Volunteer Ranks are growing- in Size and Seamanship

 This has been a year full of net positive's for the life of SSV Spirit of South Carolina. Since her return from Shipyard in Thunderbolt, GA, we've all been part of a steady, maybe slowly, but consistently forward progress. I won't recap that progress; it's all laid out in the last 12 months of blog entries. But will recap this.

Ken Fonville 2019
with a midshipman's hitch
 on the peak halyard

From 2019, when the Volunteer Program was first resurrected, to March 2023, There was a steady growth in the roster of volunteers who mustered aboard. I can remember the first,  Ken Fonville, who, four years, still musters for maintenance and sails, and contributes in other varied ways.  He was followed shortly by the youngest to volunteer;  Andrew Shook, nephew of  Spirit's second Captain, Ben Hall, on a work-study program in high school, Andrew was the first volunteer to go aloft-not even in a bosuns chair, but in a waist harness! He graduated High School and enlisted in the Coast Guard.  Now a full-fledged Cutterman, with a tour in Alaska under his belt, he patrols out of Jacksonville, and still visits the schooner, and pitches in on a project, when home on leave. 

Danny Johnson, center tallest,
 at Volunteer Appreciation Night 2019

From 2019 to 2022 the roster grew from 1 volunteer (me) to 35, of which 8 returned regularly.  Most of those 35 were recruited by Danny Johnson.  I've no doubt that everyone in his professional construction network, and his parish, experienced some kind of pressure to come along with him on board the schooner for a look around. 

In March 2022, Spirit of South Carolina started a 10 month period of exile, in Thunderbolt Shipyard. During that 10 months, Volunteers,  Andrew Shook, Charlie Malone, Dave Brennan, John Hart, Nate Mack, Dan Maurin, Doug Hartley, Reg Brown, Chris Sosnowski, all drove down for a Saturday, to lay in with  Bryan Oliver on a number of projects.  

In that 10 month exile, it's expected that volunteers would drift away. Traditional Sailing isn't for everyone. I can count at least 8 of our regular volunteers, that never returned when the schooner re-docked in Charleston in January, 2023. But then Danny Johnson re-opened his network and began coaxing more people to come down. That, and a random post or two on Reddit by Dan Maurin. resulted in a gradual steady increase of new volunteers walking aboard.  By November, I was counting a total 74 total names on the Volunteer roster.  

Now, full disclosure;  I would say our retention rate, meaning mustering at least twice more after first visit, is about 1 for every 4.  Of those, 22 volunteers regularly muster - once monthly, more or less.  Better yet,, their regular involvement results in a increasing level of deckhand skillsets, that will be critical to our future programs.

 I retain contact information on every volunteer, regardless of attendance record, copying them on every communique, and blog posting unless they specifically request to be dropped.  So, our contact roster boasts around 150 names, old and new.  

All of this to say basically, our Volunteer program not only survived a 10 month hiatus of non-activity, but rebounded remarkably, and increased our average competency level for taking Spirit of South Carolina off the dock -  with volunteers.   The evidence was demonstrated last week on December, when 15 qualified Volunteers signed up to take her off the dock for a sea trial.  First time since 2018 the schooner would've had a full complement aboard.  

She's ready for sail, and a crew available to show her off at the dock, or sail her.  A new page about to open.