Three Projects Completed this Saturday- Good Progress,, With good weather it's Maintaining our Momentum

 Some welcome weather for Saturday definitely boosted morale, after seemingly 3 straight past volunteer days sabotaged by rain. With the seven of us, Bryan, Alex Lya, Tony the Wiper, Chef Walter Barton and his signature comfort food for lunch, new Volunteer, Ben Walker, and Dave Brennan.  

With a little more organization than usual, Bryan divided the Watch in to three projects;  

• Walter and Alex were assigned the project of fabricating and installing a new Mast Boot for the mainmast-not as simple as it looked. 
• Tony and Dave began rigging up the foremast throat halyard with a bos'uns chair to take somebody aloft and linseed oil the Foremast-top-to-bottom. When set, they spread the ship's  20x20 foot canvas ground cloth around the bas or the mast to catch the inevitable drips and linseed oil spatter floating down from on high.
• Bryan coached Ben, and Dave thru marling-hitching of the foresail head onto the gaff, and properly lashing  down the peak.

The last two projects were completed in short order,  As Alex and Walter continued bulding out a cloth template to fit on the mast before laying it on a slab of fresh canvas to begin cutting out, the rest of us gathered around the foremast. 

Somebody has to set the example..

With no takers, Bryan sent helpers to retrieve a clean painter's coverall suit, a canvas bucket with plastic insert to fill with linseed oil, a large fresh rag for sopping down the mast.   Meanwhile, Bryan with  Dave's help, struggled into the suit, then fitted a chest harness, followed by two tether straps;  one to keep Bryan in the bos'un's seat, the second to snug the seat next to the mast. With oil bucket clipped on to the the sling, and three shipmates standing by the jumbo halyard, and Dave on a tag line, Bryan shouted out "on the halyard,, Haul Away!). 

And they hauled, and hauled, and hauled.. stopped for a break, then hauled away some more, until Bryan could touch the top edge of the mast copper sheath, and shouted, "That's Well, make fast".  For the next 45 minutes, They alternately eased Bryan down the mast 2-feet at a time, while he reached down into his bucket for a rag soaked with linseed oil, and reaching  around the mast, slopped copious quantities of oil around the mast, hoping not to miss a spot. Meanwhile, Walter excused himself to the galley to prep his buffet of meatloaf and green bean casserole. 

Once Bryan was safely back on the deck, everyone set everything aside and hurried below into the Saloon for lunch.  As it was completed and clean-up accomplished, Nate Mack came aboard with his tools and a huge Come-along strap rig. First, he trimmed and set the wood dutchman into the taff rail for curing, in preparation for reinstalling the lifeline stanchion into it.  Next he rigged the come-along strap around one of the bent stanchions on the starboard rail, and with slow steady pressure was able to straighten it back into a vertical.

Immediately after lunch as the rest of the crew began securing tools, and other equipment, Bryan teamed up with Walter and Alex on the Mast Boot template. Inexplicably, none of us were much in remembering out spatial algebra/geometry, beyond defining "pi". and We struggled with computing the various variables into a cone surface, laid out flat.  Finally, in frustration, we cut out one large rectangle, and shaped it around the mast base, alternately cutting, taping,, stretching, more cutting, until we had a rough cone shape.  This we lashed onto the mainmast base "collar" on the deck, stretching it upward so to tape it around the mast, just about fife rail-height. Bryan broke out the canvas repair kit, and with sail palm, sail twine, and a monster needle, began stitching together the  opposing vertical edges on the aftermost side of the canvas cone, of course largely unreachable, between the mast, and the Cabin trunk.

By this time, it was 1600 hours,, motivation was sinking, and family demands were coming to the surface, so we reluctantly found our stopping place, secured all of our tools and supplies below, and left the vessel under charge of Rick Washington.

Next morning, Bryan returned to finish the stitching, and  apply the first coat of white enamel over the entire surface of the cone, to shrink some of the folds out of it, and waterproof the thing.. Another project completed.

With arrival of the new Captain still up in the air. Volunteer priorities remain, addressing our spreadsheeted punchlist, but with increasing emphasis on honing our deckhand skills, making the deck shipshape in prep for our visitors crossing it on Sunday when Denis Sullivan ties up to us to disembark her Ashley Hall Students. We have three signed up for that Easter Sunday afternoon, and could use three more., for about an hour or so.