Sanding and oiling the helm drum

Finally a nice enough day that we could work outside. After a deck wash that was needed greatly we put some chafe gear on, Brooke, Sveta and Cliff tightened up on a dock line by putting it through the windless. I started to unlash the cannons and then Kat and Grant put them back in place.

Katie was in the engine room with Peter and fiddling around with generator and engine batteries. One was in really bad shape and you could even hear it boiling on the inside, Katie also got splashed with some battery acid, ouch.

Kat was in the rigging putting mousing on; Grant put the ratlines back on the mizzen top futtocks and later did some things in bosuns.

Brooke and I were sent to sand and oil the helm drum, it had varnish on it so it was going to be a long processes of getting all the varnish off. On top of that there is the line wrapped around the drum, so we had to take that off before we could even start. It was a really interesting processes, remove all the junk from the raised grate like the lifeboats, remove the grate and unhook a bunch of stuff. One of the reasons why the helm was so hard to steer was because some of the gear was rusty, we plan on getting new ones, but we might not get them before Monday when we plan on moving the boat again.

So now that all the line was removed Brooke and I could finally start sanding. We started with 60 grit, after awhile we realized it wasn’t doing a whole lot, just scratching at the varnish. Sveta brought us a heat gun and some scrapers and that’s what really did the trick. After lunch Brooke went to take Josh to get provisions and Kat jumped in on helping sand the last bits.

Tacked twice, wood bleach and then it took a really long time for the water to dry from when we rinsed it. Finally after dinner we added a nice coat of oil, it was really thirsty. I’m really proud of how well it turned out, it sure is a pretty helm drum. When we do finally put the line back on we are going to add a whipping at midships, the exact middle of the line so you know everything is line up evenly.

At the end of the day I have a few minutes left so Sveta had me re lead the mizzen staysail line.

Brooke and Cliff de rigging the line around the helm drum.

Rudder gear.

The helm with varnish.

Stripped of a few layers of varnish.

Kat tacking.

Katie under the stairs playing with the batteries.

Another day sailing

We had a lot to do this morning before we could actually leave the dock. First we had to talk about how to leave because we only had one engine working, it was decided that we were going to sail off the dock, not done a lot. We had to haul in the anchor, put the other two on buoys and haul the line to the dock. The starboard bow anchor brought up on the windless was flaked by Grant and I hosed off the chain as it came in to remove some mud and gunk. The starboard aft anchor line was dropped down to Katie, Brooke and Kat in the small boat, as we were starting to ease the line Kat was all “this is a shit show.” It was hard because they are trying to hold on to a line that has an anchor at the end and then tie buoys on to it. The other brow was brought in, Katie took off the dock lines and we hauled them in and coiled them. Katie came over in the small boat and we brought that up as well.

We didn’t leave the dock until we saw trident marine showing up, that was our whole point for getting off the dock, they were coming to fix out dolphins while the put in the rest of the ones for the Lynx, which will be here Wednesday.

Before we left the dock we went aloft and shook out the fore topsail so when we first went out that was set and we could have the wind behind us and actually sail off the dock. Some how I managed to be stuck on the helm, that was fun. Peter was there showing me a few things because I would not really have had much of an idea of where we were going.

After we were of Lake Worth we decided to set the fore topgallant, I was stuck on the helm so I couldn’t go aloft when the rest of them did, but I got a chance later. We also hauled on the braces so we could actually have the wind working for us. Also at some point we set the spanker.

We were out for awhile before some people started feeling sea sick. Brooke and Kat just felt sick while Peter actually was sick, he was down in the engine room fiddling with the engine so he felt a lot of the rolls.

Cliff was a really big help today, he knows so much and we all liked the way he teaches.

I was on duty today so I did a bit more running around and tried to get some dishes done, but wanted to be up on deck. At one point when I was heading back into the galley during a boat check a bowl came flying out of the rack and almost attacked me. We also did boat checks every half hour, checking all compartments as usual.

So at one point we were just sailing along and didn’t have anything in particular to do, so we decided to chuck the nasty 2-year-old expired mayo, ranch dressing and salsa over the side. Gross, but really fun, it made people want to be sick all over again.

Finally we started to head back in. Hauled up on the topgallant, went aloft to furl it quickly and that was interesting. You can feel every inch of the boat moving below you, wind is blowing at your back yet from all over, the shrouds are giggling and jerking all over the place. It was really hard to hold on and at times your feet would be kicked out from under you. So you finally get to the yard, get yourself on the footrope, clipped in and then hold on for dear life while this giant piece of canvas is flapping all over your head. Then we furled the topsail in a very messy fashion, but at least got it secure so that it won’t be ripped to shreds or make us go in the wrong direction. Brooke and I were furl buddies, we worked well together and knew what each other needed when.

Then we some how got to the dock and had to get our dock lines ready. Move them to the right location, feed them through the stanchions, around anything in the way and back up the cap rail. Then we set out heaving lines and coiled them and waited. It took a few tries to get us close enough to where we were confident that we could make it.

Set anchor lines, added more dock lines, attached shore power and coiled the lines.

We also received some mail! I got a birthday card from the family, Ashley sent me a watch, so perfect because I don’t have one and was always bothering people of what time it was. And I got a necklace that my mom ordered for me, it’s a Dutch painting of a ship on a tile.

I found Katie digging through some bags of clothing, Sveta said she could go through them to find some warmer things, we all ended up going through them, I got a sweater, a jacket, a wind breaker and a t-shirt.

Sveta called me a sweetheart and asked if I thought I’d made a good ship mate, I said I would because I was kind of quiet and I was tidy, she said I was good because of all the treats I bake.

A really long day, but learned so much and I’m still on duty so I have to sleep on the tween. I even found a cut on my knee and I don’t remember getting it at all and my abs really hurt, I used my whole core when pulling on the lines.

Meters for the engine.

Coiled dock lines.

Kat with ginger and lemon water.

There is a tiny piece of toast out there, we were guessing how fast we were going, 2 knots.

Sveta playing with the spanker.

Looking fore.

Fore mast.

Rolls, note the horizon.

Topgallant and topsail set.

Mayo disposal time.

Peter being Peter while in Sveta's jacket.

Peter not feeling well.

Brooke feeling better.

Grant disposing of the mayo.

Pamphlets flew everywhere.

Topgallant and topsail set.

Kat on a bit not feeling so well.

Sveta at the helm.

Brooke and Kat not feeling too hot.

Grant lounging on coiled dock line.

Fore topsail from the fore topgallant.

Brooke on the fore topgallant.

Furling the fore topgallant.

Josh preparing heaving line.

Giant bowline in the dock line for heaving.

Brooke and Sveta pulling up the anchor line from the water.

Katie hooking up shore power.

Katie and Cliff untangling an anchor line.

The Usual

Another cold day, so we worked inside. When I came down from capstan my glasses fogged up so much I couldn’t see, the small boat also had a very thin layer of ice on the water in it.

I finished up a bit more paint near forward crew, did some whippings and then cleaned some cabins. When I was shop vacing under the bunks I accidentally vacuumed a whistle that was attached to a life jacket and it whistled. I also found some interesting things, some change, US, Euro and Pounds, a necklace, some skittles and flour. Brooke was in the engine room helping Peter change the oil. Katie and Kat were in bosuns cleaning and sharpening some tools.

Sveta showed us how to sew on chafe gear to a line, easy, just sewing some thick fabric around a line.

We did a little of prep for our sailing tomorrow, got rid of the trash, took down a brow, moved stagings and cannons. The sunset was amazing and made the great cabin glow orange.

Then Grant and his dad Cliff showed up and later Robin.

Rainy Day

It rained all day so we worked inside.

Katie and Brooke did a really deep clean of the galley; all the stuff they found was really disgusting, like it hasn’t been cleaned in years. They also found a lot of stuff, expired stuff as well, like mayonnaise and salad dressing. We were trying to think of ways to dispose of it because we want to keep the containers for storage in bosuns. We don’t just want to squeeze it into garbage bags or something gross like that, how about using it to pull a prank on the Lynx… that would just be far too gross.

Kat organized the first aid kit and the broom closet in the heads and later sharpened a whole bunch of stuff in bosuns.

I got to paint the forward crew companion way. There is so much surface that has to be painted, took me all day, lots of corners, trim and hard to reach areas. I had to be a monkey and stand up on the edges to reach the top of some things.

Also since the water is a lot warmer than the air the water let off a lot of steam. And we got shore power to work, no more generator, only when we need to pump bilges.

Half round and small boat

This morning Brooke did some patch serving while Kat and Katie tarred. The interesting thing was the places the three of them were getting into, Brooke ended up hanging from her harness on the main royal to patch something on the truck, she had a really hard time. A large chunk of marlin even came my way; I was on the fore deck knocking out some bungs.

We also had some kindergarteners on board today, when their ferry pulled up they were yelling all kinds of pirate nonsense, my favorite was “I can see the people,” they were still aloft finishing up things.

The south wind favored us a little bit today so the dock lines were slack and we added more chafe gear.

Katie and I were sent to the half round where we struggled to get a piece off because the boat didn’t want to let go of it. Kat oiled part of the bowsprit and Brooke touched up some paint on it before she had to drive Peter around.

We finally got the small boat back, yay! There’s been problems with it for at least the past 10 days.

At capstan Peter said that on the 11^th and the 18^th we’d be doing a bit of a sail. On the 11^th so that trident marine can try and fix our dolphins, they’ll be doing more work on the other dock for Lynx and the 18^th for fuel. There are fewer of us now, so it’ll be a little harder I think, but we do know more. Plus Grant will be getting in just the night before so he’ll be there.

Even though I was on duty today, Peter offered to take over for a few hours so that I could go out and celebrate my birthday because we couldn’t go ashore last night. It was simple and hilarious. Went bowling and had some good laughs, the last time I went bowling was in Egypt senior year!

Brooke and Katie on the main.

Knocking down bungs.

Under the brow.

South wind pushing us against the dock, very crooked dolphins.

My birthday

Happy birthday to me. This morning Josh sang me a silly song that apparently is the schooner birthday song. We also did a bit of work aloft, Katie tarred while Brooke and I did some patch serving on the mizzen, not too bad.

Katie and Kat then worked on the half round, Brooke drove Peter around again and I got to bung. I was happy to bung, I oddly enjoy it, pretty much out of bungs but we got more screws today.

Trident marine came by and worked on putting in dolphins for the Lynx, was interesting to watch. Sveta said they might not have enough time to settle, they put ours in 2 weeks before we got here and Lynx is less than 10 days away. Our dolphins are really crummy, pushed over not very helpful.

Unfortunately the most annoying part about working on a boat is if you drop something, even from aloft to the deck is bad, but over the side and into the water, could be lost forever. Lucky for us we are docked so we can attempt to retrieve some things, today a putty knife, marlinspike and drill went over the side, Sveta dove and got them. Also Katie sliced her thumb pretty bad with a scraper.

I made my own cake, carrot cake; everyone stuck candles in it, sang to me and gave me a silly card they all signed. We hung out and wiggled around to some music, nice and mellow, the way I like things. Peter is really silly and I kept videoing him dancing around. hehe

Half round

Trident marine

Katie and Kat putting the half round back on.

Peter and Brooke

Katie and Peter singing.