Volunteers scratch their Schooner itch with a day aboard schooner Harvey Gamage

A little over a year ago, in February 2021, 10 deckhands from the Schooner Harvey Gamage, led by their mate Rachel Young, came aboard Spirit of South Carolina and mustered with 12 volunteers to take on a worth of ship's maintenance. [Blog entry 28 February 2021].  Today, four Spirit Volunteers returned the favor,  mustering with the shortened crew of the Schooner Harvey Gamage to knock out a significant portion of their maintenance punchlist.

Harvey Gamage has been tied to the fuel dock at Charleston Maritime Center for two weeks, undergoing a month's worth of dockside shipyard maintenance projects before taking on a group of Proctor Academy Students for a 10-week semester-at-sea southward. HG has been able maintain an extraordinarily active schedule for the past year. That has meant little time for normal ship's maintenance. So the crew had accumulated a large punch list of projects. 

 Spirit Volunteers, David Brennan, Nate Mack, Bryan Oliver, and Doug Hartley came aboard at breakfast time and mustered with the remaining crew of Harvey Gamage to take on some projects. After a quick round-robin introductions, 2d Mate, Josh divided up the day's worth of punch list projects.  I'm sure it was a bit of relief among Spirit Volunteers, that Harvey Gamage sports virtually no brightwork(varnished surfaces) except for the steering box. In keeping with her personae as a typical Maine working vessel, everything is simply  painted in one of two colors.

Nate Mack and Dave Brennan
start in on scraping and sanding
 the deck box lids

Three of us, Bryan, Dave, and Nate,  teamed up to hand up onto the dock six long dock box lids to be scraped, scuffed and repainted.  Josh came up with 3 rotary sanders to speed along the work.  

Doug Hartley measuring out dimensions
 for his stencil of the ship's
radio call signs on the aft cabin.

 Doug drove 3d Mate Anna Marie to Lowes hardware for paint  brushes and rollers.  Once back on deck, Doug took on a more  intricate project to recreate the ship's radio call-sign letters in a  large stencil on top of the aft cabin-starboard side. 

2d Mate, Josh demonstrating to
Nate and Dave the application
 of thickened epoxy

In the course of all that scraping and sanding, Nate discovered and pointed out to Josh,, some wood deterioration and separation around the corner of a lid.  A short 3-way discussion led to a consensus on a solution involving West Systems epoxy-which led to an on-the-job tutorial by Josh with Nick and Dave on the methods for mixing thickener into resin and hardener to fill and seal the gaps and strengthen the corner.  

With a fresh coat of gray Pettit epoxy over all six dock box lids, and Doug's stencil completed and painted in, the crew all went below for a hearty hot lunch of a souped-up Tomato soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  HG's crew was rotating cooking duties, since departure of their hired cook. Based on what was coming out of the Galley, they were holding up pretty well. 

Dave Brennan helps Doug
 peel the tape off the new
call sign numbers

After lunch Josh checked the punch list, and redirected us to a couple of additional painting projects; this time the trim around the aft cabin's skylight hatches and companionway combings. Nate got in under the mainmast fife rail to lay down a coat of white around the mast boot.  

Doug warily eyes Bryan at work on the
aft cabin skylight hoping his feet
don't scrape his freshly painted stencil.

With these additional projects completed there was just enough time to touch up our missed spots, clean up the dock, stow tools, and wipe down our hands.  Plenty of additional projects awaited but they could wait for the next day.  

The day had turned unexpectedly mild, a great day for on deck work. Volunteers enjoyed a chance to work beside other regular schooner sailors, learn and appreciate our differences, and similarities across crews, and even take away a few new tips and techniques.  We felt good about returning the generosity of HG a year ago, and we burnished a reputation as a dedicated serious schooner volunteer crew.  Stories were exchanged all day long.  

The Gamagers were genuinely appreciative of our help.  Spirit of South Carolina Volunteers have an open invitation to come down and step aboard.  They could use more of our help in getting ready for their next cruise.    Their shipyard period extends to close of business 5 January when a new fresh crew takes the deck and preps to take on the next class from Proctor Academy  on the 6th. 

If you can donate a 1/2 day or more laying in with HG crew members, you're guaranteed to come away with more than you gave, and if you're serious about wanting to deckhand on one of these schooners, you could do worse than receiving an invitation to ship aboard Harvey Gamage for a passage.

 

Spirit Volunteers seen at LCMS Boatyard for Coulson Bayne's Big Barn Boat Turning Party

This last Saturday afternoon, saw a pretty nice gathering of what I'd call, the wooden boat community of the Low Country; all assembled at the Low Country Maritime School Boatyard on Pherigo St. in Mount Pleasant, in response to the call for help by one of our own. Coulson Bayne had asked Sam Gervais to canvass his contacts for helpers to show up for this really big no-kidding group effort; the flipping over of his huge wood and fiberglass Sport Fisherman hull project he was building. 

It turned out to be an event in the best tradition of barn-raising,, lunches came out under one of the boatyard sheds. Most had brought their own beverages with plenty to share, and the crowd felt more like a social reunion going on then an exercise in choreographed teamwork. Approximately 50 people, shoulder-to-shoulder would surround the hull, lift it together and walk it out from under the overhang, set it down, then turn it over, then lift and carry it back under the shed. whew! 

Kenny Blyth in tan jacket, starts lining up
 after a short break, to flip the boat right side up,
 and move it back under the shed.

Several Spirit of South Carolina Volunteers pitched in. Danny Johnson, John Whitsett, and Sean McQuilken were seen in the crowd as it began surrounding the overturned hull encircled by a bow and stern cradle.  Old Salts, Reg Brown, Dan Machowski, and Kenny Blyth mixed in with us, enjoying the larger reunion going on around them.

 

With all the people attending, that left plenty left for a large cheering and photo-op grabbing session.  The whole drill, once organized too less than fifteen minutes.

Long Lost volunteer Sean Mcquilken
pauses with Bryan Oliver after safely moving
 the hull back under the shed.

Maine Schooner Harvey Gamage in Charleston for a Month; Requests Volunteers

Harvey Gamage put in to Charleston two nights ago after disembarking her Proctor Academy students in Florida. She has tied up to the dock at Charleston Maritime Center with the intent of staying for approximately a month to conduct scheduled and needed maintenance before resuming programs.

And..

She will welcome aboard Spirit of South Carolina Volunteers who wouldn't mind lending a hand with her crew.  Offering a berth and meals.

So, I spoke with Capt Kevin Jencomb yesterday.  They could use help in just about any capacity, for a day, 1/2 day, or better yet, a few days or more.  For all you volunteers out there, take this as a compliment.  Over the past three years, when Harvey Gamage has docked nearby, her crew has noticed your efforts and dedication.  They have even come aboard Spirit of South Carolina and worked with you on some of our projects. You have a reputation.

(This coming Saturday is the annual Christmas Boat parade around the Harbor- earn yourself a great view after a day with the crew on a few projects, and stay over the night.)

Now, if you're like me, and have been suffering from inability to scratch my schooner itch due to Spirit's being miles away, here's a pretty good remedy.  

Some solid reasons for  lending a hand on Harvey Gamage

• Harvey Gamage and Spirit of South Carolina's rigs are similar- as are our standard operating procedures. If you've internalized the way we do things on Spirit, you'll fit right in, and more easily absorb more. Anything you learn on HG will serve you well.

• Spirit of South Carolina has been out of hand for almost nine months now, and our own skills/habits can get rusty.  Harvey Gamage is offering a perfect opportunity to sharpen yourselves, likely learn some new things  (sailors are good at sharing tips and techniques..)

• Your Volunteer Hours Count.  Keep track of your hours on HG, and enter them into the Volunteer Log for Spirit of South Carolina.

• You'll be contributing to a great tradition among tall-ship sailors and true mariners- looking out for each other and our ships.  If you're ever thinking of signing on as a deckhand on one of these, paid or volunteer;  it starts here.
• For sure, it's almost all maintenance, but that's 90% of any tall-ship sailor's day anyway,, but, if HG makes a shake-down Harbor sail anytime before departure-I can't promise- but chances are good you'll be invited to join in.

If you can help our our sister schooner, please respond to me [bryan@spiritofsc.org] or text [314-409-0433] with your anticipated date/time you can go aboard, and time available.  I'll forward the head's up to HG's Port Captain.