Happy New Year!
I know! There's been more than a month of silence on this blog, but blame that on this annual confluence of holidays, aggravated by the birth of my grandson. Not my fault.
But notably, lack of blog activity did not equate to absence of activity aboard ship. Thanks to a number of volunteers who signed up to stand dock watch aboard, Christian Lawyer, who'd volunteered to stand in for Hunter on his vacation home, was able to take some days off and leave the ship in their hands. It wasn't just idle time either. While on dock watch, many took the unpressured time to further educate themselves about the ship, explore all the spaces, lockers, chests, and berths, familiarize with the rig, and read up on the ship's literature, not to mention-enjoying the scenery.
Other volunteers, like Lexi Fine, and John Hart, came aboard on their own, and laid into a few projects on the ship's Maintenance Punchlist.
Volunteers who had supported the schooner with 50 or more volunteer hours, "Old Salts", and other select supporters gathered on deck 10 December for Volunteer Appreciation Night, sponsored by Mr. Baker, and watched the annual Charleston Harbor Holiday Parade of Boats.
Harvey Gamage docked nearby on 16 December, spent the holidays here, and will cast off on January 6th with students under sponsorship of the Proctor Academy of Andover NH, bound for warmer ports and 2 months of adventure. Something we'll be doing too, eventually.
Just this past week, Capt Heath Hackett, our Project Manager for restoring Spirit of South Carolina to service, hosted Air and Sea Safety to inspect our Fire Control Systems in prep for the ABS and USCG inspections. Good thing too. The inspection uncovered a number of discrepancies to be resolved, also presenting some lessons for us volunteers and other crew in conducting our regular safety inspections.
The next Saturday, January 8th, will resume our regular Volunteer Days for the New Year. And we'll try to adapt some resolutions too, such as smoothing the way to enable volunteers with free weekdays to come aboard and advance their own deckhand skills or lay into some Punchlist projects. We'll identify volunteers who've achieved competence in deckhand skills who are willing to help train other volunteers and sign off on their skills proficiency.
Meanwhile, Capt Hackett is working on hiring a Captain and guiding our overall efforts to move us to the start line for the Coast Guard Inspection, and eventual delivery to a haul out location; all milestones to pass in restarting our Educational and Revenue-generating programs that will sustain the ship.
Looking forward to it.
