Saturday morning, Bryan came over the gangway at a usual time of 0815 and found the saloon table and benches piled with opened boxes, filler, and plumbing parts. Earlier in the week, Capt Bobby Nobles had started his project of replacing the Saloon's entire head system, from holding tank to toilet to pump to macerator. The toilet had been stopped up and taped shut for a month.
Bryan filled up the drip coffee pot , punched the "Brew" button and set to work laying out the day's Punch List of projects. Once again the hourly shifting weather forecast for Saturday forced volunteers into foregoing projects that would commit to hours of time either on deck, or below deck. Additionally, the Spirit of South Carolina had agreed to act as the Atlantic Cup Regatta's Committee Boat, starting it Charleston to Newport Race. The committee would be boarding later in the morning to execute the race start at noon. So, instead, we set up our Punch list to enable flexing between indoors and outdoors. One overdue objective we would hold to, assuming the rain stayed away, was some sail training,, like flashing the jib.
Volunteer Ben Walker, graciously stepped forward to assist Capt Bobby in his less-than-glamorous project in the Saloon Head. Ryan Smith and son, Brody, started in on clearing the decks of loose gear, restoring order, and preparing the port side for the anticipated arrival of the Atlantic Cup Race Committee at 1100. Dallas Spencer put the finishing touches onto his set of traditionally stropped ash-wood becket blocks for the port side boat falls, then took tools ashore to sand and fair all the fiberglassing work from earlier in the week. Walter Barton assisted in restoring lines to their correct belaying pins on the Main mast porn Machowski, walked down the gangway with a bag of Committee Boat hardware, and another arm load of orange, green, red, and racing-check, flags on 8 foot staffs. He was followed shortly by three other members of the Atlantic Cup Race Committee, who started transforming the port rail into the Atlantic Cup Committee Boat.
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| Signal Flags going up at the 6 minute warning gun |
Dan recruited Brody, Ryan, and Walter as Timer countdown-to-start Flagstaff holders.. Their task would be to hold up a flag, representing minutes remaining to start. As minutes drew down, Dan and his Race Timer would signal for the appropriate minute flag to drop to the deck. The racing boats would see, at six minutes to start, a series of colored flags, each one disappearing according to minutes remaining to start. Meanwhile, out on the water, 1/4 mile out towards the Yorktown, 7 "Open-40's" racing sloops were ghosting along under mainsail alone, circling in the 4-know southerly breeze.
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| Old Salt Volunteer Dan exhaling after running the start of the Atlantic Cup. |
At 1155, starting with a signal gun firing, Timer Flags began dropping as each minute ticked down to noon. With another gun, the last flag dropped and all racers, crowded at the weather start buoy, sloowwwwly floating across the line. The light air likely forced the boats into a more stretched out start than they would've liked.
With that drama concluded Bryan set off for East Bay Deli to pick up lunch. An extra bag of ice would've been welcome, had it been thought of-note to self. Once lunch concluded, the Saloon was secured, cleaned up, and crew mustered forward for the long promised sail drill; dressing and setting the jib, then striking the jib and furling. The now sunny day was now being felt on deck. The exercise exposed the inevitable hiccups in traditional rigs-like a bolt rope snagging a shackle forcing a deckhand out onto the head rig to clear it.
Once struck and furled, hands mustered off to get some shade. Next time, the awning will go up- port side anyway.
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