New Year Winter Maintenance kicks off Early.

Come down next Saturday,Sunday January 4, 5 and help !

Dani Feerst, aloft  on the mainmast, loosing ties
and lowering the Christmas lights.

Never too early when you want to get a head start on things. So, Dani Feerst and Bryan Oliver kicked it off this last Sunday morning, with a well-known routine at this time of year; taking down the Holiday lights.  Dani even recruited crew member, Ryan, to come down for an hour or so, to go aloft with her.  With lights and the glittery huge star all disassembled and stuffed back into their boxes for next year, Volunteers shifted over to linseed- oiling the starboard kevels and Mainmast fife rail, advancing the Chief Mate's program to ensure a monthly application of the stuff on all selected deck furnishings.

Volunteers took a lunch break below over bowls of  seafood gumbo that Bryan had brought along.
Back on deck the sky was getting darker.  The spatter of rain drops thwarted any further on-deck projects, but there was just enough time left before the rain started pouring, to fire up the pumps and empty the bilges.
It made for a productive morning.

More Maintenance Days have been scheduled for weekends, ensuring plenty of opportunities for Volunteers to get involved.  Projects are varied to fit any skill level .  Very soon the Booms and Gafts will be swung down for sanding and revarnishing;  To make it happen will require a barnraising-like event with plenty room for volunteers to pitch in.

Volunteer Winter Schedule set for Maintenance and Training Days

Capt Dan Cleveland and Chief Mate, Charlie are asking Volunteer help for four Weekend days per month beginning December 29, thru April 5, to lay in on projects, including, but not limited to the list below, that must be completed before Spirit of South Carolina can go to sea.

With only four full-time crew aboard, Spirit of South Carolina will need all our help to be ready to board students, trainees, and passengers, and go to sea in the Spring. While our Executive Director and Ships Officers work together to plan the Ship's operations, and itinerary over the coming weeks, there remains a sizable list of maintenance project to be completed. 

Here's a sample:

Cap rail to be scraped to wood, prepped and varnished.

All sails transported to sail maker for repairs 

Capt Dan, Charlie and Matt, last Thursday
load the Foresail for carting over
to Liberty Square to be laid
 out for inspection. Took four of us to move it.
Mainsail was next .

Foresail and Mainsail booms scraped, prepped and revarnished

All sails returned from sailmaker and bent on.

Belaying Pins, Pinrails taken down to wood and linseed oiled

Boat hook staffs sanded down and linseed oiled. 

Canvas and leather fittings sealed, preserved, or oiled.

Various Canvas and leather repair, cutting/sewing projects

Mast Shrouds inspected for wear, wormed, parceled, and  served as required.

Hull paint damage resurfaced and repainted.

Berths cleaned out, linens and bedding inventoried cleaned and stored.

Ship's Monthly Safety Inspections conducted.

Check the Volunteer Calendar for the designated Saturdays or Sundays you can help. Email or Text Bryan Oliver so the crew know you're coming. (Weekdays are open invitations to come help the crew). 

The Foresail spread out on Liberty Square
 for a thorough inspection, identification of chafing, holes,
boltrope separation, seams pulling out, grommet lashings
 and seizings worn.

Experienced crew is imperative to Spirit of South Carolina's operations whether at dock, doing harbor sails or putting to sea.  To advance that goal, portions of these weekend days will be devoted to building and practicing the deckhand skills to build that experience.  That will include training/shakedown cruises to exercise both the ship and crew. 

Experience is built on involvement, time and practice.  If you can come down regularly, the better the crew will know you, and better prepared you will be when opportunities come to set sail.

Spirit of South Carolina Volunteers enjoy an evening aboard at the Annual Holiday Parade of Boats

Executive Director  designates Volunteer Appreciation Night aboard the Schooner in conjunction with her Hosting the Annual Christmas Parade of Boats.

Just after the Thanksgiving Holiday,  Fletcher Meyers announced the first Volunteer Appreciation Event, since the resurrection of the Volunteer Program in February 2019.  A select group of Volunteers, recognized for their hours logged this past year in supporting Spirit of South Carolina, were invited with their guest aboard Spirit this last Saturday for a Dock Party. The added bonus was the Ship's hosting during the same evening, the City of Charlestons's judging committee for the Annual Holiday Parade of Boats.
Spirit of South Carolina's sponsor, Goslings Rum provided an open bar of Dark and Stormy's, beer and wine. Bryan Oliver brought along a Hot Buttered Rum mix.  Immediately following the judging of the Parade, Captain Dan Cleveland called muster of all guests, and proffered a well received toast recognizing the hours, efforts and accomplishments by the attending volunteers, and expressing appreciation for their families supporting their work.

Volunteers attending Saturday's Volunteer Appreciation Night
 were:from left to right: Chris Sosnowski, Two Co-owners of TowBoat US,
 Lee, guest of Jonathan Shew, Sean Mcquilken, Dan Maurin, Jonathan Shew,
 Danny Johnson, Layne Carter, Bryan Oliver, and Tim Geoghegan.
 Not pictured, but remembered for their efforts this year,
 are Ken Fonville, Phil Frandino, Chuck Waring, Dani Feerst, and Joe Gorman.

Afterward, Bryan Oliver, awarded Layne Carter, the Jibsheet Volunteer Pin, recognizing 50 hours of time devoted to the maintaining and crewing the ship; the third award to be made since it's re-inception  in February 2019.  The evening resurrected the tradition of  annual Volunteer Recognition events from 2002 through 2013.  In those days as many as 300 active volunteers were engaged in over ten different functions.

Winter Maintenance Steady Progress

Bryan and Dan finshing the last 220 grit
sanding round before breaking for lunch.

Saturday, December 7th granted a day of great weather over the Charleston Maritime Center Docks, enough for Volunteers, Dan Maurin and Bryan Oliver to team up on the Sapele Half-Round trim around the Forecastle Hatch. Together, they scraped and sanded the trim down to bare wood, and tacking it with 6 successive wipe-downs to clean out the  microscopic sawdust and debris left on the surface. After a break for lunch, Dan and Bryan followed it up by wiping 8 coats of Deks Olje D.1 oil over it.  By 1500 hours the work was done, just in time for a threatening squall to pass overhead. 

Winter Maintenance to couple with Deckhand skills sessions over the Winter.

Spirit of South Carolina has accumulated a good sized punch list of projects that should be completed over the winter period. Most of those are perfectly suited for Volunteers to lay into, for a few hours, half day or whole day. Larger projects, include the moving of the Foresail, and Mainsail up the dock over to Liberty Square so they can be spread out an inspected for repair issues prior to transport to the Sail repair guy. Scraping and sanding/ oiling the Fore and Main sail booms.  

Volunteers, you watch the posted Volunteer Calendar, or text Bryan the Volunteer Coordinator for days on which to advance the work, and also advance their deckhand skills.     Look for a few of those Saturdays to turn into Harbor Training cruises, if sufficient volunteers  respond. 

Check the Volunteer Calendar, for Available Saturdays, or weekdays, when you can come down to the docks and pitch in with the crew.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

November - Sure Was A Month, Alright.

I don't quite know how else to put it. For the Ship, her crew, and Volunteers, this was a month that served up one frustration after another.  Strategically, the greatest disappointment happened later in the Month, when the College of Charleston cancelled it's planned Semester at Sea Program for the new year.  Frustration on several levels;  The College of Charleston faculty was highly motivated to make this program work.  This was to be a significant validation for the ship's viability,  for her sponsors, and other educational programs.  Finally, it was to be our major revenue generator into the coming year.  Unfortunately, the College could not recruit the minimum number of students into the program that would make it economically viable.  For now, the Directors are examining a number of alternative strategies.

For Volunteers, November was felt thru three consecutive weeks,  Spirit of South Carolina, and Volunteers were prepared to cast off  for Public Harbor Cruises over three consecutive weekends.  Each time, Capt Dan made a tough decision to cancel the cruises, sometimes within the few hours before boarding;  Some volunteers were already enroute from long distances to come aboard to help. The first two cancellations were for weather.  Pretty straight forward; A well found ship can stand up to a lot, and Spirit of South Carolina has proven it.  But a ship of passengers includes their expectations for a good time, not necessarily high adventure.  Capt Dan's decision had to account for that.  The last cancellation was laced with irony. Capt Cleveland cancelled the cruise due to lack of an experienced crew.  Weather was unstable, gusty in the harbor, but worth going out in, given a crew confident in their ability to respond and act quickly, often instinctively  to changing weather conditions.  The available, and motivated Volunteers preparing to board that day were willing, but not the crew needed for those conditions.   Challenge Accepted.

November Experiences are driving some ideas and changes. Volunteers will benefit.  

So, here's the situation.  Spirit of South Carolina is lying at her dock, with only 3 professional crew to take care of her. She requires maintenance, and to keep her healthy, regular sailing. A ship of her configuration, between programs,  normally requires 7 to maintain and operate her under nominal conditions (Harbor sails, etc) Without revenue generating programs, there is no sustained funding, and no economic value to paying a full complement of crew.  Captain Cleveland, has long recognized the value of experienced Volunteers augmenting, and operating as deckhands to operate the ship. He and Charlie, the Chief Mate are stalwart advocates of building a trained volunteer crew. The Volunteer crew, those of us who regularly respond, and participate in maintenance and training/sailing opportunities is slowly,,slowly growing.  The gap to be filled is  experience.

Our Volunteer challenge is to grow that experience.  We do it two ways,, a combination of ships maintenance and deckhand skills practice.  Maintaining the ship helps you learn how things work, where things are stored, shipboard routine, standard operating procedures, interaction with the crew. Deckhand skills practice is just that,, building a muscle memory inventory of skills that become instinctive, interlaced with a discipline of teamwork and safety.  

So watch the calendar and your emails for notices on Maintenance and Training Days. Both are equally critical to your experience;  And let's look forward to the time when Ship's officers never worry about the competence of her crew, when her Volunteers take the watch.