Volunteers fortify their Bonds to the Ship with "The Deep Clean"

 Deep Cleaning. Sailors know it well; It's a regular phenomenon, usually predictable, tied to an event, or just the Chief Mate's sense that it's overdue.

Not our schooner,
but you get the idea

There's no way to make it sound fun, It's physical work, plain and simple; somewhat unpleasant, occasionally downright nasty.  But for sailors, especially traditional tall ship sailers, it's the most fundamental component to taking care of their ship. 

It requires you to get intimate, so to speak. In the course of deck washing, or below decks scrubbing, dusting, mopping, scraping, wiping,  you have to explore spots you never before gave any thought to. discovering hidden compartments, plumbing, caches of spare parts, lost tools, and deep recesses that don't seem so foreboding once you lower yourself into them and look around. You inevitably find something amiss, something that will need to be fixed, and sometimes, something that could be improved.

 In the course of wiping away some accumulated grime, you're putting your hands on a timber, a fastening, that was designed as part of a whole thing to shelter you and keep you safe from some of the worst of the sea's tempers. The workmanship is a thousand years or more of evolution in carpentry, tools, metalwork, and ship design, seagoing experience, upon the shoulders which stand the modern epoxy and carbon fiber wonders gliding around the harbor,,,  while you are toiling below decks with a bleach bottle and sponge in the forecastle head. 

Okay okay alright. It's hard to wax poetic in the middle of a deep cleaning. In fact, it likely takes more than a few deep cleaning work days under your belt before you appreciate how your feelings about your ship is evolving.  Nobody anxiously awaits the next opportunity to dive into the next chore, but you do pay more attention to daily taking care of the ship in small ways, on a daily basis. You 'll see your shipmates and maybe noting it in yourself, being more careful about spills and cleaning up, stowing tools and gear after use. spot painting or lubricating something on your own, keeping things "shipshape."   "Love "is a little strong as a descriptor, but "Caring for" is pretty close to describing  the emotional bond that grows in sailors who take a berth in one of these ships.  Long time ago somewhere, an 'Old Salt' admonished  a young sailor;  "You take care of your ship, and she'll take care of you"

This last Saturday,  Capt Cleveland set a priority of a deep clean for the ship.  Expecting an inspection from the American Bureau of Shipping in the new future, he observed the ship needed some significant effort to return he to a well organized/well cared for vessel.  Eight Volunteers laid in with all the implements to dive into a deep cleaning aboard Spirit of South Carolina; for most, their first time. To maintain social distancing the crew spread over four separate areas. Madison Pulley, Charlie Malone, Layne Carver, Adam Straich, and Mikell Evatt charged the fire hose, and with hard scrub and soft broom brushes started  vigorous deck scrubbing.  Madison and John Whitsett followed down the cap rails with fresh water and chamois to wipe salt and grime off all the brightwork. Next, the crew broke into three teams for the forecastle, salon, and aft cabin for the real deep cleaning, sorely overdue after 9 months at dock without crew.  

Madison Pulley starts thru the 
lunch line

Up to this point, what was missing from this Volunteer day, much welcomed in the past, was lunch.   Danny Johnson volunteered to take contributions, and hiked back to HT to provision for some easy to prepare lunch stuff. While the rest of the crew worked through all the nooks/crannies, mopping,scrubbing,sweeping, wiping every surface, and putting away piles of tools, and gear, Danny and John prepped a hot lunch of ready-made lasagna, garlic toast, salad and brownies. 

 By one pm, the Deep Clean stood down, and all crew helped themselves generously to the buffet line laid out on the butterfly hatches. 

With the main project for the day complete,  several volunteers cleaned up and secured from lunch, then disembarked.  Madison remained for another two hours to coach John Whitsett thru some knots from the deckhand skills checklist.  Bryan Oliver and Charlie Malone began planning and gathering material for contructing a manila rope sword mat, large enough to protect four feet of cap rail currently chafing under the gangway as the tide rose and fell.  It didn't start well. Bryan created a near disastrous collapse of a brand new 500 foot coil of manila rope into a gordian knot.  With the help of Capt Cleveland, the pile was salvaged into a large working coil and specified lengths measured and cut for the next phase.  

The day ended well enough.  The ship looks great on deck and below. Volunteers can be proud of a long list of maintenance projects completed over the year, and a fair amount of deckhand skills increased.  Next Volunteer day on January 2 hopes to see the return of everyone with fresh energy to get Spirit of South Carolina sailing.  Word from Capt Cleveland is that a portion of the needed replacement electronics have arrived from Singapore, enough for Cummin's Diesel to lay on a mechanic to start work.. soon.   The light at the end of the tunnel just got a little brighter. 

Happy Holidays- Merry and a Safe Christmas to everyone!

See you on deck next year.