Shipyard is Providing Plethora of Potential Projects

 Completing this blog entry after finishing a nice Sunday brunch of chorizo tacos with Hunter in the Saloon.

 With  Wednesday's Coast Guard Inspection and Delivery Crew's own diagnosis and recommendations in hand, we have a pretty good picture of what needs to be done. Some of it requires the competence of Shipwrights and traditional sailing vessel riggers.  Most of it requires  sorting, organizing, cleaning, repairing, painting; all are in the Volunteer wheelhouse.

The immediate project before us started last week, which was basically to "Empty out the ship".  Not literally, but basically all the gear hardware that could be transferred off the ship into a storage container.  The act of doing so forced us to make decisions about what to keep and what should go, identify stuff needing extra attention/repair, consider alternate more efficient storage organizing.  Where moving hardware off the ship seemed impracticable, we're prepared to shift it onto a clear spot on deck temporarily to clean out it's "repository"  likely repaint it, while sorting/inventorying restoring its contents. 

Hunter stands by to push the loaded cargo net
 out over the rail for lowering down onto the dock.

 

This Saturday, Richard Behler drove down from his home up in St. George to help out on board for the day. With the aid of his pick-up truck bed, and  Hunter, the three of us rigged up our cargo net, and hoisted out of the forecastle all the bagged linens, pillows, PFD's, gumby suits,  settee  cushions, and foam mattresses that were reachable.  By 2 pm we had taken off all we could that was ready to move, and filled 20% of the storage trailer. 

Richard  on the dock controlling the tag line
 to swing the descending cargo net
clear of the hull.

 

Richard making last check
of our stacking before securing
the trailer storage unit.

Facing the reality and associated costs of long drives to Thunderbolt, we're not expecting the regular weekend surges of 5 or more Volunteers mustering on Saturdays.  Nevertheless, the ship need's lots of care, and there's plenty of projects that can be accomplished while she's still in shipyard state.  Here's an extract of Projects to be finished.  Any day of the Week.  There's plenty more where these came from.

• Neatsfoot Oil all the leathers on spars and other timbers (2 gals of NF Oil were found in the foward bilge locker)
• Clean out, reorganize and streamline the tool  and paint lockers (already consolidating socket sets and drives into tool rolls dedicated to engine room and general use, to eliminate the space-wasting plastic cases. )
• Wiping down all the emptied berths of dust and grime accumulated over past 7 years. 
• Replace aft cabin macerator with the operational spare.
• Scrape and varnish the worst caprail section (starboard forward of shrouds).
• Tool cleaning and lubricating
• Learning to clap  racking, then round seizing onto shroud lanyards

All of these can be worked and completed in small groups or single-handed.   Any day of the week.  Contact the Volunteer Coordinator when you'd like to come down.  If you can offer a lift to a fellow volunteer, please sing out.  We'll try to facilitate a rideshare arrangement, where it fits.

Added Bonus:  While you're here, walk over  next door and visit the pilot schooner Virginia, due to be hauled out on April 8. 

She's also a replica of an original Pilot Schooner, launched in 1906, 27 years after Spirit's original "Francis Elizabeth"  Rigging and hull all exhibit some notable features in the evolution of sailing vessel design; an interesting contrasts with SSV Spirit of South Carolina.