Buoyed by Good News, eleven Volunteers advance 5 different projects; Layne Carver Recognized for surpassing the 100 Volunteer Hours milestone.

 The good news was the Captain's announcement that funds had been found to begin the electronics and engine repairs necessary to enable Spirit of South Carolina to cast off the docks. Those projects would take weeks, at least, to complete, but it was a light at end of the tunnel that wasn't there the week before. Meanwhile there were piles of  off-season projects still to complete that would also lead to the schooner's ability to go to sea again. So, at 0900, Saturday morning, eleven Volunteers mustered amidships and divvied up the projects.  

Mike Evatt and Dan Maurin
 on the PDF lockers

Dan Maurin and Mike Evatt started in on finishing up fasteners and lids for the three PDF lockers currently stowed on the dock, then transitioning to tool inventory and reorganizing the tool lockers with help from Joe Gorman. 

  Calvin Milam and John Whitsitt tackled pans full of vinegar-soaking rusting tools, getting them cleaned off, then bathed in heavy oil.  Philippe Agafonovas organized selected implements for photos to post online for sale.  

Danny Johnson and daughter Laura, broke out scrapers, heat guns and sanding tools to take the remaining two scarfs of the starboard quarter cap rail down to wood, and prep them for initial coats of Deks Olje D1 sealant/preservative.  

Danny Johnson and Laura
taking down the starboard
quarter cap rail

Layne Carver, eyed some rust scale and flaking paint developing around the starboard main chainplates, and took charge of that project. Bryan Oliver met Adam Schaich from College of Charleston, at the gangway and took him on a tour/orientation of the vessel. 

 Spurred on by some appropriately maritime tunes off a media speaker, built an impressive work tempo, until screeching to a halt, when Hunter handed up from the galley a large hot serving pan of hot Mac 'n Cheese with Shrimp and Crab.  

As the crew finished up lunch, and scoured the pan of seconds, Bryan introduced Adam to the Volunteer crew, and recognized Layne Carver who drives up from Hilton Head, by the way, for his surpassing a 100 Volunteer Hour Milestone. Layne's time and skills benefitted Spirit of South Carolina for just over a year, included taking on some take-home wood refinishing projects, and a stint living on board while the schooner was in Shipyard at Thunderbolt last September.

Philippe, John, and Calvin
 sort thru old tools

As lunch completed and clean-up progressed, Bryan reorganized volunteers for one last push before ending the day. One team grabbed sanding blocks, mineral spirits and clean rags to finish up preparation of the starboard rail, following on with wiping two coats of D1 onto the finished raw Sapele wood surface.  On the port side quarter cap rail, Calvin and Adam tacked down the surface and applied it's first coat of D2 varnish.  

With those two tasks completed and tools stowed, this Volunteer crew could boast of over 55 Volunteer hours well-invested in advancing Spirit of South Carolina's progress to that day when she'll slip her lines again and bear off into the harbor.  Thanks to all hands who laid in on those projects that day. And special thanks to the Volunteers who have raised their hands to become "topmen", and go aloft for the next big project of renewing her masts.  Maybe next week.

Bryan Oliver presents Layne Carver
his "Foremast Volunteer" Pin on achieving 100 volunteer hours.
Joe Gorman in background.

A Chilly, Blustery Saturday couldn't slow down this Crew.

 On paper it seemed like an almost perfect day.  Sunny, and the summer heat was gone; If only it weren't  for that darned Nor'east Force 4-5 breeze blowing down the Wando. 13 Volunteers came aboard to lay into three projects.  

We mustered amidships at 0900 to get an earlier start.The plan was to lay down a coat of white paint on the port inside bulwark, re-secure the hinged lids on the three dockside PFD lockers, and start scraping down to wood, the last 3 scarves of the starboard caprail, and prep them for varnishing.  Then, clean up and transition to some docking drills. Somewhere in there, Hunter had volunteered to prepare a lunch for everyone.

The sharp breeze, steady at 15-20 knots threatened to derail the  painting project. Two of the more experienced volunteers, Jack Burton and Calvin Milam recommended switching from the planned use of paint rollers and trays, to brushes in order to minimize the risk of paint splatter blowing over the deck.  Bryan Oliver organized Volunteers across the three projects. The majority, Danny Johnson, Madison Pulley, Calvin Milam, Mikell Evatt, John Whitsitt, Dylan Outlaw, and friend Cameron Carsten, and Joe Gorman stretched out ground cloths under the bulwarks, broke out scrapers, brushes, and rags.  Bryan set up a paint/solvent station.  Dan Maurin grabbed tools and went ashore to tackle the PFD lockers. Kalev Kruuk and son, Riivo, selected a few scrapers, sander and several grits of sandpaper to start on one scarf of the starboard caprail.

By late morning, the Volunteer crew had completed the three projects. After cleaning up and stowing all tools and hardware, Volunteers mustered midships for an orientation led by Bryan, on the vessel's docking and undocking procedures, with requisite dockline handling, heaving lines, voice commands, and a couple of essential knots. Following the orientation, Volunteers took general positions to stand by, to take in dock lines #1 and #4.  Following voice commands, Volunteers on the dock slipped the lines from their piling or cleats, while Volunteers on deck took in each line  coiled and stowed them below decks.  After a short review of their work, everyone gathered round the butterfly hatch amidships where Chef Hunter had laid out pots with massive quantities of Spaghetti, huge meatballs, and some exotic chocolate wafers for dessert. 

After seconds had been called, and all kitchen utensils handed down to the Galley, Volunteers mustered one more time, this time to rehearse and execute a docking drill.  This required crew working together, to retrieve dock lines 1 and 4, stowed earlier, set them up properly with large bowlines, bend on a heaving line using a Highwaymen's Cutaway hitch, and toss the heaving line to the dock where a waiting Dock hand hauled the dock line over to the assigned piling or deck cleat. Volunteers then practiced the the techniques for managing dock lines thru a series of voice commands as if the vessel were being warped to the the dock, finally making them fast to a kevel or quarter bitt on the deck. With the schooner once again "safely docked" , the day's work was done. 

A Message in a Bottle-returned(a real-life sea story)

That's right, shipmate. It can happen.   What do you thing the chances are of throwing a message in a bottle overboard on the Atlantic Ocean, and having it recovered? Well, according to Capt Richard Bailey, who skippered Spirit of South Carolina from 2016-2018, about 50/50.   We tested that hypothesis, me and Tripp Seaman the 2d Mate; and, yeah,, I can say that we proved it.

FLASHBACK - 

May 10, 2017. In the North Atlantic,  38 degrees, 26 min North, 65 degrees, 2 min West;   

two days out of St. George's, Bermuda,  northbound to Boston. 

on the 2000 - to midnite watch.

After two straight days of rollicking squally weather, a high pressure systems settles over us, and the SW wind drops to  less than 3 knots.  A starry, moonless sky over head.We've been motor-sailing for 3 hours, sheets hauled in tight to keep the empty sails from flogging. I'm on Capt Bailey's watch, and we're about to hand it over to Tripp's watch at midnite.  Capt Bailey directs me to open the lazarette hatch in the cockpit deck, climb down and hand up a beat-up white igloo cooler stored somewhere below.  He opens it up to display a pile of empty rum bottles. As the our two watches come together, he offers each watch member the opportunity to pick out a bottle.  Tripp and I each pick out a bottle.   Capt Bailey's got several slips of paper in his hand and hands one out to the two of us, they're preprinted with the Ship's information.  We're directed to write our own "to who ever finds this bottle'. So I scribble something on my note, roll it up, and slip it into the bottle, along with a personal business card I scrounged out of my wallet. We cork or screw the tops back on the bottles, seal it with duct tape and with a mumbled benediction, ceremoniously heave our bottles way out off the  starboard quarter into the the black sea.  Tripp then takes charge of his watch, and I practice my sailor's walk along the weather rail all the way to the forecastle and climb into my bunk.  

So, what happened you ask?   FAST FORWARD 18 months.

For a visual of the rest of the story follow this link:  What Happened to the bottle?

A tough crew takes on a tough job.. with teamwork and grit.

It was getting colder out on the harbor. The sunny skies belied the chill of the gusting winds whipping across the docks at 10-15 knots creating chop that constantly beat at the hull of Spirit of South Carolina, sending intermittent explosions of spray up over the rail. That morning, nine volunteers began mustering amidships. They had responded to the call for help by Capt Dan for a special job.  Spirit's rigid inflatable dinghy, had been tied at an inside slip of the Maritime Center, for the past two weeks. She needed to be motored back to the schooner's port (outboard) side, and hoisted aboard;  her bottom then scoured of the barnacles, pluff mud-grown scum and other sea life that had attached firmly to her rubber and aluminum undersides. It wasn't going to be pretty or pleasant. 

As Bryan  briefed the crew gathered under he foresail boom awning, their curiosity turned to resignation, then determination. No one had done this before, save probably Mike, a salty sea captain in his own right, mostly grinning thru Bryan's explanation of what needed to be done. You could see Nina's brow furrowing in curiosity, maybe a little bit of consternation. Down from Clemson, she was visiting family, and her Dad, Philippe had invited her down to the schooner for some father-daughter time. Now she was probably questioning what she had signed up for. Bryan droned on, in excruciating detail, describing the tasks the volunteer crew needed to perform.  Madison Pulley, coming from Greenville, was impatiently shifting from one foot to the other. Having previously endured 30-minute ship's history lectures from Bryan, she was anxious to get started on something,, anything.  Danny Johnson, meanwhile separated to gather up tools to finish up his own masterpiece on the dock, the Grand Gangway Staircase. 

The huddle broke and like clockwork, crew members started to work.  First they cleared the midships' deck of strewn cordage and tools, while four others derigged and rolled back the foresail boom awning to clear the working area. Meanwhile, Bryan, Mike, Jack and Gary derigged the starboard boat falls from the gangway, and passed them over the foresail boom to Madison and Anne on the port side, who rigged them up to receive the dinghy. 

 Bryan, Mike, and Nina hiked back down the dock to man the dinghy, cast off and motored out to the schooners outboard side where the crew stood by to take the painter from Mike while Nina steadied the bouncing dinghy against the side. , lower bow and stern falls to Bryan catching the dinghy's bow and stern's bridle. Once the dinghy crew climbed back aboard,  three crew took stations on bow and stern falls.  As they hauled away, Madison, Nina, and Anne, leaned over the rail pushing against the dinghy's side to keep her clear of the stanchions and lifelines as she came up. Once the dinghy was chin-high,  the boat falls were made fast to their pins. Crew circled the suspended dinghy to ease her inboard over the cleared deck; John and Jack rigged guy lines from the stanchions to the dinghy to prevent her from swinging further inboard. 

That was the fun part.  Now the work began;  that of scraping and scrubbing. While Madison brought up a bucket of sea water, Mike manned the fresh water hose and fixed a pressured spray over the dinghy's bottom to keep her wet. Bryan infused the bucket of sea water with a liberal amount of Simple Green degreaser. 

Grabbing putty knives, crew surrounded the bottom and began working inward, scraping off scores of baby barnacles, an occasional tiny crab and other marine flora. Next, crew traded out scrapers for bristle brushes,, dunking them in the salty simple green solution, they commenced to scrubbing.  Ever so slowly, the dinghy's bottom surface became visible, regaining some smoothness.  As  Mike hosed the bottom and rubber sides down, Capt Dan walked by, scrutinized the bottom, diplomatically pointed out a missed spot, and withdrew. Two crew members jumped on the missed spot.. and   we were ..almost.. done.

But first,, taking a break for a group celebratory photo.  Danny took Bryan's cell phone and hung out on the foremast shrouds,, over the water with Bryan's phone,, to take this great shot. Actually he took several. They 're available in the Volunteer Photo's link at the top.

The happy band of Scrapers and Scrubbers
  Front row; Anne, Crosby, Bryan Oliver
Standing: Madison Pulley, Jack Burton,John Whitsitt,
 Mikell Evatt, Nina Agafonovas, and her Dad, Philippe
Behind them in the white hat. Gary Pope

Break over, one final task; Hip the dinghy.  Crew took stations on boat falls and positions to push out the dinghy as they lowered her slowly back over the side to a position level with the caprail, where is normally secured for ready use.

It was a great volunteer day; in a few hours on a Saturday morning, the crew exercised about 10 deckhand skills, saw themselves develop into an effective team, and returned the dinghy to a shipshape status. 

And Danny finished the Grand Staircase.  We proudly invite you to come use them sometime soon.