"Dory" gets some attention, and focus shifts to prepping for Certificate of Inspection Visit by USCG.

First, the News.  

Hunter's back! He flew in late Friday night at 11:30 PM, likely didn't stand down til 1 AM, so we were mighty surprised to see him greet us up on deck as we started to muster at 9 AM.  His presence adds back another glimmer of optimism that the ship is going to survive this.   I'm sure we're all looking forward to chipping in some bucks to hand over to him when he makes his mid-morning provisioning walks to Harris Teeter.  The results, at lunch, are always very rewarding.

Danny Johnson, Calvin Milam, Layne Carver, Mikell Evatt, and Bryan Oliver mustered at 0900 to organize the day. Acting Captain Charlie Porzelt concurred that Saturday's morning chill threatened to spoil our plans to add a second coat of sandtone epoxy paint to the dory's(not a real dory, I know) inside bulwarks. So we used the first two hours of the morning on a detailed orientation, led by  Charlie, on the three essential drills aboard ship;  Man-Overboard, Fire, and Abandon Ship. We expect this to be the first of an expanding series of orientations and mostly exercises that build deckhand skills and get us ready to take Spirit of South Carolina off the dock and into the harbor, or more. 

Calvin tacking down the
 dory's mast. Layne leaning
 freshly oiled oars
on the rail

As Charlie walked volunteers thru each drill, Bryan grabbed the just-revised Crew Manual and pointed out where the steps of each drill were documented, and easily viewable - and Downloadable- from the Volunteer Blog (a shameless plug). 

By 1030, the temp had increased sufficiently to shift our focus to "Dory". By this time, Volunteers had internalized the drills, and procedures for setting up a paint staging area, taping,cleaning, tacking, brushing and tipping. Layne and Calvin split out to sand down the dory's spars and apply first coats of D1 oil. Meanwhile, Bryan Oliver latched onto new volunteer Frank Thigpen, for an orientation tour. 

Calvin taking a last swipe of paint
 to the dory, while the Main Attraction
 awaits call to lunch.

By 1300 an irresistible aroma was floating up out of the Galley.  Hunter, inspite of having spent the last month with family in the Dominican Republic, was frustrated at having missed out on sitting down to one of he favorite local dishes.. So he was taking it out on us. By 1330, the painting operation was shut down and secured, Charlie and Calvin were setting out the lunch line on the salon butterfly hatch, including a huge sauce pot of Sancocho. (You can google it)
Hunter had made enough for seconds, and I'm sure the pot was empty before all secured from lunch.  

Note to self:  Make a better plan for using the Saturday afternoons. The unfortunate downside to Hunter's lunches are the overpowering urge for siesta, or something besides work.  And so it was, that one after another, Volunteers drifted off ashore, some with vague purpose, others lured by an invitation for an afternoon sail.  That left just Charlie and Bryan aboard, brainstorming over concepts for a protective cover for dory.  That quickly led to pulling out a huge square of yellow plasticized canvas, a magic marker and some shears.  In less than 30 minutes they had traced out an outline, and cut out a form.  Next puzzle, is , "would the Juki sewing machine, stored in a salon berth, be capable of tabling, hemming the canvas." For whatever reason, the question wouldn't wait another day, so the sewing machine with all its accoutrements was hauled out and set up on the butterfly. So, as Charlie and Bryan threaded, adjusted, sewed, snagged, pulled out and tried again,  Danny and Calvin, having deserted us, were seen to be waving from the deck of a Sabre 42, ghosting by.  

Reducing "The Pile"

 Just no way around it.  This past Saturday would have to be a grimy, stain your trousers and blacken your fingernails day. The time had come to resolve the issue of an eyesore on the Maritime Center docks; composed of stacks, shelves, and tubs full of cordage, tools, lubricants, new and used paint, timber, the remnants of Spirit of South Carolina's construction days. 

From the days of her construction for 12 years, all this material had been stored in two shipping containers on the grounds of what is now the International African American Museum.  With that ground-breaking, we lost the space, and were forced to move most of the contents out onto the dock and protect is as best we could with tarps and scrap lumber. 

For the next two years, "the Pile" languished, and deteriorated, it's visibility largely lost in the turbulence of crew reductions, staff turnovers, and focus on more existential issues regarding survival of the ship.  Until this last weekend.

With the rebuilding of a Volunteer crew, and the optimistic hope of starting up some dockside events as COVID recedes, the Pile has also gotten new attention. It was time to do something about it. And so, this Saturday, a group of stalwart volunteers, reinforced by some Old Salt Volunteers, with trucks, converged on the docks. Under direction of Chief Mate, and acting Captain Charlie Porzelt, Volunteers began pulling off old canvas and plastic tarps, to uncover, and separate out  all that material into what was salvageable, recyclable, sellable, or just disposable.  

Emptied shelve units ready
 for disassembly, and online marketing.

Danny Johnson gained contact with the Lowcountry Maritime School to gauge their interest in taking away some tools and fasteners.  Dan Maurin took a few photos, and posted them online to some neighborhood marketplaces. John Whitsitt, moved salvageable gear, tools, and parts to a separate pile where he and Adam Schaich began taking selected items back aboard for storage.

Chris Sosnowski and John Whitsitt
fill a dolly for loading onto Chris's truck.

 Bryan Oliver, and Joe Gorman hauled out and stacked 3 dozen cans, buckets, and tubs if waste fluids, epoxies, and paints into carts for Chris Sosnowski to load up and transport to a County Recycling/Disposal center,

By early afternoon, the Pile had been reduced by 70 percent.  all that remained was for Lowcountry Maritime School to pick over the remnants, and wait for hopeful interests from online buyers.  By end of next week, only PFD lockers, and a workbench or two will remain for continued use. 

Spirit of South Carolina Volunteers wish "Fair Winds" on planned departure of Captain Cleveland

 January 15, is expected to be Capt Dan Cleveland's last day in command, after which he will take a long-delayed leave of absence, returning to his home in St. Louis to help in care of his parents,  and decide his next professional options.

That left this past Saturday, as his last day to spend with volunteers who had worked and sailed under him. 

Capt Cleveland had been serving the ship for the past 3 and a half years, as Chief Mate under Capt Bailey, and then taking command on Capt Bailey's departure. In that time, he took Spirit of South Carolina to Havana, Cuba in 2016. In 2017 he helped sail the ship up the Atlantic seaboard all the way to Quebec and back with over 7 ports of call, including Bermuda.  In 2018, it was the Citadel Semester at Sea program, with 14 Citadel cadets and educators aboard, as well as a full complement of crew  with 7 ports of call throughout the Caribbean. He brought with him a vast amount of professional experience and lessons learned, having sailed under notable tall ship Captains as an AB, and 2d Mate on square riggers, Bounty and Picton Castle, not to mention several smaller traditional sailing vessels. 

And so it was, that in addition to the projects tackled by the 9 volunteers Saturday morning, they, and an additional 2 "Old Salts" gathered around after a hot lunch on deck to say farewell.  

Dan, examines the gadget
 probably wondering whether
 to believe Bryan that it works.

Bryan, after speechifying
 for all the volunteers,
  presents Dan his sextant.

In a short ceremony they demonstrated their appreciation to Dan Cleveland for his leadership, and mentorship, not only on deck, but as a persistent, tenacious advocate for the ship over the past year. More so, he stepped up when COVID-19 hit, funds dried up, professional crew and officers laid-off, and no apparent way forward indicated by the ship's executive board.  

"Whadya know!
 I can get a horizon."

After a testimonial, Volunteer Coordinator, Bryan Oliver presented to Capt Cleveland the gift from the volunteers of an antique replica of a brass "travel sextant"  a fully functional miniaturized version of a standard marine sextant. along with an inscription on its wooden box. 

While the honors made to Capt Cleveland were the highlight, the morning was dedicated to some notable progress aboard ship. In this case it centered around "Dory", not the fish, but the ship's small boat.  Dory was the nickname by which crew began referring to a small 'stitch and glue' kit boat  which was built on deck by Dan Cleveland and crew during the two months Spirit of South Carolina cruised with Tall Ship's America in 2017.  

Deckhands enjoy an afternoon sail
 in Dory off Thunderbolt Marina
 during Shipyard in 2019

Upon completion, the little craft bore a close resemblance to the iconic "dory" fishing boats launched from Gloucester fishing schooners, except with much lower freeboard. Dory was designed to be rowed with up to 3 banks of oars, (for youth) or sailed, complete with centerboard, main and jib.

  Muster began with the recognition of two Volunteers who had achieved notable milestones in volunteer time devoted to the ship.  Mikell Evatt, and John Whitsitt received  Jibsail Volunteer pins for 50 hours of support aboard the ship.  Dan Maurin, received his Foremast Volunteer pin for achieving over 100 hours.  

Immediately following the 0900 Muster, volunteers broke up into work parties.  Dan Maurin and Layne Carver carried Dory's spars and oars onto the dock and began a bleaching wash to blanch out weathering stains.

While Bryan agitates the paint can,
 Calvin, Layne, and Charlie
 tack down her interior planking. 

Dory looks almost new,
while new coat of paint sets up.

The remaining six volunteers, Danny Johnson, Calvin Milam, John Whitsitt, Joe Gorman, Bryan Oliver, and Mikell Evatt, and Chief Mate Charlie Porzelt organized to take on the small boat. First, they capsized the Dory on deck to spill out rain water, rinsed out accumulated grime, dried and tacked down her inside hull, and mask-taped her gunwales. They followed that by laying down a coat of sand-tone-colored epoxy enamel. 

Dan and Layne start in on the chili.
 Mike checks out the hot sauce selection
 while Danny checks the buffet spread he just set up.

Once that work was complete, crew changed over to prepping for lunch.  Bryan had brought aboard a large pot of chili, that had been stewing since the previous night, plus all the fixin's. Danny Johnson complemented with some Paella.  Old Salt, Reg Brown appeared on time with two cases of Yuengling beers, and bags of green salad. Joe Gorman brought along snacks and dessert.

Volunteers Kick off New Year with some creativity.

This Saturday threatened rain, but it never really happened.  In fact, as Volunteers Dan Maurin, John Whitsitt, and Danny Johnson came aboard the temperature was already approaching T-shirts and shorts weather.  As Muster began, Danny hurried back to the parking lot to guide in a new Volunteer, Gaye Dupre, driving in from James Island. 

She joined us just in time for a hurried orientation, while John and Dan took on the first chore of bringing the Mainsail cover out of the forecastle and laying it out over the mainsail/boom. As that completed, volunteers gathered for the next tasks; Build a custom "sword mat" to protect the cap rail under the gangway, where it was creating damage.  

New Volunteer Gaye Dupre sets up
 to overhaul the slack thru the 80 coils
to even their length.

Danny handed up out of the forecastle, a 288 ft loose coil of manila rope previously culled out by Bryan and Charlie Malone just before Christmas. After a huddle to confirm the plan, and with Chief Mate Charlie Porzelt's occasional advice and coaching, the group began creating a crude "loom" out of broom sticks, and bronze stripping for "shuttles".  Next, they began the tedious task of wrapping out a continuous coil  of  1/2-inch stiff new manila rope between two broom sticks. The task seemed easy enough in the illustrations of The Marlinspike Sailor, but in practice turned out to be something quite challenging. 

Gaye counts up the completed turns over the frame
 and confirms the dimensions haven't changed.

By Lunch time, when Danny brought up lunch he'd heated up in the galley, we had most of the coil of almost 80 loops properly sized and ready to start the weave across the mat.

Following lunch, the crew set about measuring out and weaving a long length of heavy seine twine across the coils. Again, the actual task of  threading sein twine through 80 some-odd packed rope strands without missing one, proved slow and occasionally frustrating.

About five hours of labor, volunteers called it a day after completing about 50 percent of a new sword mat.  

Bryan adds 3 more weaves into
the stiff manila coils before calling it
 quits for the day.

Bryan stayed back another couple of hours to continue the next three lines of weaving. After snugging up the completed weaves, and securing the corners of the manila mat from working apart, he set the partially finished mat over the cap rail, under the gangway, and double-checked the fit. 

A work-in-progress. A bit over 60% complete.
The ship's new sword mat is positioned
 over it's future resting place, protecting the cap rail
 under the gangway.

Hoping to complete the mat this week and test it out.. Thanks to the crew that joined together Saturday, for a constructive and creative team effort, and a good start to the New Year.