Watches

Things started to get done yesterday, Ryan started tightening the forward port pin rail, another jib was put up and Brooke, Jesse and I started tightening the shrouds on the main top. Since Maisie is also the safety officer she had us try on the Gumby suits, they are really hilarious, bright red and cover your whole body except your eyes. We cut out early at the end of the day so that we could go over some things in the new crew manuals and devide into our watches.

A Watch: Peter, Michelle, Grant, Me

B Watch: Cory, Katie, John, Mitch

C Watch: Maisie, Zach, Jesse, Brooke

A watch is the action watch, we jump in and get things done, put out the fire, find the problem and do things. B watch is in charge of the boat, if they need to strike the sails, turn us around and navigate. C watch is communication, radio if needed for help and make sure the watched all communicate together.

The first drill we discussed was about fire, so A watch assembles by the hose, would put it together and take the hose where it was needed. For each drill there is something different to do.

Day off

Katie and I stopped by the Library, got a few movies and a bunch of CD’s, new music for being off shore, Brooke and Grant went to the bank. Met them at Paris where Peter showed up, he had a new DVD player because the old one was crummy and broken. Wondered around, went to a marine store looking for something in the way of marlinspikes and new knives. Ended up going to the hardware store next to save a lot where we got some sweet metal punches, just need a bit of a grind.

Dixie Highway.

Paris cafe.

Paris

Replacing sail

Today was a great day. Grant and I finished up the after most section of the deck, NP1 and oiling. Katie and Michelle worked more on the main mast on the tweens. Cory and John were on the main topsail installing copper thumb cleats, everyone else was easing up the fore topgallant yard.

Cookie left to pick up Maisie in Miami so I was set with the task of putting out lunch. After lunch we all got to go aloft and it was so much fun. The fore topgallant team was Jesse, John, Brooke and I. We hauled up the sail on the gantline, dragged the corners to the yardarms and lashed them on temporarily, had all four of us hauling on it to get it super tight. Lashed the earring lashings tight, attached the sail to the jackstay with row bands. Since the yard had been taken down it was stripped of all its gear, I carried up two round strops, four blocks and two lizards, I felt like a very oddly decorated Christmas tree.

While our team was on the fore everyone else was on the main putting the topsail up. Dan, Ryan, Katie, Michelle, Grant and Cory. They did the same thing we did, but lifted it with the capstan and used the new thumb cleats that were put in this morning to tighten it down. They had to furl it because it was the end of the day and it has so many dead babies in it.

Fore topgallant yard going up.

Cory and John adding thumb cleats to the main topsail yard.

Grant sitting on a sail to bundle it up.

Katie sanding the main mast.

Shaking out the main topsail sail, big white patch on it.

Furling the fore topgallant.

Furling the main topsail.

... and from behind.

Fresh oil.

The last of the deck sanding

Today the fore topgallant mast was put up smoothly, so smoothly that I wasn’t even really aware of the whole processes. Brooke, Katie and I moved the grates by the rudder and started working back there. Brooke adjusted the turnbuckles, Katie moused some shackles and I started revving. I ended up spending all day back there, revving and then sanding with Ryan.

Katie and Michelle got to sand as well, just on the tweens, the main mast, it’s in really rough shape, so much junk on it and the wood is crummy.

Everyone else was aloft helping out.

Michelle stripping varnish.

Peter checking charts.

Throwing a mast out the window

This morning we threw a mast out the window, yeah we were really angry at it and just threw it out. It was originally put on the tweens through the window in the great cabins, so that was the only way to get it back out on to deck. It was a relatively easy process, take it down from the overhang, walk it to the great cabin, place it pointing out the window, attach the gantline and slowly ease it out. It was about ¾ of the way out when we realized we needed two tag lines, those were made fast and then it was shove out the window. Dan and Jesse were in the small boat and they dragged it around the boat and we used the yardarm tackle and the mast tackle, two taglines and hauled it to deck.

We had so many tours today that it felt like not a lot of things got done. I was going to sand the main mast, but I kept stopping when a tour came by so I worked on baggy wrinkle till lunch. After lunch I inventoried the forward tank room of all its filter and engine room like things and then heat gunned and scraped off some varnish from the columns on the tweens.

Katie painted more red and more red and then black on the heel of the mizzen topmast mast. The foremast was prepped for work on it tomorrow.

Also our second mate arrived today, Cory, he’s been on Bounty before and we met him in Key West.

Dan and Katie standing by.

Now with John standing by.

John, Jesse, Katie and Ryan pushing the mast out the window.

John, Katie and Ryan.

Dan attaching a tag line from the small boat.

The junk we had to move, cannons, davits and stanchions.

Guys standing by, what they do best.

Jesse, Katie and Michelle down rigging.

Main mast

As the master seamstress around here I had to reeve out the seams around the window pains on the great cabin house. It took awhile because it’s really small and also tapping it has to be very neat. Then I got to attack the main mast, they want it down to bare wood so that we can oil or varnish it. The big issue is that there is a bunch of junk on it, like dry wall that someone had put on there, hopefully we can get it all off and then plane it so everything is smooth.

The main stay was finally put back together, some lanyards tightened, and the head sails put back up. We also had a pirate wedding.

Baggy Wrinkle

Spent all day making stupid baggy wrinkle, it’s really not that bad I just don’t like fluffing it. How to make baggy wrinkle, double up a long length of seine twine, cow hitch a piece of manila to it and then add a billion more, push up and fluff. I sad there all day doing that and my hands turned a little yellow, as did my pants.

Michelle sanded two columns on the tweens, Katie started to attach the main mast that’s on the tweens. It was a rainy gloomy day so lots of things were done inside.

Cow hitching baggy wrinkle.

Michelle stripping varnish.

Ryan napping after work.