19 Days and Counting

19 Days and Counting - to End of Month and Spirit of South Carolina's expected Return to Charleston.  4 Planks have been replaced, a number of seams filled, segments of rotted wood cut out and either fitted with "dutchmen" wood, or filled. Mechanics working below deck in the Engine room and over the chart table on electronics.

Six weeks earlier, Volunteers had  hauled out on deck, lowered over the side and trucked to a storage trailer almost the entire ship's stock of foam mattress, linens, mattress covers,  PFD's, immersion suits, and miscellaneous cans of paints and varnish.  Mattress covers  and berth curtains were dismantled and  bagged to be washed.  That enabled a following week's worth of volunteers to wipe down and clean out 7 years of dust and grime. 

Now, with 19 days left, just two weekends, it was time to move all that gear back aboard and reinstall or stow it.

In these days, it was notable, that six Volunteers donated half of their tank of gas to make the round trip to Savannah-Thunderbolt this weekend to do the job. Bryan Oliver and Doug Hartley, driving from Columbia, were the first to climb on board Friday evening. Doug immediately set to work on the Coast Guards remaining discrepancy list, while Bryan sketched out a plan for organizing the other volunteers, due in the next morning. Hunter had given us a major lift, saving us a day of labor, by spending all of Friday washing and drying all 28 mattress covers, and setting them up on deck

Chris Sosnowski's truck fully loaded
 with mattresses rounds the corner
 headed back to the schooner..

Layne stands by on the tagline
 to control a load of immersion
 suits about to be hauled aboard

On Saturday morning, Layne Carver arrived from Hilton Head in his Toyota pick up.  That gave us early morning capability to start shuttling the 28 immersion suits back, and getting them on board and inspected, before restowing them, with fresh bungee cordage hangers.    Later in the morning, Old Salt Volunteer Chris Sosnowski, and Dan Maurin arrived. 

 Bryan organized them into a sort of "bucket brigade with pick-up truck" to move the 18 mattresses, PFD's and other gear, to the ship's port side where our home-made cargo net was waiting to haul it aboard.  

Chris and Layne emptying the truck,
stacking mattresses into the cargo net.

That operation became a race to get all mattresses on board and under the large deck awning before the early afternoon rain squalls hit.

 Hunter set out a lunch of  sandwiches while us "deckhands" helped themselves to iced down water bottles from an igloo chest on deck.  As sporadic squalls sprayed around us, our crew set to work under the awning, cutting laces, and  fitting the newly washed custom-made mattress cover to it's respective foam mattress.  Each berth's shape is unique, requiring a sorting exercise to find and match a foam mattress with the cover specifically designed to fit it. 

Chris Sosnowsi, Dan Maurin, and Layne Carver
 work the lacings around custom mattress covers.

Doug, being done with the macerator installation
shifts to his other skillset to lace up a mattress cover.

As Doug resolved as much as he could of the USCG's punch list, he transitioned over to the challenge of dismantling the frozen aft-cabin macerator pump, and replacing it with our spare.  The inoperable macerator was located of course, in a most inconvenient, inaccessible spot under the Captain's bunk, and appeared to be installed with the intent that it would never be replaced.

By 5:30 PM, our crew found stopping points, began putting away tools , and reaching into the same igloo cooler for an assortment of beers and other refreshment.  Tempting aroma's of Southwest cooking was coming out of Hunter's galley, but it still didn't dissuade Chris Sosnowski and Dan Maurin from departing for Charleston; leaving Layne, Bryan, and Doug with a fine supper of heaping helpings of  Chile Verde Enchiladas, with black beans and rice.   Night brought little relief of temperature nor humidity, but two roaring fans lashed down in the salon moved sufficient air around to make for comfortable sleeping.

Next morning brought the welcome arrival of Old Salt, Reg Brown and his pick-up truck, in time for  emptying the last of the coffee,, and starting a new bucket brigade with the remaining four of us to move the last contents of the storage trailer over to the cargo net. Four truck loads and   8 cargo net lifts later, all gear was safely back aboard, mostly stowed, and the trailer was empty.  By mid afternoon, mattresses were stowed in berths, most of the immersion suits had been hung and other hardware stowed away. Reg Brown and Layne Carver departed, leaving Bryan for the last chore; to take over two bags of berth curtains to the crew lounge, wash, and return.