Five Volunteers combine 30 hours to maintenance projects, and some deckhand skills thrown in.

This past Saturday five volunteers, coordinated by yours truly, joined up on deck, from a distance of course to take on five different maintenance projects.  Though weather threatened, it never materialized over us, and the sea breeze made the tasks bearable.  
A special welcome aboard to new Volunteer Fred Jourdan, who was here to watch her being built, and is now able to join us on deck. No one wasted any time in getting involved in something.. The morning quickly focused into individual projects, under the awning,, mostly.

• Steve Boone plugged resealed and reinstalled the hinge and dog hardware on the aft cabin butterfly hatches. 
• Danny Johnson sanded down the gangway dock steps to prep for repainting and replacing the ship’s name with new letters, finding a good stopping point for lunch and the first rain drops.
• Joe Gorman did some canvas repair fine tuning to restore one of the deck chairs. 
• Layne Carver returned the Dory sailboat’s wooden thwarts and ship’s boathooks, all restored and varnished.
• Both Layne and new Volunteer Fred Jourdan pitched in together to begin the scraping and sanding of the Mainmast fife rail , in prep for oiling and sealing that will bring it up to standards with the rest of the deck furniture. Afterwards, Layne took Fred to a pinrail to demonstrate and try out some line handling skills.

As these volunteer days press on, and hope springs for a change in the virus situation, and opportunities to cast off from the dock, maintenance projects will continue to take center stage, but deckhand skills training will take on added urgency. 

Currently the prominent maintenance repair projects are 

• completing the scraping,sanding, and varnishing of the remaining scarfs of the caprail.. Currently six sections, including the Taff rail. 
• Repairing and restoring the finish of the Dory.. now on deck under the awning.
• Complete scraping the Main Masts' Fife Rail, to prep for it's coats of preservative/sealant,, usually 8 coats.
• Aloft in bosun's chairs to prep the masts for receiving their own UV protective coats.
• Below decks,, straightening up and preparing the berths for passengers. 
• ReFinishing the Gangway Wood Steps. 

More to follow.

Don't forget to check our our Voluneer T-Shirt.. currently only color, is gray. Quality Ship's illustration on the back.  Contact Bryan Oliver to arrange for obtaining one.  Sold per cost. proceeds are returned the the Ships Petty Cash Fund.

First to reach 100 Volunteer Hours on Spirit of South Carolina

"Foremast Volunteer"

That's the rating first awarded to Volunteers starting in 2003, who had achieved over 100 hours of time dedicated to supporting the building, launch, and sailing of Spirit of South Carolina.  The program languished after 2011 as the schooner fell into hard times and was laid up. In February 2019, the Volunteer Program was resurrected. By that time, Ken Fonville was just getting actively involved.  As a "walk-on" Ken came down to the dock one day and offered to help out wherever he could.  I remember his mentioning one caveat, as an past executive in the furniture building industry, he preferred NOT to do varnishing.  I think within the first few weeks, he found himself scraping and prepping a scarf of the cap rail, for , you guessed it,, varnishing.  

Ken Fonville (the tall guy)
 with other volunteers on return
 from Shipyard at
Thunderbolt in Savannah.

Since that time Ken's laid into just about every project started on Spirit of South Carolina, including two days in dry dock in Shipyard in Savannah.  

He's also logged several day sails in the harbor, including delivery back to Charleston from shipyard.   

Moving Day: Volunteers team up with crew to load and haul gear from storage back to the dock.

These past 10 days have seen a flurry of activity on and around Spirit of South Carolina.  As Captain Cleveland prepared to move back aboard,  he faced the daunting task of emptying out and moving back to the ship an entire storage shed of ship's tools, spare parts, hardware,

Deckhand, Matt, and Volunteer
 Hunter Freeman  unloading
 and stowing tools and parts
 on the dock.

 sails, and cordage that had been kept in storage off site. 

 So, last Friday, the 17th, Volunteers, Bryan Oliver and Hunter Freeman laid into the task along with Capt Dan and crewmember Matt, to drag, roll, lift, and haul eight loads of materiel back to the dock.

The following Sunday morning, Volunteers Dan Maurin and Danny Johnson, mustered on deck to sort out and secure the pile of materiel, as well as dispose of several dock carts worth of trash and salvage. As the afternoon heat closed in,  volunteer, Bryan Oliver showed up. He and Hunter teamed up with Capt Dan and Matt to down-rig the sailing Dory, and lift, haul over, and maneuver the hull across the dock and over to the deck of Spirit of South Carolina, where she will become the next maintenance project. 

New Revised DRAFT of Crew Manual is available for download.

Click on the link in the right column to open a .pdf version of the latest draft. It's much expanded over the 2009 edition.  Focused more on crew and deckhand responsibilities than student orientation, it's equally applicable to professional, volunteer crew, and participants who choose to engage in their tall ship experience as crew.  

Comments are welcome.. contact bryanoliver74@gmail.com

Volunteer Effort is again making a difference on Spirit of South Carolina.. and Results are showing!

Progress continues on the effort to make Spirit of South Carolina ready for her next time she can slip her lines and bear away. Last Sunday, Danny Johnson and Madison Pulley, all the way from Greenville spent the day finishing the remaining belaying pins, and trying out some deckhand skills. Madison picked up the Heaving Line merit badge pretty quickly, with excellent marks on form. Note the picture of her aiming to put the line over the rail of Spirit of the Low Country that was just passing by.

Last week, Danny Johnson took home a project to repair the ripped seat of our canvas deck chair.. returned it stronger than ever.

Robin Pennington lays
 on the last coats of D1 sealant
 to the 12 foot boat pole

  

This Saturday, Layne returned with a newly restored 12 ft boat hook. Both boat poles are now 99% refinished and ready for use, thanks to Ashley and Robin Pennington, Steve Boone and Layne. 

Steve and Ashley wooding
and sanding the small boat pole
 prior to applying
1st coats of sealant.

Steve Boone came aboard too, and immediately focused on the salon's sprung butterfly hinge, resolving an issue the crew had been staring at for weeks.

All lines except the Main Gaff vangs are run fair to their respective belaying pins, thanks to Danny J. Layne and Dan..and our nautical lexicon has hopefully been expanded and reinforced. The main boom was hoisted into it’s proper angle. Layne again has his hands full for a good take home project benefiting the Dory. 

Slowly regenerating a Rhythm

Recent weeks have seen a s slow but inexorable resurgence of activity aboard Spirit of South Carolina.

Last Wednesday, 24 June, the College of Charleston brought aboard a video crew and an agenda for filming a video short to be used in marketing for the College's student body, and ultimately for broader audiences.  A  group of experienced Volunteers joined some returning crew to participate in the project. The day started early  at 0730 with a breakfast.  

CAPT Dan and Blake set up
the Onboarding scene

Dr Blake Hall, College of Charleston,also a volunteer, explained the agenda and objectives for the day.  Meanwhile two different camera men were already moving about, filming just about everything. While some crew began preparing the deck for a simulated Day-Sail, and being filmed, other received specific roles to perform as they would for bringing passengers aboard, stowing their gear, assigning berths, etc, all with a camera filming. Other crew rolled up the awnings, and dressed the Jumbo for setting.  Change scene to Captain Dan giving his welcome aboard speech, then a launching and retrieving of the rescue boat, followed by setting, dousing, then harbor-furling the jumbo. 

"Passengers" stow gear and try out
 their berths while the camera rolls.

On completing those scenarios, the crew shifted to performing the more routine chores,, performing deck wash, rigging awnings, coiling and hanging, and, of course, some scraping and sanding of the taff rail for varnishing.  We even went over the side in the rescue boat to spot paint the hull. Amidst the activity, Hunter laid out a hearty spaghetti and meatballs lunch on deck.

Crew members Matt and Dani
 compare notes following
their interviews.

Following lunch, maintenance work, filmed of course, continued.  Selected crew and volunteers were selected to be interviewed on a range of questions.

Chief Mate Charlie explains
to "passengers" how they'll harbor
 furl the Jumbo.

As the day wound down Blake reviewed the day and explained what would be done with the video and interview footage collected all day. It would be edited into a final documentary in the style of "Veritas" which combines snippets of the seemingly mundane, with overdubbing of conversations and interviews to produce a coherent credible message.

Last Saturday marked the resumption of weekly Volunteer Days, planned for alternating Saturdays and Sundays 9 AM to 3pm. New volunteers Hunter Freeman and Madison Pulley were welcomed aboard by Bryan Oliver who led their orientation. 

New Volunteers, Hunter and Madison 
finishing up oiling belaying pins, 
while Bryan explains the
deckhand skills checklist

On completion of the ship tour, they joined Layne Carver who had already started a project of sanding down and oiling the remaining 12 belaying pins with D.1 preservative/sealant.   As the last coat began to set, the group shifted over to some line handling practice.  By end of day Volunteers had checked off  on 8 deckhand skills.