Third Saturday; Clear and C-C-Cold, But still another Good Day on the Water.

 As our lunch of East Bay Deli sandwiches was finishing up  this afternoon down in the Saloon, Volunteer Rick Washington ventured a question about what was it like surviving on board at sea on days like this.  Not trying to sound too enthusiastic, I related an exact example, six years ago this month.

 It was Clear and cold, in low 30's with a NNE 10 knot breeze, as we made the sea buoy on a heading East-by-South, bound  for the 65th Westing, about 700 nautical miles east, then to  bear off south to San Juan; aboard, a crew of Citadel cadets, sailors and one volunteer.   

On deck with the Citadel,
Jan, 2018 bound for San Juan

Does that sound cool?  Literally and figuratively?  Yeah, it was!  But warm and comfortable, as long as you were dressed for it.  Long-johns, under Carharts, and a wool sweater, a fleece pullover, then wet weather gear, tops and bottoms to keep everything dry, and sea boots. Smell of  Chef Hunter's chicken  enchilada's coming up out of the Galley, a little spray hitting you in the face if you were on forward lookout. As long as you dressed to stay dry, you were plenty comfortable. Natural insulation of the ocean below the waterline kept below decks at a tolerable 60 degrees.

Two days later, being forced more southeasterly than desired, we were in T-shirts.. Weather patterns were heading us and... but I digress.

Today, seven of us, Tony Marchesani, Dave Brennan, Dallas Spencer, Walter Barton, Alex Laya,  Rick Washington, and myself, and a new volunteer possibly, I'll remember his name.. all dressed appropriately, at 0900 piled  below into the saloon with Capt Davis to organize for some priorities. On deck we had a brand-new half-awning already delivered and rigged up on port-side of the fore boom. It needed to be down rigged for the oncoming winds, but more importantly, we needed to create a documented procedure for rigging it, labeling components and stowing it with instructions.  

Capt Davis had another priority to set in the mix.  Our newly modified gangway now included a drawbridge style ramp extension to the deck, and a modified hydraulic jack for taking weight of the dock-end of the gangway.  We needed to practice the drill of both setting up the gangway, and taking it off. 

And so we divided into two groups.   Bryan, Tony, and Dallas organized around the project of inspecting, marking, taking down,  stowing, and documenting the procedure of up/downrigging the new awning.

Tony and Dallas neatly folding
 the new awning for its stowage below.

Dave, Walter, Alex, and our new Volunteer, joined Capt Davis on the dock to organize the drill of dismantling the gangway and swinging her back onto the dock, then reverse the procedure.  

The awning crew finished up their project first in time to lend hands to the gangway crew as it began a timed rehearsal of the process.  As Davis set his stop watch, the gangway crew took stations at the  falls, and dock side, and on-deck ends of the gangway.  While  deckhands unhinged the drawbridge ramp and walked it up the gangway to the dock, the falls were taken off their belaying pins and hauled tight. Dock side hands staged the lift jack under the gangway, taking the weight of the shoreside end, enabling one hand to slip the hinge pin out, freeing the deck-side end for lifting and swinging out. Still fixed to the jack, the gangway was rolled back, supported by the falls on the other end, and swung around to rest entirely on the dock. Falls were released from the gangway and swung back aboard. Dockside hands rolled the gangway to it's stowed location, and secured the Jack.  All done. ready to cast off. 

Dave, Tony, and Alex easing down
 the drawbridge ramp of the gangway.

Well, that would've been nice, but now the gangway had to be swung back over onto the deck and secured.. if nothing else, so hands could come aboard with the  bag of East Bay Sandwiches just ordered.

All secured, the gangway in position. The new port-side awning, and it's unfinished other half, stowed away in a forecastle berth, crew passed out sandwiches, while Bryan and Capt Davis recounted their most constructive lunch the previous Thursday with Volunteer, Wayne Burdick and spouse, Joyce Haverly.  Joyce is a watercolor Marine Artist, with a large social media presence, who had been "googling us up", analyzing our online impression.  She had a lot to say, and a lot of ideas to offer, sufficient to light a fire under my own butt, and help focus both Capt Davis and myself on some immediate priorities, to get our online visibility, and personae  well visible and working for us. Capt Davis already has a handle on our Instagram account.  Our website is in development, but online as a pilot, mostly shell,, you can check it out here for another few days before I take it down for more work.  Comments welcome.

Our Facebook remains a challenge. Largely defunct for 3 years, we are having to rebuild from scratch our access and administrative rights, due to two layers of disappearing administrators with usernames and passwords. Hopefully we can catch a break with a clue somewhere to gain admin access without starting a months long "break the glass" process. 

Looking forward, the watchword is Sail Training;  Three Sail Training Opportunities to be scheduled on SignupGenius hopefully over next couple of weeks.  All Hands.. The weather forecast will give some hints when they could happen.  Notice may be short, so watch for emails, from me or SignupGenius.