Spirit's Volunteer Crew Explores new skill challenges as the schooner becomes more active.

 Active Volunteers aboard Spirit of South Carolina over the past month must be sensing the shifting of work aboard, on deck and in the rigging. From months of varnishing, scraping, canvas repair, etc, punctuated by refreshers in basic safe line handling and knots, they are now facing situations, that build on the basics being practiced over the past year or so. 

Last month, volunteers learned to work together to up-rig a new awning, and rolling hitches, gasket coils, lines running fair, chafing awareness, were no longer hypotheticals, but necessary, useful tools. Last Saturday, the application of "purchase" in the way of using the ship's block and tackle to perform feats of immense strength, became a tool for improvisation.  The crew rigged a pair of "handy-billy''s-each with four-to-one purchase between the bow and the dock piling, to pull the bow seven feet closer to the dock, essentially multiplying the pulling force of four deckhands 8 times.

This week, new adventures continued.  On Wednesday afternoon, volunteers Bryan Oliver, Walter Barton, Dan Feerst, Dallas Spencer and Nick Swarts mustered on deck with Captains Bobby and Will to cast off and motor the schooner out to the Middle Ground, just south of  Castle Pinckney where volunteers, almost all for the first time, walked thru the drill of "Catting the anchor" with the Anchor Burton tackle, and on que, releasing the anchor into 20 feet, timing the clattering rushing of chain overboard for 8 seconds, to estimate a rode of around 100 feet out before Dan Feerst on the wheel brake furiously twisted down on the wild cat to stop the chain. Stopper on, Capt Bobby reversed engines and set the anchor.  Another Volunteer First. 

the 

Capt Bobby and Richard from Capt's Choice
 set up the new pole into the Yokohama

Two days, later, Friday morning, many of the same mustered at the dock to rearrange, and re-string the three huge Yokohama blivit fenders more securely against designated pilings.  The previous night, Nick Swarts pulled anchor watch, suffering an evening not much cooler that the hot day that preceded. Nevertheless he was there to launch the Small Boat.  With Volunteers in the small boat to screw and bolt new chains onto the existing pole, unraveling and pulling off old, chafing barnacles bridles.  

Capt Bobby and Sam Sablonsky check the position
 of the yokohama against the piling.

Others with Capt Bobby  trucked in a new pole for the third "rogue" yokohama, first towing it over to a floating dock to thread it onto the new pole,, rig chain "leashes on either end, then tow it back into position to chain each Yokohama onto it's assigned piling.   Now we were ready for Spirit of South Carolina to return to dock.  

That happened this past Saturday morning, the 13th, when a volunteer crew ferried themselves in two runs from the dock out to the schooner, still riding anchor in the same position.    Now  for another first.  Volunteers set up the Brake handles on the big bronze windless, locking them in.  Bryan and Dan set the pawls on the starboard Wildcat, where the chain already strained in the grooves. Tony Marchesani cleared the chain anchor stopper hook away, while Capt Bobby slowly motored forward to a spot over the anchor.   With the chain up and down, Four Volunteers manned the brakes and commenced to pumping.  Dallas Spencer demanded a shanty, so he and Bryan started up with "Pump her boys, Pump her dry, down to hell and up to the sky,, Bend your back and break your bones, were just a thousand miles from home.. you get it. We ran out of verses with stiff 40 feet to go.  Pumpers were relieved, and continued the rhythm until  jarred to a stop.  No amount of leaning, jumping, would give another link. The chain was guitar string taut.  A quick report back to Capt Bobby, who concluded the anchor was just very well dug into the muddy bottom.  A throttle forward  quickly followed by a reverse, while pumpers kept up the strain, and a noticeable clanging and pop as the anchor freed, and the chain started rolling again. Bryan yelled back to Capt Bobby, "anchor's aweigh". In less than a minute the anchor broke the surface and hung suspended off the hawse hole.  Now the teamwork took on a new direction. With three on the Burton, standing by, Dallas climbed out into the starboard head rig with the  burton tackle and it's small hook. In two try's he snagged the anchor ring, called for the Burton to take up,, and crew began sweating up the 500 lb anchor to a point where Bryan could  pass a strop thru the ring,  return it back over the cathead, twice repeated, then lashed down.  Now the Burton team gave slack,  slipped the Burton hook out of the anchor ring and caught it onto the rope bridle spanning the anchor's flukes, still hanging vertically off the cathead.  In four good pulls, the Burton team hauled up the flukes just enough to clear the cap rail, where Volunteers positioned the ocean-plaited matt over the battens, and the flukes were lowered down.  Another lashing made over the flukes and a smaller one square-lashing the anchor stock onto the cathead brace. Meanwhile, Capt Bobby had swung the schooner back around and was motoring to the dock and our newly positioned yokohama fenders. Ken Fonville stood by to take lines.  Nick was sent over the side along with another volunteer to be dropped off at the dock to assist Ken. Dock lines set up to run. Heaving lines hitched on, coiled for throwing

With a little pushing from Nick in the small boat, Capt Bobby rode the flooding tide  to less then 20 feet from the dock.  in quick succession heaving lines flew over the dock and quickly hauled over to their appropriate cleat. With her hull centered on the Gangway frame. the dock line team quickly transitioned to  team. Shipboard dock line handlers shifted to the falls to receive the gangway.  The team swung the balky-tipsy aluminum bridge out over the edge settling the outboard end on the ship while maneuvering the inboard end to a position for sliding in it's hinge pole.   Like clockwork.