We're creating, something that will last, more than oak and bronze.

 

Last week, Danny Johnson lay in
with David Brennan on his task
 to rebuild the hinge on the paint locker.

You  wouldn't notice it unless you had been spending time aboard Spirit of South Carolina on it's Volunteer days  for a year or more. But I've noticed it.  And its a grand thing! 

It's pretty subtle but  there's a definite evolution taking shape on deck. Over time, long standing volunteers, who have boarded as never-evers, or with baseline knowledge of tall ships or sailing skillsets. have been with regularity, mustering aboard- taking on maintenance projects, learning shipboard skills. They've been steadily building deckhand competence and gradually internalizing an esoteric thing some have called "the way of the ship -" her idiosyncrasies.  Most significant, a deckhand culture is slowly taking root, on deck where currently, there are no professional deckhands;  Idle hands lay in with others to help advance a project. Standard methods and procedures are being repeated and internalized.  As individuals naturally coalesce into teams on a project, they also share skills.  New Volunteers coming on deck  are assimilated more quickly, and can start being a part of something much bigger than themselves. And we, together, create something self-sustaining.

The photos taken this week interspersed thru-out this Blog entry illustrate whats  been going on.

Ya, see where I'm going with this?  If we nurture,  continue to feed the process, we are rebuilding a human culture  that built and operated our schooner successfully years ago.  Volunteers. 

Calvin Milam points to where he
 and shipmate Nate Mack  reefed out
 a seam, identified a significant deck
 leak over the Genset, and recaulked
the seam.

Just below right in the photo, Newer Volunteer Doug Hartley  holds in his hand, "remains of the brain of the GENSET; the disreputable control PCB-the fruits of a two-week troubleshooting ride that began with Craig Scott, a multimeter, some deep dives into the vessels storage for a manuel, and additional hours on the internet. Last week he handed his findings off to New Volunteer Doug Hartley who advanced the troubleshoot over the past two weekends. Between the two they identified the problem, researced solutions, recommending a board replacement, compared cost, and passed on findings/recommendations to the ship's project manager for action.  

They saved she ship weeks, and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, in professional mechanics fees.   Volunteers.

Above, John Whitsett advances a project begun 3 weeks prior by Mikell Evatt; fabricating protective "thump" coverings over the transom knees from salvaged fenders; Joe Gorman and David Brennon  backing up, with some blade sharpening, and tool searching.

Of Course, the prime motivator:  Hunter's Lunch creations! Hot and plentiful.

At left, as the Volunteer day closes, all hands lay out on the head rig to help out John Hart, who had spent the day riding the jibboom and hanking on the jib luff to the jib stay.  Together they tucked in the best harbor furl the jib had enjoyed in months.

Making the most of a Warm November Saturday morning.

Six of us mustered at 0900, including newcomer, Doug Hartley, and almost immediately laid into four separate projects Bryan Oliver had annotated on the Punch List as prority targets. But before breaking the huddle, Volunteer Coordinator Bryan shared some small news. 

 This coming Wednesday or Thursday, the Boston Schooner Roseway, enroute from Boston to St. Croix, will be docking overnight at the fuel dock. Enroute, her Chief Mate, Kevin Wells, contacted Bryan requesting help in identifying volunteers who might be interested in joining Roseway as volunteer, to take her the rest of the way to St. Croix. By Saturday five volunteers had expressed interested and responded to Capt Wells - a great indication that Charleston can boast some passionate tall ship sailors, regardless of experience. As of this date, Capt Wells has settled on one of us who will embark and sail the rest of the way to St. Croix.

  Bryan announced that he would be taking a leave of absence for the remainderof the year, starting 23 November, headed to St. Louis in order to get ready to become a granddad. Therefore this coming Saturday, the 20th would be the last organized Volunteer Day for the year. HOWEVER, that should not discourage Volunteers from coming aboard, checking out the Punch List, and taking charge of a project or two on their own. 

 On 5 December, our Sea Cook, and head of ship's security, Hunter will also depart for the rest of the year, to go home and visit family in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In his stead, Christian Lawyer, the assistant Dock Master of the Maritime Center will move aboard to provide security for the vessel. He will be assisted by Volunteers who will sign up for a 15-hour overnight Dock Watch, from 1700 hours to the following morning at 0800. While the watch officially runs during those times, Volunteers can arrive early, or depart late if they choose, in order to take on some maintenance chores. 

 On 13 December, (Saturday), in conjunction with the Charleston Annual Holiday Parade of Boats, Volunteers will resurrect their annual Volunteer Appreciation Night; Due to space limitations it is a by-invitation-only casual evening recognizing volunteers who've demonstrated exceptional commitment by devoting 50 or more hours over the past year. Laura Johnson will be organizing the event. Invitees will be contacted this week to save the date. 

An then it was on to work.  At the same time peeling off jackets and even long sleeve shirts as the warm sunny weather took over. Danny Johnson and Daved Brennan took charge of rebuilding and restoring the piano hinged lid of the paint locker, which had finally pulled completely off. By end of morning, we once again had a sturdy covered paint-locker.  Victory #1

 Calvin Milam and John Hart went ashore to replace the just-arrived drain plug back into the still kaput trash pump. Within 20 minutes he had the machine up and running, and pumping seawater out of the harbor. Victory # 2.

Doug Hartley joined Bryan for a tour of the ship and an orientation before Bryan made immediate use of Doug's mechanical engineering by leading him down into the engine room to take a shot at isolating the non-starting problem with the GENSET.  By end of morning he had isolated the issue to a bad Controller board in the electronic control panel, and was starting to look up replacement estimates.  Edging closer to a crucial Victory.

Mid morning, Laura Johnson came on deck, on her way to her crew job on "Double Fun". She jumped in with Bryan in cutting, and gluing in new round neoprene gasket seals around the Aft cabin and saloon head butterfly hatch covers. 

All that accomplished in time for lunch, when Hunter handed up an amazing ethicity-transcending  more than Curry-Chicken in a Rich sauce over rice, oh, and Laura Johnson's Blueberry pie. 

We weren't done yet. After securing all the tools we'd pulled out for the morning projects, and with one hour left to go before our agreed upon mustering off time, We went for two more projects.  Dividing into 3 teams of two;  one team each, set up paint stations and laid on a third coat of white to each of the two Mast boots.  Doug and Bryan poured out a dose of D2 Varnish and laid it down for a fourth coat on the portside cap rail scarf just forward the main shrouds. 

  

Now THAT was a good day!

Saturday's Non-Volunteer Day Still Productive.

The gangway had just been lowered
 from an angle two feet higher

 It was cold messy weather, Saturday morning;  driving rain, heaving decks and gusting gale-force winds on deck and  dark below deck. Topping that, a  super King tide at raised the ship, and it's gangway to awkwardly high levels.  To keep the gangway off the lifeline stanchions and away from the mainmast, the Mystic Whaler crew hauled the inboard end of the gangway higher.

 In spite of it, six volunteers climbed(yes, literally) the  swinging gangway, to drop down onto the deck Saturday morning. Questions of sanity aside, Danny Johnson, Tony Marchesani, John Hart, Calvin Milam, and Nate Mack, joined Volunteer Coordinator, Bryan Oliver in the Saloon to check the Punch list for projects to work below deck.  Four of us settled on building a Thump mat for the Foresail sheet traveler that when installed, would dampen the shock of the large foresail sheet block as it would slacken.  Bryan and Calvin, climbed out and descended into the engine room to review the current status of troubleshooting on the unoperative Genset. 

While Calvin gathered tools brushes and solvent to start cleaning battery terminals and solenoid connections, Bryan returned to the saloon where the others had already retrieved a large coil of manila from the lazarette and starting to measure out the dimensions for roughly 4' by 2' oval thump mat.  Danny ran one end of the coil back up on deck and aft to straighten the rope and twist out the hockles. 

John Harter, Calvin Milam, Tony Marchesani
(in the dark) and Bryan Oliver
 set last stitches into the thump mat.

John and  Tony pulled out the Canvas repair bag, selected some choice large needles and twine, then started laying out a tight flat coil, stitching at four different points as each turn was laid down.   Nate climbed up on deck to examine his work from last week installing the new Main Mast boot, and isolate the small leak that seemed to be developing around the mast wedges.  Seeing where water seemed to be pooling around the base where excess canvas remained to be trimmed, Nate acquired a box cutter from the tool locker and trimmed the excess canvas off around the mast base collar, and free the pooling water, joined  the crew in the saloon for the thump mat sewing bee. 

Morale was maintained with half-dozen donuts Bryan had brought down,  Danny had procured a usual selection a pie and baked goods for the ship, but, given the donuts, he brought the bagful up on deck, handing it across the rail to Mystic Whaler's crew standing anchor watch, who gratefully accepted the donation.

As noon approached, Calvin finished his work cleaning contacts and battery terminals around the Genset starter solonoid. Charlie Porzelt  came aboard and received a briefing from Calvin about what had been trouble-shot so far, then disappeared into the engine room for another half-hour while volunteers finished sewing the thump mat, then turned to whipping loose ends of manila.  John turned in a large eye splice at the end, then brought the mat up to install under the foresail sheet traveler.. Perfect fit. 

Three Schooners in the Harbor riding out a gale together.

King tides combined with a low pressure system sweeping the coast has made for a rollicking wet weekend.  The standard Volunteer day for yesterday was cancelled  in anticipation of a cold raining, rocking day aboard Spirit of South Carolina, pretty much kaboshing any on deck projects, leaving only things to be accomplished below decks,, and in the dark.  

Did I mention that?  The Maritime Center docks were without power since Wednesday morning, in order to get the Museum into the grid. The power only returned yesterday (Saturday) evening.   Worse, the genset, aboard refused to start-starting a whole other urgent troubleshooting process, extending thru this weekend.(We think its narrowed down to the starter, or electronic brain that's governing it.)  So our man Hunter was forced to go primitive; no lights no space heater, stove, nothin.  Well not wholly.  He was lent a tabletop gas stove for heating up anything, and the Dock master gave him access to their microwave, and kitchenette.

Mystic Whaler, of out of Mystic CT
 pulling away from the fuel dock
 to raft up with Spirit.

To make things interesting. Mystic Whaler, a steel-hulled passenger schooner on delivery from Mystic to California, was hunkering down in Charleston to wait out this predicted weather mess, asked permission to raft up with us, while the Maine schooner, Harvey Gamage, full of Procter Academy students, took her reservation at the fuel dock.  After short consult and review of the wind and wave forecasts, we readily agreed. They would raft up with us bow-to stern. 

So, Friday morning, Mystic Whaler was standing off Spirit's portside. 'll tell ya, as a volunteer, and after not having professional crew on our deck for over a year, it was an education to anyone  to watch a professional bunch of schooner sailors do their work. It would have been a great opportunity for us volunteers to have been aboard working with this crew. Directed by their mate, Capt Nick Alley, they volunteered crew to board and take lines,  roll up and spiral lash our large awning, as well as lower and safely pilot our small boat inside the marina to a protected slip.  As they ghosted up parallel 50 yards off  Mystic let go her starboard anchor, set it deep, and eased back on it till she was parallel to our port side only 15 yards off. Her line handlers tossed coiled big manila dock lines directly over to us, and slowly warped up to our side, cushioned by several large fenders, a few big balls, they purchased ashore specifically for this docking.  The set anchor deep off Mystic Whaler's port bow was taut, doing it's job keeping pressure off Spirit's hull.   Mystic's boarding crew didn't stop there,  with Capt Alley's advice, they storm-secured Everything on deck, lower our canvas hatch awnings, extra tie-downs on the binnacle and wheel covers, stowing what could be carried, below deck. 

Mystic Whaler, off our port quarter,
preparing to let go her anchor
before backing down to tie up
 on our port side.

Once  both ship's secured for the oncoming weather, and anchor watch set on board Mystic, the crew asked one favor.  They had been admiring our schooner from a distance for a few days now, and getting to see her up close  heightened their admiration, and the Capt Alley asked on their behalf if they could get a tour. Well, the least we could do. So we led 14 Mystic Whaler's  thru the ship, not dismayed by the darkness, or the "shipyard" mode, they were all quite impressed, at standing on the deck of an authentic replica of a 19th century wooden schooner, with a great story. 

At the same time,  Harvey Gamage was tying up at the fuel dock.  It didn't take long for their cook, Tyler Calderwood, and their 2d mate Anna Spring to walk over for a reunion with Hunter, and to arrange for their crew and students to get a tour of Spirit. 

Rafted up and all secure for the coming gales.

On a personal note, but to convey a sense of the close knit community of Tall Ship sailors:  Capt Nick Alley, acting as chief Mate aboard Mystic Whaler, was my Captain during my first ever schooner passage as guest crew on Virginia in 2007, 14 years ago, and we reunited as if old friends.  Anna Spring, aboard Harvey Gamage, and I were shipmates  on Spirit for a month in 2017 on the Tall Ship Festival-race to Bermuda and Boston to Canada. Harvey Gamage's educator-on-board, now the significant other to another shipmate back in New England, sought me out personally to just say hi and convey regards from my shipmate and his father.  We all recounted stories, storms, caught up on whereabouts of others, all of these 'kids" younger than me by at least a generation.     Just sayin'   If you can take the opportunity to dip an oar into this world, it's the people in it as well as the ships that will give you joy.

Advancing to ABS is picking up speed.

Spirit of South Carolina's readiness for her ABS Survey is measurably firming up.  Within these past two Volunteer Saturday's, all the known areas of inspection have been addressed.  Discrepancies noted, and if not yet resolved, (that being hatch gasket seals) are identified with a clear path to resolution. Life Line condition may be the only inspection item not clearly addressed, but will be this Saturday. 

In the meantime Volunteers cleared the Maintenance punch list of several issues, from simple to complex.  

Nate, and Stepdad, Tim adjust
the boot top into it's top lacing
 before folding it down for final
 adjustment.

Bryan demonstrates a flat stitch to
Nate Mack on the freshly cut
boot canvas. 

Nate Mack and stepdad Tim Brown stepped up for the most complex project:  taking off the old worn Mainmast boot, and using it as a pattern, cutting out, shaping, and reinstalling a new Mainmast boot. The project, along with some coaching from Bryan Oliver took from 0900,  thru 1500 when the second coat of white paint was applied to the finished boot.  Next week, will add a third coat, seal the top, set the turks-head, and trim off the bottom.

Calvin coaxes life back
 into the trash pump engine.

On the dock, Calvin Milam returned to his project with the seized up Trash pump, hoping the week's soak will loosen and clean out the residual scale.  Another hour later, volunteers on deck below heard that reassuring sound of a trash pump running under load, looking up at Calvin with a big grin and thumbs up. While Calvin successfully resurrected the pump, he discovered it's drain valve had sheered off, preventing the pump's ability to prime itself.. So now, a new drain plug is being asked for Christmas.

Tony Marchesani, and visiting volunteer, Alphonso, disappeared into the aft cabin bilge to further troubleshoot the aft head macerator. Unfortunately the hoped-for access to a shaft end that would allow manual rotation of the pump didn't materialize.

John Hart laid forward to complete stalling of the jumbo boom outhaul tackle, and seek out a temporary replacement block for the deteriorating/ rusting out turning block.  

Danny Johnson advanced the project of re-oiling/ preserving all the buffalo hide berth settee cushions,, completing the six in the main salon.

As most of those projects were wrapping up, Chef Hunter handed up the galley hatch a lunch of Shrimp and Grits,, you read it right.  His version for  open seas sailing on watch, that is, something that can be carried up a ladder in a bowl and consumed with one utensil. And, as usual,, with the surfeit of helpings he prepared, seconds were all gone.  Not to mention a pumpkin pie dessert, donated by Danny.

After securing from lunch, with insufficient crew to down-rig the foremast awning and set the foresail, Volunteer and recent Bosun's School graduate, John Hart proposed handing up the jib sail and rigging her head/halyard, tack, and clew tackles, furling, and leaving the luff hanks to next week.  To this suggestion volunteers readily endorsed and so it was handed up, worked forward and hoisted up.  The exercise took longer than expected with the inevitable twisting and re-running of sheets and downhaul and a disruptive onshore wind wanting to blow the whole thing into the water.  By 1700, canvas was tamed, furled and secured in the head rig netting.    

Volunteer Coordinator Bryan, happily handing
 over the Jibsail Volunteer rating to Tony Marchesani.

And finally, ending on a higher note, returning Volunteer Tony Marchesani  finished up the long day, accumulating over 59 hours,  qualifying for the Jibsail Volunteer Award. 

This is a nice pin by the way, and if you want one,, 50 hours of  volunteer time goes pretty  fast,, just ask, and another 50 hours will get you the rating:  "Foremast Volunteer" and all the added prestige that deservedly comes with it.

Another good day on the water!

 

A new Volunteer Role is Looming in near Future: Dock Watch

 WHEREAS:  With the winter approaching and the Christmas Holidays,, our onboard Security Chief, and Chef, Hunter, who has sustained our  Volunteer Days for the past year, will need to go home for an annual leave.  

THEREFORE: It's currently falling to us Volunteers to take up the slack to ensure a physical presence on board sufficient to deter the more adventurous tourist or dock wanderer to come aboard and explore, or worse. It has happened before.

I'm calling on Volunteers to find a few individual days on their calendar, notionally, from mid December thru mid January, who can devote  a day to come on board, overnight.  Exact time window TBA, as will be the start and end hours. General responsibilities will be to:

• remain on board during your watch.    
• Retrieve and raise the national colors if flying.
• Discourage uninvited onboard visitors (Welcome to bring aboard one or two friends to help )
• Perform a boat check at least twice during the 12 hour overnight period, to include
• pumping a bilge as necessary.'
• Check Dock lines and fenders 
• Adjust gangway height at high tide to keep clear above adjacent lifelines stanchions.
• Maintaining orderliness and stowage on the deck and below. 

If you can help staff our schooner anytime during this period please contact me with the Days available, and # of watches you are willing/able to devote, or schedule. 

Text Bryan Oliver at: 314-409-0433

or email:  bryan@spiritofsc.org

Thanks in advance for your help in keeping Spirit of South Carolina safe and operational.