 Saturday, March 16.  The Training Day will go Rain-or-Shine on deck..  Long range weather forecast predicts partly cloudy with virtually 0% chance of rain, high of 65 degrees.. Hopefully that holds up.  Nevertheless, dress appropriately for the weather. 

It's a working schooner, not a yacht, so casual rough and tumble clothing is "deRrigour"; you don't mind getting dirty. Non-skid shoes, topsiders, or tennis shoes - leather soles tend to get slippery on a wet deck.
The day's activities will center around building your own confidence in your ability to perform specific functions on deck, including watch duties, for the five-day cruise to St. Augustine,, or any future cruises .  A Volunteer Deckhand Skills Checklist can be downloaded from the Volunteers' Blog. Highly recommend you download and review it.
The Mate, Charley Porzelt will be in charge of your day.  Some of you, based on your past experience, may find yourself recruited to be assistant coaches. The intent will be to take advantage of everyone's past experience to bring everyone up to a standard.

You will be fed Lunch.. Hunter, our Ship's Chef has signed on to provide you a lunch for the day.

This is not a one-time deal. The skills you learn Saturday will serve you in subsequent volunteer activities aboard, and make your involvement that much more enjoyable.  I believe it will leave you hankering for some more. You're growing into a very special community of Traditional Sail and Tall
Ship Sailors.. Even for otherwise experienced sailors, you'll find the experience brings a connection to a heritage with deep ties to our City and State.

Please remember to record your Volunteer hours in the Volunteer Log, and get your skills earned during the day, checked off by a qualified crewman on your Checklist in the Volunteer Log.   Meryl Huckabey is carrying the Volunteer Log around to ensure you make your entries.

Volunteer Deckhands for Weekend Saint Augustine Cruise March 21-24. Now  March 23-27   Postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions

Change of Departure:  Spirit of South Carolina departure date has been delayed to depart on Saturday, 23 for St. Augustine and Return  on March 27.  Spirit of South Carolina still needs her volunteers to man her deck for a long weekend cruise to St. Augustine, FL.  She'll be taking aboard approximately twelve Middle School youth from Charleston along with five chaperones.
No experience required, but you need to spend a Saturday with the crew for some training and orientation. If you're interested, even if you're iffy on being able to sail with us, come down for the training.  It will be a good way to check off a significant chunk of deckhand skills on your volunteer checklist., and it's a great way to get immersed in Spirit of South Carolina's community.   If you're an experienced deckhand, come on down for a refresher or even help train some fellow volunteers.

Captain Cleveland needs to know who and how many volunteers are interested in this cruise.
The crew will conduct a training day on board starting at 9 AM-4 PM Saturday March 16.  To attend, Open the Volunteer Calendar by clicking on the link in the right-hand green column, and enter your name as an event, on March 16.

If you have questions regarding the cruise, the training day, or anything regarding the volunteer training, please call or email Bryan Oliver (Brine) at bryan@spiritofsc.org, or 314-409-0433 and leave a voicemail.

A lot being done.. and a lot still to do.

Over the past several weeks, with just a crew of three professionals and one volunteer. The Cap Rail, jib boom and forecastle hatch bright work has been scraped, sealed and varnished. The jib boom is in middle of her final coats of varnish. The topmast de-rigged, the Jumbo (staysail) boom de-rigged and in various states of refinishing.
The two Fisherman anchors have been scraped, primed and are in middle of the six coats of anchor blacking they'll receive.



By the way, Captain Cleveland is considering augmenting professional crew with Volunteers for any upcoming Day-sails likely to be scheduled in the near future.  Incentive to come on board, help get her ready and work on some skills.  Volunteer Ken Fonville spent a morning with us last week touching up an initial coat of enamel to the inside hull of our Dory small boat, and a couple of hours helping to rearrange lines to the foremast port and starboard pinrails. In the process he checked off 5 Deckhand skills.

Lots still to do. There are plenty opportunities for you to contribute, and build your deckhand skills.   Here are some.

• Complete the refinishing of the Dory's spars and Jib Boom. 
• Help refinish the Topmast. 
• Strip and Varnish the Butterfly Hatch, and Main Salon and Aft Cabin Mahogany moldings. 
• Finish the Anchors and help rig them back onto the deck. 
• Reset running rigging into their proper positions on the pinrails
• Practice and check off some Deck Hand skills with the Crew.

Open the Volunteer Calendar (in the green column on right ) and enter your name, as an event,  on any dates you can come down, along with hours you can allow.  We'll be sure to have crew available.



 Two weeks ago, the crew laid out and inspected the head sails,









..then rigged them to hoist into the head rigging..







Finally, rigging the halyards and lashing jib and Jumbo onto their stays.