Summer 2022
Number 35
LAUNCH DAY VIRGINIA and MARYLAND DOVE take to the water OHPRI Perseveres Sailcargo acquires VEGA $7.95 (about the cost of a Rum & Coke)
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SUBSCRIBE to MARLINSPIKE The quarterly magazine devoted to traditional sailing vessels, sailors, and programs! Annual subscription $29 Two years $48 — save $10! For digital subscriptions, visit issuu.com Subscribe via PayPal to Marlinspike1812@gmail.com via credit card by calling (978) 594-6510 or mail your check to: Marlinspike 98 Washington Square #1 / Salem, MA 01970 Visit us on the web at MarlinspikeMagazine.com or have a gam with our 24,000 followers on
MICHAEL RUTSTEIN
A Life at Sea I have Capt. John Eginton — formerly of Mystic Whaler — to thank for my current Kindle read: Sailing a North Sea Pilot Schooner, by Capt. James Geil. I’m usually more of a musty hardcover guy, but when Capt. John suggested I give Geils’ memoir a look, I decided to go digital. Geil is known to many of us as the longtime captain of Tabor Boy, the schooner of the title. The book is not merely about his years in command of that venerable sail trainer, but of an entire life spent, and occasionally misspent, at sea. Honestly, my favorite part of the book is the opening section, before Geil gets anywhere near the Tabor Boy. Geil recalls growing up in Florida, hauling crab traps with his grandfather, and seizing every opportunity to get out on the water in a variety of craft that are mostly not up to the task. Still, the young Geil manages not to drown, and along the way learns the ins and outs of crabbing and of the king mackerel fishery. Eventually the young man gets his break — after spending five summers windjamming under an old-school “bully” captain, losing a shipmate, catching his first glimpse of Tabor Boy, and doing some sketchy long-distance deliveries. But one day in Charleston, SC he runs into Capt. George Glaeser, and he’s off to bigger and better things. Anyone who’s worked in sail training will sympathize with the dilemmas Geil faces in command of Tabor Academy’s flagship, and any sailor will enjoy his matter-of-fact descriptions of transits between New England and the Caribbean, of transitting the Canal, of having gear come loose in gales, of going aground in a plethora of times and places — in short, suffering all the slings and arrows that our sea-going flesh is heir to. Recommended! Let’s hope all our careers conclude with writing such a book.
MARLINSPIKE MAGAZINE Summer 2022 • Number 35 Michael Rutstein, Publisher Marlinspike is published quarterly for $29 by Pennant Publications, Inc., 98 Washington Square #1 Salem, MA 01970 Cover Photo: Maine’s First Ship Postmaster: send address changes to Marlinspike 98 Washington Square #1, Salem, MA 01970 Copyright 2022 by Pennant Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Fair Winds,
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Michael Rutstein, Publisher
4 b At Last!
30 b Fun in the Sun?
MFS launches their re-creation of the 1608 VIRGINIA
Refitting AMAZING GRACE in the tropics
12 b Meet the New Dove A new & improved Maryland Dove takes to the Bay
18 b Give Them Some Credit OHPRI survived the pandemic by NOT pivoting
26 b VEGA!
32 b 38 b 43 b 44 b
Boats, Bars & Beaches Boatyards Show Us Your Spike Name That Boat
Sailcargo’s proof-of-concept ship is on her way MarlinspikeMagazine.com
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At Last! More than two decades after the idea was first kicked around, and 11 years after construction began in 2011, Maine’s First Ship has finally launched their pinnace Over 200 volunteers labored on Virginia, a reconstruction of the first English-built oceangoing ship launched in the Americas. The original was constructed at the Popham Colony, founded in 1607 at the mouth of the Kennebec River, to explore the natural resources of the area and to find the Northwest Passage. When the colony was abandoned a year later, Virginia sailed for England. The Bath area, ten miles up the river from the colony’s location, later became a major shipbuilding site. The new Virginia was built in downtown Bath, on the banks of the Kennebec, into which she was launched via crane on June 4. We spoke to MFS board member and lead rigger James L. Nelson the day after the launch. Marlinspike: It’s been just over 24 hours since Virginia touched down in the Kennebec River. How are you feeling? James L. Nelson: I’m a happy guy! Yes. I’m a relieved guy... MS: After all these years, it must have been an amazing moment. JLN: It was the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people, right up to Saturday. We planned a huge day of celebration for the launch. So on top of getting the ship ready over the past month, we’ve been flat out, lining up musicians, reenactors, food vendors, speakers, getting the stage ready, 4
getting the AV ready… so it’s been a big production, above and beyond just launching the ship. MS: The launch itself was pretty intricate. That giant crane had to pick up and move the vessel, what, three times to go from the build site into the river? Talk about setting that up. JLN: We contracted with Keeley Crane, a local crane company. But the first thing we had to do was dismantle the boatshed in which we built Virginia, that had been standing for a decade. That was no small task. All of the equipment, all of the tools, the saws, all of that had to be moved inside. So the boatshed came down and revealed Virginia to the world for the first time. Once that was done and the site was cleared away, we brought the crane in and they picked the ship up and they moved it once, northward, along the riverbank. Then they repositioned the crane, picked it up again and moved it further north, to where it was ultimately going to be launched. And then they turned it 180 degrees. The bow had been pointing north; they turned it so the bow was pointing south. That was primarily so that the spectators would be able to see the bow when the bottle was broken. And then they repositioned the crane again, and we brought a second crane in, because while the first crane could lift the ship easily enough, it couldn’t get that close to the
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river bank. Being further from the river bank meant having to tilt the crane arm down at a much steeper angle, and the crane couldn’t hold the ship at that angle. So we actually needed two cranes. The one advantage of that was that we were able to step the mast using the crane. Otherwise the mast would’ve interfered with the sling and we wouldn’t have been able to put the mast in. MS: That’s a lot of work! There she was, being built right by the river, but… JLN: Yes, exactly. We spent a long time, literally years, going back and forth between doing a traditional launch down the ways, doing a side launch, or using a crane. A lot of pros and cons all around, but ultimately we decided the crane was going to be safer. As intricate and involved as that process was, I think it was probably simpler than building ways and launching it. Part of the problem is that there are a lot of old pilings in the river, you know, from the shipyards of years past. All of those would’ve had to be cut away if we were gonna go down the ways. So ultimately this was the most expedient way to put the ship in the water. MS: Let’s just take a minute and shout out some of the key figures in the project over the years.
JLN: Absolutely! Orman Hines, of course, has been president of Maine’s First Ship since 2009. He has really been one of the major figures. As you know, he’s not one to put himself in the forefront, but he really has been the steady guiding hand behind a lot of this. He’s just excellent when it comes to keeping everybody happy and on track and being a calming presence. Along with him, there’s Rob Stevens, our lead shipwright, who has been with the project really from the very beginning, since the design stages. He had been slated to be the shipwright back when the ship was going to be built at the Maine Maritime Museum. Then, when that initial idea folded, Rob was one of the people to step forward and say, look, let’s build this ship anyway! And he was willing to volunteer his time, despite the fact that he makes his living as a shipwright. He was willing to volunteer his time to see this project to fruition. So he was enormously important. MS: I noticed that one of the knightheads was carved into a bust of Stevens! Was anyone else so honored, Jim? JLN: Uh, there was, yes! At the mizzen mast is Jeremy Blaiklock, who is the vice president of the organization, and who oversaw vessel construction, really since the keel was laid… and the third one, I’m honored to say, is me [laughs]. MS: And where is your bust on the boat?
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