Volunteers Mustering on Saturday receive New Directions and New Priorites

Friday afternoon, the 1st of November, I had a hunch that something was up.  The schooner was deserted when I came onto the dock. The gangway was suspended a good 10 feet above the deck to keep it clear of the caprail as high tide, so I decided to just toss the packet I'd brought with me down into the forecastle hatch.  Then I noticed it.  A huge mass of canvas roughly folded up on the port side of the foremast. Looking forward towards the headrig, the jibstay was bare.  No text or voicemail messages from the Mate, Eva, to fill in the big blank in the mental picture I was trying to paint of what the heck was going on.  Oh, well, I would surely know soon enough tomorrow morning when Volunteers mustered for our regular Saturday Volunteer Day. 

Saturday at  0900, nine of us came down the gangway to muster around Eva who was waiting for us.  Without waiting for my dramatic gesticulating towards the canvas pile, Eva announced that we would be "Downrigging the Ship."  The context needed no explanation. Sometime in the future, sooner than later, the schooner must be delivered to a Shipyard for it's ten-year interval inspection and scheduled maintenance.  The most significant component, being a total downrigging-including unstepping the masts, to look deeply for signs of deterioration, anywhere.

As a distraction;  All gathered on port rail
 to send off SSV Denis Sullivan, bound south

And, so, our new priority of work aboard would be to prepare the schooner for shipyard; taking down, taking off, inventorying, stowing, repairing, pre-inspecting anything that would save us time, and therefore money spent in space rental, shipyard labor, etc.  

Eva gave us our instructions for the day; down rig the rest of the headrig-Jumbo, halyards, lifts, downhauls, booms, blocks and tackles; lay out and measure and log all lines for possible replacements.

and then,,

Do it again for the foresail.

Tony Marchesani, Walter Barton, and Ken Fonville grabbed up already coiled headrigging lines, and brought them onto the dock for laying out and measuring.  Lance Halderman, Adam Reed, Sam Slablotsky and brother, Levy, teamed up with Eva flake-fold the jib, then Jumbo sail, roll, tie-down, then stow them below in one of the forecastle berths. Next task, start cutting lashings on the foresail.

Foresail neatly rolled on the deck,
Eva orchestrates the foresail boom downrigging. 

Meanwhile, Bryan stole away with two new Volunteers, Racheal Peterson, and Nolan  to conduct their orientation on deck and below.  As more lines were spilled down onto the decks from their tackles, idle hands coiled them, and immediately stuck large masking tape tabs on the coils, labeling them with markers. 

Jumbo Boom, Foresail gaff

As lunch time approached, all the canvas, jib, jumbo, and foresail had been flaked, rolled, and stowed below in the Forecastle. A few volunteers bowed out for other weekend chores, four elected to share costs for some Harris Teeter Sandwiches, and the pace slowed to a stop, for a few moments. Then then the Mate estimated sufficient non-constructive time had passed, and called out Muster on Deck;  this time to down-rig the foresail-boom and gaff. By 1400, all spars, canvas, and running rigging, had been labeled, coiled and stowed below.  Spars laid out under the port rail for lashing down later.          

Next time; The mainmast rigging.

And after that,, well, the Mate has a plan, I"m sure of it.. and all the while, the front office is hunting up shipyards with availability, traditional wooden shipwright talent,,  and capacity.