September 20. All Hands on Deck. COI Day is Set.

It's really going to happen.  Capt Heath has arranged for the Coast Guard to come aboard Spirit of South Carolina on Wednesday, 20 September to observe the ship and her crew for her Certificate of Inspection (COI). Capt Heath is also negotiating with Capt Andy Hudak come down and act as a sort of coach  for our "Afterguard" during train-up.

We have four Volunteer Saturdays, and the same amount of Volunteer Thursday Afternoons to make the ship ready, and to get ourselves ready to perform as a competent crew.  The mainmast  peak halyard and boom lift tackles will be uprigged this week, the mainsail boom and gaff likely this weekend, assuming sufficient hands can muster for it.  Same for bending on the foresail and mainsail in coming week. That takes us into September.  With sails bent on, she's ready to cast off. 

I can't overstate the significance of this event. It will determine our schooner's future, and affirm all the countless hours all of us have devoted to her recovery. This is the scenario we have often mused on; taking the ship off the dock, with majority of the crew being volunteers.   But we have to show up. 

I have been challenged with training up a volunteer crew. The talent and motivation in our ranks makes that a given as far as I'm concerned,, as long as we can muster a  sufficient crew regularly to train together. That, and a commitment to muster on deck 20 September. With work and family a priority as always for volunteers, I"m looking for creative ways to advance skills refreshments when a Saturday or weekday warm-up sail won't work. I'd appreciate hearing your ideas.

And per my email to Volunteers last week:  Hunter's last day is 30 August.  We're looking at taking him out on the 28th or 29th, to Big Gun's his favorite dive bar on Calhoun Street, and maybe close it down. It would be great to see alot of you there. Let me know if you will come. I'll try to reserve some tables. 

So what got accomplished this week.

Lexi Fine laying on a fresh coat of Fluid Film
 onto our brand new Mainsail Boom lift cables.

Thursday afternoon, Volunteer Lexi Fine returned on deck after a long hiatus working her clinical career across three different medical systems. Together, Lexi and Bryan Oliver strung up the two new 150 ft-long mainmast boom lift cables between dock rails, and began applying two coats of "Fluid Film" preservative/sealant. 

Saturday, Ken Fonville, Dan Maurin, Dave Lazar, Dave Brennen, Tony Marchesani, Logan Day,  Nate Mack, Doug Hartley, and special guest star, Dr. Peter Alford, visiting his son, Captain Davis,  mustered at 0900 to start prepping the main mast tackles that would be up-rigged on Tuesday.  Just before breaking the huddle,  Volunteer Coordinator Bryan passed around his tablet with the East Bay Deli's sandwich menu.  Peter generously volunteered his credit card to cover a carry-out lunch.

Bryan demo's clapping a flat seizing
 onto the boomlift cable and lazy jack end

 

After a demonstration on how to clap on a seizing to bind a lazyjack line to a boom lift cable. Volunteers laid out along the marked segments of new freshly slushed boomlift cable. In short order, volunteers had clapped on a total of twenty flat seizings, binding ten lazyjack lines to the two boomlifts. 

Volunteers line up on a tape marker where they
will clap on a flat seizing around the
boomlift cable and lazyjack end.

Volunteers Ken, Dave, Nate, Dave Brennan
 and Bryan Oliver lay out on the bowsprit
 to furl the Jumbo.

Early completion merited a welcome diversion for some real sail training. Capt Davis proposed walking  thru and  practicing an actual sail set, using one of the headsails. Volunteers jumped on it.  Bryan organized the muster on the foredeck and started walking the crew thru the evolution of dressing, then setting, then dousing the jumbo sail. Volunteers listened to the orientation, then stood by for Bryan to issue the first commands.  Beginning with, "Hands to Dress the Jumbo!", thru the entire raising and dousing evolution, the volunteers managed five different lines to haul up the jumbo, douse it(rapidly take it down), then lay out on the bowsprit to furl it.. Just in time for lunch.

Doc Peter starting the winding of  an 8 foot string
 of baggywrinkle

Lunch over, and we weren't done yet. Notwithstanding losing a third of our crew to afternoon home commitments, the remaining stalwarts mustered on the dock to attack the infamous "Baggywrinkle". Actually fairly innocuous, baggywrinkle is simply 12-inch segments of old rope unlaid all the way to it's yarns, then cow-hitched onto an 8 foot length of seine twine. The long string of cut rope is then tightly wrapped around the cable at each "high point" where it might chafe the sail. Ten strings of baggywrinkle lay at our feet to be wrapped on.. So we begun.. slowly. 

By Recall, and mustering off, we had secured six wraps of baggy wrinkle with four left to be accomplished some time later in the week.