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.