Marlinspike #7

Summer 2015

Number 7

$6.95 — about the cost of a Rum & Coke

MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

Courtesy Bowdoin College

Lighthouse cruises. Trolley Tours. Historic shipyard. Opening July 26, 2015: Lobstering & the Maine Coast.

www.MaineMaritimeMuseum.org

 Washington Street • Bath, Maine • --

Characters

MICHAEL RUTSTEIN

You probably already know what an incredible bunch of people there are in our Tall Ships and sail-training communities. What amazes me about them actually isn’t their skill at sailing or teaching, but the fact that once you get to know them, you realize that in almost every case they possess some other outstanding talent, one that you might never guess.

In these pages we have Jamie Trost, a career mariner who can also write, and who needs no introduction to many of you. There’s Kenny Knoll, a commercial pilot who’s now running a sober boat on his Irwin 65. There’s Crane Stookey, the sailor turned management guru. There’s Jen Buttery, who shuttles back and forth between readying her fiberglass ketch for the season and caulking the Harvey Gamage — when she’s not playing her fiddle or rehabbing her rustic Maine farmhouse.

Over in Salem, our schooner is manned by two former firefighters; a retired turbine engineer who’s also a Coast Guard veteran; a young woman training to be a psychologist; a Park Ranger; and a retired Colonel of artillery. We have a bow-hunter, a wildlife carver, a Viking re-enactor, a Vaudeville strongman and a watercolor painter. And I honestly don’t think our group is in any way unusual. I think every schooner up and down the East Coast is manned by an equally intriguing crew.

If you’re reading this, chances are you know exactly what I’m talking about.

That’s why I’m asking you to look aloft and alow for characters worthy of featuring in our magazine and on our crazy-busy facebook page. Use your writing talents to send us a story. Use your photography talents to send us images. Record a song! Make a video!

Marlinspike was never intended to be purely about the boats, it’s also about the people. Let us know who your favorite characters are!

MARLINSPIKE MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015 • NUMBER 7

Michael Rutstein, Editor & Publisher Cover Photo: Nigel Pert

Advertising: (978) 561-3020 Marlinspike (ISSN, USPS pending) is published quarterly for $25 by Pennant Publications, Inc., 73 Middleton Road, Boxford, MA 01921. .

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Copyright 2015 by Pennant Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Phone (978) 561-3020 E-Mail Marlinspike1812@gmail.com

Fair Winds,

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Michael Rutstein, Publisher

4 b Splinters for St. Nazaire 10 b A Promising Match

Jamie Trost recalls the 2005 dismasting of PRIDE II

14 b The Sober Boat

Ocean Classroom & OHPRI offer semester program

20 b Small Country, Big Boats

In Southern California, a ketch offers Rehab under Sail The Dutch maritime tradition is second to none

28 b 30 b 33 b 34 b 40 b 44 b 46 b 47 b

Boatyards Calendar Sailing Opportunities Boats, Bars & Beaches Tools of the Trade Job Listings Show Us Yours Crane Stookey

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3

Splinters for t. azaire SN

By Jamie Trost After losing their rig in the Bay of Biscay, the crew of PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II struggles to create order from chaos. Jamie Trost, later a captain aboard PRIDE, was one of the mates on this 2005 voyage

This is the second time I’ve written of Pride of Baltimore II’s 2005 dismasting. The previous version, published in Chesapeake Bay Magazine to help fund the repairs, was tedious and blunted by organizational oversight. If you’ve read it, please forget it.

This story, while written from the hazier remove of nearly a decade, is less clouded by the immediate effects of PTSD, and undiluted by company policy.

“Kelly, get down!” I shouted.

Kelly Poole, the bosun, stood next to me at the port main pin rail. Beneath us, Pride of Baltimore II staggered to a halt, her reefed foretops’l shivering, then going fully aback against the marbled grey sky. A slow, crunching rhythm swept sickeningly across the deck. It quickened and intensified as the mast lurched independently of the ship. With a six-foot sea and a steady force five breeze, the Bay of Biscay had jarred loose the foremast. The mast telegraphed its imminent fall, and all thoughts of salvaging the situation with the anchor burton or a halyard dissolved. The thing was coming down.

“She’s dis… masting?” I called out. It started as a declarative shout, but trailed off into almost plaintive inquisitiveness. Why did Pride II — this ship that had for 17 years safely carried scores of sailors across over two-hundred thousand miles of ocean, gulf, sound, lake, and bay — suddenly want to kill us? Why did she want us dead so badly she was willing to break herself, kamikaze-like, to pieces in order to murder us all?

“Don’t take it personally,” Captain Jan Miles often said, explaining that the pace and hustle of sailing Pride II often make orders loud and sharp. Standing in the path of the toppling foremast, though, it felt damn personal. The mast was coming for me.

For us. Turning to look for cover, I saw panic-tinged betrayal in Kelly’s eyes. I shoved her down into the lee bulwarks as far outboard as I could. It was the only place to go. The cap rail offered poor cover, but it might deflect the incoming tons of rigging. Sprawled out abaft the pin rail, my face squashed into the heel of Kelly’s foulie boot, I couldn’t pull my legs up close enough my body. For the anxiously stretched seconds it took the foremast to fall, I was certain that when it hit, my legs would be as violently torn from my body as the mast was from the ship.

A thundering impact. Kelly screamed. The fores’l swept down and left us in gloom.

Ensconced in a dim canvas cave, we heard more smashing around us: the foretop, the main mast, the boom, maybe. Then silence, except the slow, sloshing rise and fall of the ship.

Commotion and muffled voices broke the hush. I reached down and felt my legs: still attached.

The first victory of the day.

Minutes before, Pride II’s entire head-rig had carried away, along with both her forestays. I was below when this happened, off-watch. Poole had the deck with C watch. Pride II’s watch system breaks down into two daily rotations of on-watch, off-watch, and stand-by. The four hours before your watch, you’re stand-by and might be called up to help the watch on deck handle sail. In normal operations, stand-by is called rather infrequently.

During a race, with the ship powered up and beating hard to weather, stand-by is consuming.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY The morning before, my watch, B watch, spent three and a half hours of our stand-by on deck, tackOF DAVE CASTLE ing around the Ile d’Ouessant in sight and ahead of the mammoth Russian square-rigger Mir. The morning of the dismasting, we’d been called up to take-in, reef, and sea-stow the foretops’l. At 1545, I was trying the old sailor’s adage of sleeping when you can.

With Pride II storming along at nearly 10 knots close hauled and heeled 20 degrees on starboard tack, staying wedged in my bunk well enough to sleep proved difficult. We’d set the reefed foretop on the 8-12, and now A watch was getting called up regularly to help take in the jib tops’l as Pride II threaded through the squall-strewn Bay of Biscay. Each coming squall sent Captain Miles and Chief Mate Andrew McKee scurrying out of the aft cabin. Earlier in the 12-4 watch, they came below discussing a Sterling Hayden passage about squalls drill. The passage, as McKee quoted it, ended with, “and even if you’re not called, you should still come to deck, because you might just learn something. But I won’t hold my breath.”

The advice rang in my ear. I lay there, not sleeping, my bunk casually trying to eject me. The next time I heard the call to handle sail, I hustled up behind them. I was awake anyway, so I grabbed my foulie jacket and followed them up.

Because I’d just be up there for a quick strike and set, I didn’t grab my knife. It would be the last time I’d ever go to deck without one.

As I climbed the companionway, the ship heeled hard, then suddenly flattened out. I got to deck and looked down the weather rail to find no head rig. Jib boom, bowsprit, sails, stays, everything. Gone.

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5

“Holy shit,” I said aloud. For an instant I thought “Well, I guess we’re not in first place anymore.” A ludicrous thought, erased in an instant by the reality that we had far bigger things to worry about.

Captain Miles had the helm hard left, but Pride II insistently tracked right, weathervaning on her main. The crew on deck had already jumped to the throat and peak. McKee was working the sheet on the starboard cleat. I looked to leeward, saw Poole sweating the lee quarter lift by herself, and slid across the aft cabin top to tail as the halyards paid out and the sail came rushing down.

Now I sifted through folds of 16 oz Oceanus to find her. When I did, she was about to open a seam of the fores’l.

Seeing her upright and breathing—tears in her eyes, knife in hand — lit a flicker of reality on the past few minutes of absurdity. Both of us were alive, though she seemed shaken.

And her knife was the only way we’d be able to cut our way out of this, if we had to. The dread of that realization sharpened my focus. The air tasted like wet splinters. With all the hideous crashing of spars around us, the rig could have busted the hull badly enough to sink us. We needed to get out from under the sail, fast.

Rather than cut apart the fores’l, I told Poole, “we might need that, intact.” For fothering, jury-rigging — I couldn’t say what. Still charged from the specific adrenaline rush that comes from not quite being smashed to a paste by your own rig, we dragged about a third of the fores’l inboard across the lifeline and over our heads. Leaden daylight peeked through the small gap between the shiny mahogany and soggy gray sail cloth. One at a time we could squeeze our heads through far enough to see that Pride II was buoyant and sound, though her rig was mangled into kindling. But neither of us could get out without the other staying behind to hold the gap open.

That wouldn't do. We tunneled out through the wreckage and were damned happy to met one of our guest crew coming in to find us. He led us out and to a muster of our shipmates midships on the starboard rail. In one of the few spots of the deck clear of debris, all 12 crew and six guest crew stood, unscathed.

Pride II, however, was anything but unscathed. The full length of the foremast lay across the nested boats on port, its crosstrees punched through the aft cabin house. Lying a-hull to a six foot sea, Pride II rolled ceaslessly, but the boats and impaled trees braced the mast. Outboard of it, the port half of the fore yard lay where we’d been standing minutes before. I flashed through potential outcomes in my mind and tasted bile in my mouth.

The starboard half of the fore yard jutted its yardarm skyward and aft alongside the 25 foot splinter of mainmast.

That was the tallest piece of the rig left standing. The rest of the main was smashed trough the taffrail, transom, and covering board. It missed Captain Miles and McKee by less than two feet. Much of it hung well outboard and bobbed out of sync with the hull. The gaffs and boom were broken at the jaws. Topmasts, headrig, and all the heads’ls were 6

strewn around us, helplessly jellyfishing as the ship rose and fell.

By inches, the falling rig had missed all of us. The wheel, compass, engine controls, and the GPS bracket on the taffrail had all been spared. We were all alive and could salvage our way out.

McKee sent the engineer, Josh Rubin, for bolt cutters and the sawz-all and was advocating we cut our way free from the wreckage. Eleven years earlier, I’d survived another dismasting aboard a 35-foot racing yacht on Lake Erie. Half the aluminum mast had fallen away to leeward and lay against the hull with a knife-like edge. I’d wanted to cut that rig free as fast as possible. As a 19-year-old foredeck hand, I was overruled, and we managed to save the pieces without sinking. Roughly half of Pride II’s rig had gone by the board.

But the maze and tangle connecting it to what had landed on deck would make for a lot of cutting.

Before I could decide which way I’d vote, Captain Miles vetoed the hacking and the sawing. He picked his way up to the bow with McKee and me in tow to study the shattered headrig as it thumped against the bow.

“We have to save all this,” he said, scanning the pieces of rigging for a reason. “I have to understand what happened here.”

There it was — the gear, all of it, would stay with us, with the ship. The enormous hunks for spars, the waterlogged heads’ls sunk deep into azure water by the wire weight of their stays, the rats nest of tangled rigging. It would take us five hours of work none of us ever expected, or were specifically trained to do. But it was what our ship needed and we did it without question.

My memory plays back those five hours of salvage as an old-fashioned slide show, with dark space between still images, some connected, some disjointed. We worked in as organized a pattern as the situation allowed. McKee took port watch aft to handle the see-sawing mainmast, and starboard watch came with me to take care of the less dramatic, but potentially more threatening, broken headrig. I tried to stand on the bowsprit and get a line around it, but in the end I had to do the job from in the water, timed between the arrhythmic thuds of the sprit against the hull. The web of headrig net snarled my movements. Then, back on deck, I conferred with Captain Miles about leads and strains. With a single part purchase and crank-haul, the spar came clear and we lashed it with haste.

The biggest pieces handled, we turned to long hours of dragging the rig aboard, untangling and clearing along the way. Rubin tirelessly circulated on a seemingly never-ending boat check. One guest crew asked Captain Miles if we’d be calling for assistance. But what could anyone do to help us?

Sure, a crane would have been handy, but in the lively sea we had, how would you get it close enough without causing more damage? Even if the work was backbreaking, we didn’t need to call for help.

There was a call we had to make though. International

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Amazingly, nobody is injured when the masts come crashing down. Rather than cut away the rig, Captain Jan Miles decides to recover the wreckage in order to determine what caused the failure.

As it turns out, the culprit is an inadequate outer bobstay iron

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVE CASTLE

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7

Sail Training Races require regular check-ins and position reports. One was coming up and we didn’t want to miss it.

“Jamie!” I heard Captain Miles bellow from the aft cabin. Two weeks earlier, I’d been the first new crew member to meet the ship in Europe, joining a gang hardened and bonded by a harrowing Atlantic Crossing and a series of onthe-nose gales. As I came up to speed, I’d gotten frequent earfuls about how things were done. But no way, I thought as I climbed down the aft companionway, was all this mess my fault.

“Where is the emergency VHF antenna?” Captain Miles demanded.

The aft cabin looked almost as exploded as the deck.

The safety locker was vomited across the sole — batteries, spare flash-lights, whistles and reflective tape everywhere. As second mate, I was the safety officer, responsible for all the safety gear and the incessant checks. This antenna was news to me, though.

“It's on one of the safety checklists, and it's supposed to be in this locker,” he insisted.

“I just finished the monthly and quarterly checks,” I said, “but I’ve never seen this antenna. I don't even know what it looks like.”

We stared at the scattered gear for a second. Then he swept it all aside in a flourish and lifted a sole board. “It’s not in the safety locker,” he said, jubilant at the realization, “It’s in this bilge. And it’s not on the safety check list, but it should be.”

“Great. Understood,” I said. “I’m gonna go back to deck and keep dragging the rig aboard.”

“Drag away,” he said, seemingly giddy with the find of the antenna. When I came to deck, the sun — absent for the past two days — shed light under the western clouds, speckling the slowly subsiding seas in golden flashes. Light gleamed off the varnish of the one piece of rig we’d never recover, the middle of the main topmast, as it drifted toward France.

Though we didn’t yet know it, we were headed the same way. Captain Miles had found the port of Sainte Nazaire, with its promised tidal basin and available crane service, almost dead to leeward some 80 miles away. The mood seemed to lighten. As unexpected and as welcome as the evening sun, the true realization that — inexplicably — we had all lived through the chaos of the dismasting washed across the ship.

With the emergency antenna rigged, Captain Miles made the 1800 check-in, and cleared us from the race with an understatement that would astound the fleet when they eventually saw the pictures. “Pride of Baltimore II is withdrawing due to a rigging failure.” He out-Britished the British, one skipper would later remark. We were home free, in a way, with nothing but ourselves, our ship, and her broken rig to account for or worry about.

Near sunset, we got underway. I took the helm, put it hard left at Captain Miles’ order, and held my breath with the rest of the crew as the Pride II’s twin Luke Propellors 8

made their familiar signature clunk into gear. We’d done our job, the props spun clear and hands were called to dinner. I volunteered to keep the helm, and for 10 minutes or so, I was alone on deck, wedged in between the fallen spars. Pride II surged toward the fading twilight while I tried to steer a compass course with bits of the rig hung like drogues alongside and astern.

Coming back from the amazing dinner of seared tuna, wild rice and asparagus that our cook Martina Deering turned out, McKee laughed, patted me on the shoulder, and said, “This is your wake up.” True enough: it was past time for B watch take the deck. We’d worked through stand-by, again.

Watch was reasonably uneventful. Pride II churned steadily down the subsiding winds and seas. Traffic was mercifully light, and good thing, since the radar was smashed and the mainmast had crushed a lens out of the binoculars. I turned over the watch to Poole at midnight, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Under a flawless sky and calm seas the next morning, B watch took the deck again. France loomed ahead. Pilot and fishing vessels circled us curiously. I can only imagine the sight we made. Around 0900 we reached the mouth of the Loire River and came into cellphone range. Captain Miles would spend most the morning watch below, trying describe the events of the last day to Pride, Inc. staff who, five time zones away, would be woken from a dead sleep by his call.

As he did, B watch worked Pride II up the rocky Loire, fighting the strong ebb and steering clear of the numerous outbound ships that put to sea with the fair tide. Drying rocks outside the channel kept us on our toes. Near the end of the watch and at about low tide, we reached the lock for the tidal basin. Captain Miles took the con and as I walked forward he picked up the radio, then paused to ask if any of us spoke French. The few of us who did knew about enough of the language to order a beer or find a train station, but not to explain why our American 1812 privateer replica was showing up unannounced in port with her rig in pieces. We exchanged nervous glances, but none of us volunteered.

What would we begin to say? That we were inbound with a boatload of splinters, and wanted to trade them for a new rig?

In English, Captain Miles raised the harbor master, who wanted us to wait for high tide to lock through so he wouldn’t have to drain off any of the basin. Eventually he consented to come down to the lock and investigate. His astonishment was visible as he surveyed the scene, and he decided an exception could be made. We floated up to a basin lined with gigantic, concrete-roofed U-Boat pens from the Second World War. At the far end, we tied up at a sunflower oil plant. A pair of workers were out near the pier, starting their lavish, two-hour French lunch with a smoke. One of them shouted curiously to us in what we’d later learn was the local Bretoninfused dialect of French. None of us followed, so his buddy

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In the French Atlantic port of St. Nazaire, the crew begin to make repairs

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVE CASTLE

smacked him on the arm, waved him off, and took over.

“Hey,” said the man, with a tone and body language that marked him as a fan of American action flicks, “what the fuck happened?”

We laughed, and so did he. But all we could do was pantomime the sequence of events without shedding any light on to what caused them, because we didn’t yet know ourselves.

We wouldn’t know until several days later when, as I was unraveling the mess of rigging that used to be the headrig, I came across the torn tang of the outer bobstay iron.

Captain Miles’ response was a rather staccato repetition of a single four-letter word.

The iron, we would learn, was a time bomb. In both scantlings and design, it was insufficient for the kinds of strain it had seen. That it survived 17 years of ambitious voyaging is astounding. No matter how it felt on September 5th, 2005, the ship didn’t actually want to kill us. I was just that the iron was going to fail sometime. It had to fail sometime.

As it happened, the timing of the failure was lucky: it happened in daylight, with only 18 people aboard, rather than with what was then a full daysail capacity of 49. There was enough light for us to salvage the situation, and a hospitable port less than a day’s run to leeward. And while Sainte Nazaire — a city planned as a late 19th century commercial port, bombed flat during World War II, and rebuilt largely in cement and cinder block in the ‘50s and ‘60s — would eventually take its toll on the crew, the ship could have found few better ports in all the world to make repairs.

Pride II eventually made her berth next to a shipyard across the basin. A naval architect, a collective of wooden boat restorers, and an American born shipwright who was teaching boatbuilding at a local trade school all came to visit within the first week, and rendered assistance through the ship’s stay. New spars were fabricated just up the coast in Vannes, and improved bobstay irons were made by the shipyard.

Meanwhile, the crew overhauled the rigging, recaulked the spar-beaten deck, learned some broken French, and occasionally chased off gypsies who tried to steal our tools and gear. In less than seven months, Pride II was sailing home.

I didn’t make that trip. Only five of the crew from the dismasting did. But nearly two years to the day after I left as chief mate in France, I came back aboard Pride II as a Partner Captain and stayed for seven years. And while I never sailed her to Europe in that time (she hasn’t been back since) I had the privilege of sailing her through the bicentennial spotlight at a score of events commemorating the War of 1812 on the East Coast and Great Lakes. Having seen her at her worst, I did all I could to make Pride II look, and be, her best while I sailed aboard her.

This year marks a decade since Pride II’s dismasting.

Predictably, the crew is scattered everywhere. Few are still involved in traditional sailing, though at least half of us still make a living on the water. But I’m sure none of us will ever truly be strangers to one another, given the outrageous circumstances we survived together as a crew. b Jamie Trost is currently at the Bayfront Maritime Center in Erie, PA, working to launch the schooner Porcupine.

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A Promising Match Ocean Classroom and the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY are teaming up to offer a semester-long program for the Spring of 2016 Marlinspike interviewed the Executive Directors of each organization in an early-June conference call. Margo Maller is the ED of Ocean Classrooom and Jessica Wurzbacher is the ED of OHPRI. Marlinspike: Jessica, bring us up to date on the current status of the Oliver Hazard Perry.

Jessica Wurzbacher: We are in the final, final stages now of construction. The rig is complete and sailable and ready. The crew have all been hired, bar a couple more mates in the next few weeks. Most of the systems are functional. The windlass is being installed next week — that’s one of the last remaining big items — and then we’ll have sea trials and Coast Guard inspection in the weeks following that.

Coast Guard inspections gave been ongoing through the construction, so we’re hoping that those will go smoothly.

Given that we’ve had them involved every step of the way, there shouldn’t be any surprises.

The crew have been living on the vessel since the start of May. We have a cook, two engineers, and they’re all living full-time on the vessel right now. She’s fully habitable.

MS: Are you confident that the vessel will be ready in 10

time to run the programs that you have planned for this summer?

JW: At the moment [June 3], we’re feeling pretty confident. We’re not going to be completely confident until we toss the docklines and set out on that first program!

MS: Tell us about the great opportunity you had to showcase the ship during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Newport.

JW: We were dockside at our new home at Fort Adams, at our new dock, along with the Volvo Ocean Race vessels.

We were open to the public for four days and had 12,000 people visit the ship, which was great exposure. So many great photos contrasting these high-speed sailing vessels which are racing around the world, and the brand-new square-rigged tall ship… two very different types of modern vessels!

Margo Mallar: It was great for us as well. We came down and set up a table for two of the three days, and it was a wonderful opportunity to be on board the vessel and to interact with folks who had known and loved the ship from the very beginning of the process. And to see the enthusiasm

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of people for the ship, but also to connect with people who had great interest not only in the summer programs but in the semester programs that we’re collaborating on. From our point of view, it was a very energizing event.

MS: Margo, when we spoke this winter, you were contemplating running your semester programs on the Harvey Gamage. Can you bring us up to date on what has happened since then?

MM: The Gamage is still owned by Phin [Sprague]. We have not reached an agreement with him, and don’t know if any agreement is on the horizon, for reasons I’m not comfortable with sharing. It may become evident. I understand the schooner is being worked on, and she’ll be in the water at some point, but in the near term, it’s not going to be a vessel that we’re able to use.

Gamage doesn’t fit our timeline at this point, really.

Promoting the summer programs required quite a lead-up.

We would have needed to promote the programs earlier on, and that’s even more true for the semester programs; we would have needed a much longer timeline. What vessels are in our future remain to be seen. We’re definitely open to any number of possibilities and we’re exploring a number of them. If the Gamage became available to us in the future, we would definitely be interested in that, but it has to make fiscal sense. It has to be something that is supporting the programming.

MS: Do you have a sense that Phin has other plans for the Gamage? Or are they just going to continue working on the boat and make those decisions further down the line?

MM: Since I haven’t spoken to Phin directly, I sense there may be some other plans for the boat, but without first-hand knowledge, that’s would be hard for me to say. It’s really speculation coming from me.

MS: From the outside, this collaboration between Ocean Classroom and the Oliver Hazard Perry looks like a wonderfully convenient marriage. A program in need of a vessel, and a vessel working to develop programming. It reminds me of the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups ads.

MM: From my point of view it is a nice collaboration, because we definitely are in need of one another. Our commitment first and foremost has always been — and this was true for the previous organization as well — to the programming itself. The ship is an impressive platform, but it’s really the education that takes place on board; our focus is on the academics.

We have hired a head educator who has been a head educator for Ocean Classroom in the past, and has extensive experience not only with Ocean Classroom but a decade or more with Outward Bound. Her name is Diane Sternberg.

This summer she’s at the Breadloaf School in Vermont.

She’s a top-notch educator and we’re excited about having her. Our focus is on making sure we have all the elements that we need to make this a premier academic experience within the experiential education model.

JW: Oliver Hazard Perry is a complex vessel to sail.

Several miles of line; 160 belaying pins! Our dream has always been to host semester-long programs, because we feel that the longer voyages are where the student are going to be able to really develop a deeper understanding of what’s going on above the deck. It’s a vessel that takes a while to learn, and we just scratch the surface of that in our weeklong programs. In terms of understanding the complexity of sailing a full-rigged ship, the semester-length program is ideal.

Our mission, too, is all about education at sea. The more we can do and the deeper we can go, the better. With a semester program you have the opportunity to delve deeper into the curriculum, like exploring the history and the maritime literature and getting deeper into the marine sciences.

Again, you can only scratch the surface in a weeklong trip, but you can really sink your teeth in when you have an entire semester to work with.

The boat is very well-equipped for these kinds of programs. We’ve got a science lab on deck which is a great resource for the students, offering advanced science equipment, the facilities to analyze data and do real science.

We’ve got some good partnerships with oceanographic institutes, and we have a chance to do some real hands-on, realworld science.

MM: We’re really excited to see how the traditional way that Ocean Classroom has operated will intersect with a vessel that I see as traditional on deck and modern below. There are some things that are done on a vessel like the Gamage or Virginia that allow you to exclude technology, for the most part.

All of the assignments are handwritten; you go old school, literally, to books and libraries as sources.

The internet is used very sparingly. We’re looking to see which of these ways of doing things we can transfer. There is an advantage to understanding the principles that underlie what technology allows us to do quickly, so that technology is a tool as opposed to a master.

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“In terms of understanding the complexity of sailing a fullrigged ship, the semester-length program is ideal.”

— JESSICA WURZBACHER, OHPRI

Yet at the same time, the complexity of some of the systems and navigational tools on the Oliver Hazard Perry will give some students — especially those who may be considering the maritime academies, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy — to see in operation the kinds of things they’d see on most of the vessels they’d be on. To mindfully take advantage of both of those skill sets is what I see the barque Eagle doing. You need the young cadets out there having a sense of the power of the wind, waves and currents before putting them on a ship that is operated by a mouse.

So we’re really looking forward to this. It’s going to be interesting to see how these models intersect, but we’re all educationally very interested in the excitement that this opportunity provides.

MS: Both of you have emphasized the complexity and modernity of the Oliver Hazard Perry relative to Ocean Classroom’s previous vessels. I assume this means that captains and crews are not as interchangeable as they have been in the past. How are Oliver Hazard Perry and Ocean Classroom going to manage the staffing of this program?

MM: Oliver Hazard Perry is responsible for the operation of the vessel, and we are responsible for the delivery of the education. We have agreed to collaborate on a couple of points in the middle, but ultimately, it’s their captain’s license and their COI. And with us it’s our educational program and our educators. That said, the Oliver Hazard Perry crew are themselves educators, and it’s all about teaching the operation of the vessel. Captain Richard Bailey has decades of experience, some of it with Ocean Classroom, although that was before my time. I have confidence in the quality that’s going to be delivered in terms of navigation and seamanship.

educators.

MS: Margo, 30 berths is about what you had with Spirit of Massachusetts, but more than you had with Gamage and almost twice what you had with Virginia. Can you talk about the financial benefits of having more berths available, weighed against the fact that you no longer own the vessel you are running your program on?

MM: How that works out will be something we’ll figure out next May, when we have our post-trip debrief with the folks at Oliver Hazard Perry. Our primary focus is delivering the educational program and making sure that the semester program stays alive and that a second year doesn’t go by with students not able to spend time on the sea.

Thirty bunks available to us means more work. In the past we could squeak by with 15 or 16 students, and I emphasize squeak. The Gamage had a maximum capacity of 20 or 21; ostensibly it was 24 but a couple of the bunks in the focsle were so soggy that it just wasn’t humane to assign students to them. That’s going to be remedied, from what I understand, not that it’s relevant to us right now.

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JW: Three Ocean Classroom educators will be on board, and the first mate is coming recommended from Ocean Classroom, so there’s a good mix of Ocean Classroom crew and Oliver Hazard Perry crew who will have been working on the vessel, and all under the command of Richard Bailey, who is extremely excited about doing semester-long programs and about this partnership.

MS: Have you received any indication from the Coast Guard as to what your manning requirements will be?

JW: We believe they’re going to be similar to Rose; 13.

But we’re planning to operate with 17 crew on our regular programs and 19 during the semester-long program. That leaves 30 berths for students. 30 students, 16 crew, and 3 12

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means that we can break classes into smaller groups, and there are advantages and disadvantages to that. We can give folks a little more individual attention. Acoustically, it can be much better, because sometimes we have to contend with distracting noises, especially if we’re on deck.

More bunks also presents the opportunity for the kind of interesting variations that can happen when folks work in small groups. It can give the educators an opportunity to offer some electives. The details of that we’ll continue to work on as we get closer to the embarkation date and find out more about the particular interests of the staff and crew.

So it’s possible we could have a maritime art class, if people are interested in that, perhaps exploring some of the classic images of the sea over time. Those are some of the things that become possible with a larger number of berths.

A

MS: Will these two organizations still be doing business in three years, or do you see this as a one-off marriage of convenience, after which you’ll go your separate ways?

JW: There’s definitely a long-term potential partnership here. I think both parties have entered into the relationship knowing that there is a chance that it could last more than one year, but first we just need to try it and see how it works. There’s no long-term formal commitment, but I think we’re both pursuing the idea that it might go in that direction. It seems like a great idea and we’re both confident that it’s going to work; I can’t see why it wouldn’t.

But there may come a time when there’s an Ocean Classroom program running on the Oliver Hazard Perry and an Ocean Classroom program running on another vessel such as the Gamage, and we see them as two different programs. The vessels are quite different and are going to attract different students.

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MM: I agree. This is something we’re looking at as a long-term possibility, but we definitely want to have our own smaller boat, a traditional schooner, that’s a little more rustic.

That’s important for us as an organization. There’s a lot here on the coast of Maine that needs to be taken care of, and Oliver Hazard Perry is the Tall Ship of Rhode Island and is not going to be making Portland it’s home port. Having a strong Portland presence is important to us and being able to develop the feeder system over time that Ocean Classroom enjoyed in the past, where you’d have a student become a deckhand, become a mate, and work his or her way up as an educator or a captain, over time that’s an important way to cultivate our organization and I do see that these things are complementary.

The Oliver Hazard Perry is a more expensive vessel to operate, the program has higher costs [$27,300], and that puts it out of the reach of some folks.

It’s still in the middle of the semesterschool pack, but we want to try to have a Maine-centric program that may turn out to be less expensive. In years past, there have been enough students to fill a couple of boats, so I think down the line we’ll offer two different experiences.

There are some people who will gravitate toward the traditional experience Continued on page 43 13

the

S ober B oat

Channel Islands Sober Life has turned an Irwin 65 ketch into a sail-training rehab

Marlinspike spoke recently with Kenny Knoll, founder of Channel Islands Sober Life, about the program he is running on the Irwin 65 Jersey Girl II.

KK: She’s a beautiful boat, but we couldn’t get her insured.

Marlinspike: Where did the idea come from, to run a sober home on a boat?

non?

MS: Wasn’t there an incident on board with her can-

KK: Well, they were doing these Battle Sails up and Kenny Knoll: I am a corporate pilot by training, always down the coast, firing their cannon at each other, and had been on the water, owned small boats, Hobie Cats, ski someone accidentally shot off a 12-gauge round at the Bill boats, things like that. of Rights — ironic, isn’t I went through rehab it? — and two people myself three years ago were injured. here in California.

Amazing Grace When I went through was spectacular, she rehab, I bought myself was beautiful, we were a 42’ Catalina. I lived so excited about her. on it, I sailed it, and I We’d made our mind started getting up, and we started involved taking people shopping for insurance. out who were having We went through hard time, just taking Allen Insurance, who people out to the does a lot of the Tall islands.

Ships, and they called And I saw what me back and said, the boat did, not only ‘Well, we have a probfor myself but for lem. We present this to other people. There’s the underwriters and something tranquil they all say no problem, and calming about and then they come JERSEY GIRL II at the dock in Southern California being on the water. It back to us a week later became clear to me that people had forgotten they could and say, no, they can’t touch it.’ have fun. They could enjoy themselves, they could get a It turns out that one of the injured parties, I guess they rush, they could participate. We started seeing the boat couldn’t get all of the pellets out, and there are ongoing more and more bring out the good in people. But the medical problems and ongoing litigation, and you can imagCatalina 42 was limited in terms of how many people she ine how insurance underwriters feel about that sort of thing. could carry, so the idea blossomed to go with a schooner.

So that was that. We had to move on from Amazing Grace.

That led us to the Amazing Grace. When that fell through, we found the Irwin 65, Jersey Girl II, and you know, this is a MS: Where did you find the Irwin? great boat for our mission.

KK: The boat was kind of a lucky shot. After the MS: What happened with Amazing Grace?

Amazing Grace purchase fell apart, our backs were against 14

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the wall to find another boat. Going on YachtWorld, just looking to keep this alive, I found this boat down in Long Beach.

The way she’s laid out — the closed cockpit, the heating, the air conditioning — it’s a big spacious boat, it’s a house on the water. In hindsight, this was a better boat for the program. As exciting as the tall ship was… but you know, looking down the road as we expand this business, that’s still appealing to us. We’d like to do a program with younger kids and I think that sort of vessel could work.

MS: How many folks can you take on board?

KK: This boat is laid out with four cabins plus the owner’s cabin. We’ve been running with three — we call them GCMs, Guest Crew Members — so everybody has their own stateroom and bathroom. It gives them a little insurance and it’s not as shocking as it would be if they were walking onto a bare-bones boat or a schooner, for that matter.

vate staterooms and private heads?

KK: It seems to help, having their modicum of space — which is still very limited. There’s an unwritten rule on board that nobody is in their staterooms during the day. We don’t allow guests into each other’s staterooms. That’s your space, not to be violated. Boundaries are a big part of peoples’ recovery.

It gives them enough privacy where they can change, they can sleep, they can close their door, they can watch TV, and really when we’re in port — and we’re only in port two or three days a week — that’s the only time we see people migrating toward their staterooms.

MS: Tell me about the people who come aboard for your program. Are they coming straight from rehab, from locked units..?

KK: Our clients come mainly from the holistic rehabs.

There are about 50 of them right here in Malibu. The famous one, that you’ve probably heard of, is Passages.

We get most of our clients through them and two MS: Can that backfire, giving people in recovery priother holistic rehabs. The holistic rehab philosophy is that this is something you can get through, it’s not like you’re a diseased person and you’ll never get over it, like some of the 12-step programs. So our clients come from there. At this point I rely heavily on therapist recommendations for clients. I don’t take just anyone off the street; they have to come through rehab to come aboard.

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MS: How do you staff the boat? Who do you have running this program with you?

KK: Essentially, it’s me. And what’s happened, what we had envisioned, is kind of a zipper effect. It’s not always three new clients every month. We have new clients coming aboard and mixing with clients who have been on the boat for a little while, and we see those clients really take the lead, showing people the boat and getting them used to all the intricacies of life at sea.

I have a client on board now who’s from the Midwest, had never been on a boat before, and he’s just enamored with sailing. Iowa kid. And he is going around giving lessons, showing people how the rigging works, what things do, and that’s magnificent to watch.

MS: What are you charging for a 30-day program?

KK: $5000 a month.

MS: That’s not bad for a month on an Irwin 65! It’s certainly a lot cheaper than chartering!

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KK: It’s really not exorbitant and honestly, compared to other sober homes in the Malibu region, we’re right in the middle of the heap. There are sober homes here on the beach with a cook and a maid, $10,000 a month.

MS: I see from your website that this is a self-pay program, that insurance is not covering it.

KK: Right, we’re working on that, but for the moment we’re fortunate enough to have a client base that can afford it.

We are also in the process of starting a non-profit, because we’d like to branch out and work with military veterans, PTSD sufferers, but that’s a long process to get that going.

MS: So you’re out there on your Irwin 65, you and two or three of your GCMs, and you’re all communally cooking and provisioning…

KK: Exactly.

MS: For the purchase of the boat?

KK: Correct. California is not a very business-friendly state, I’ll tell you. Our business plan showed us coming to profitability in year two, month three, and we’re on mark to make that.

MS: How big do you want this program to get? At some point, does the number of GCMs become unwieldy?

Do you want to get 50 recovering addicts and run this program on the Oliver Hazard Perry?

KK: [Laughs] The Tole Mour was for sale out here…

No, I’m thinking from just from what I’m seeing that three or four people is enough, but if the boat had more trained crew, crew with a recovery background, maybe a bigger boat would be possible. I do watch a lot of the tall ships programs out here and I’ve taken a lot of notes and spoken to a lot of the skippers to get their vibe on this whole thing. How it would be accomplished, I don’t know.

I’m not sure if you want to bring 50 recovering drug addicts and alcoholics together…

MS: Is there a structure to the days on board?

MS: Right.

KK: The program is a 30-day program. We break it down into one week at a clip. We’re out for four days, we’ll go to Avalon or the Channel Islands. We exclusively sail during the day; we’re always anchored or moored or docked at night. And then we’re back in port for two or three days.

When we’re in port for two or three days in Channel Islands Harbor or Ventura, many of our clients are involved in an IOP, which stands for Intensive Outpatient. So they will actually be at the rehabs six to eight hours a day for those three days. Those days are left to them, and those are their therapy days.

On the boat, we practice something called Smart Recovery which is kind of a science-based self-help group.

The entire program falls under the category of experiential therapy, where people are re-learning how to have fun, how to communicate, how to reconnect with each other.

Between those two elements, the boat and the IOP, I think we have a pretty strong program.

MS: How many people have been through your program?

KK: So far we’ve done 12. Considering we’ve only been in business since January, pretty impressive. Right now we have a waiting list to get on board.

MS: Can you make money at that level? Are you able to pay your insurance, service the loan, maintain the boat, and so on?

KK: So far! Right now we’re operating significantly in the red, and we have a big $40,000 tax payment coming up to the State of California in eight months.

16

KK: …you know what I mean? But 10 passengers, with three crew? That might be great.

MS: What would those extra crew do? Are looking for a cook, a therapist, a clinical psychologist..?

KK: It would be neat to have a full-time clinical psychologist on board, and we could stay out for longer duration and people could do group sessions, individual counseling on the boat. We’ve done a few of those over at the islands, where the therapist has taken the ferry over and we pick her up in the dink and bring her aboard. We’ve done a hypnotherapist, we’ve done an alcohol and drug counselor, and a psychotherapist. I think everybody got a huge kick out of it. I think the clients had a tremendous sense of pride showing the therapist, “Look what I’m doing! I did this, I set the anchor today, I navigated, I set the sails!”

As far as a cook... that would be wonderful, but you know there always seems to be one client who migrates in that direction, who either knows how to cook, or can fake it! People tend to migrate toward the things they feel comfortable with on the boat. Some people want to navigate, some take the helm. We had a woman from Staten Island who was a terrific cook — that was the best dining we’ve had on the boat! The more athletic clients like to be out there trimming the sails and working the sheets… it’s really neat to watch. They find their place.

MS: Have you had any challenging sailing moments out there, with just you and your GCMs? KK: We did have one rough passage where most of

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the crew were sick. I gave them the option, what do you guys want to do? Do you want to turn around and head back to Channel Islands, or continue on to Santa Cruz?

They all toughed it out, and when we got out to Smuggler’s Cove on Santa Cruz, tucked in behind the mountain there and put the anchor down, a few hours later one of them appeared on deck, and a couple hours later, the other ones did, so…

Seasickness is a challenge for us because you just don’t know.

We do provide sea bands, Dramamine, Bomine, but we get a doctor’s approval before the clients take anything. That’s about the worst of it. Seasickness is always an unknown. One client we had on board really wanted to be here, but every time we went out, he just got violently ill. It was a shame. It just wasn’t for him.

MS: In your brochure you lay out a very strict relapse policy: mess up and you’re off the boat, that’s it. Have you actually had to kick anyone off the boat?

KK: We have not. We do drug test on board; we do breathalyze on board. In fact, I’ve overheard the clients talking: “If someone thinks they’re going to mess this up for me, I’m not going to allow it.” We’ve had nothing, no relapses, and that’s a rarity in the sober home business.

MS: The testing you do — is it for cause, or is it on a set schedule?

KK: We have a contract when they come on board that we can test them at any time. The therapists advised us on this when we put this together. It’s something we do to keep them honest, and so we just spring it on them at any given time.

MS: Tell me about the therapists you worked with when you were setting this program up.

KK: We used several here in Ventura. One is Beverly Barclay, another is Brian Shaw, another is Danielle White.

Everyone, when I came to them with this idea and said I was going to do this as a business, they all jumped in and helped me put this together. They were so energetic and so amazingly supportive. They wholeheartedly believe in the value of experiential therapy and recovery.

MS: How did you meet these folks?

KK: I had met them when I was in rehab. One of them actually lived in the marina I was living in when I had the Catalina 42.

It’s amazing, the response we get when the rehabs hear about us. They don’t know what to say. They’re speechless.

And then they come out, they do an open house on the boat, their aftercare department will come and see the boat, and it’s the same response: “Yeah! How do we get involved?

How do we get our people on this?”

MS: To grow this program, you’re going to have to persuade insurance companies that they should cover it. The self-pay model that you have now excludes a lot of folks who just can’t afford it.

KK: We are working on that, but it’s a long drawn-out process where the state has to approve us, and we’re going through it right now. I’m putting in 20-hour days right now. I have no life other than this boat, but when we can get this up and running without my constant guidance, that’s the next thing that I would like to address.

MS: Can you find a relief skipper to take over one week a month, to give you a break?

KK: You know, I’m having a really, really, really hard time with that. First and foremost, you’ve got to be stonecold sober on this boat, around this boat, near this boat.

You can’t be overheard talking about going here or there or being drunk or whatever. And then you’ve got be an amazing educator, an incredibly patient sailing instructor and coach, and you’ve got to be the kind of person that no matter how bad the day went, you’ve got find something good to talk about.

I’ve interviewed quite a few people, and been approached by quite a few people that want to be involved with this program: people in recovery, and people who are not. It’s definitely a state of mind, to be skipper on this boat.

MS: I can see where you might be hard put to find a stone-cold-sober crew. If the Coast Guard ever started testing for alcohol, that might be the end of the traditional sailing business.

KK: It might! It’s not just using anything on the boat, but the clients can’t go into town and see you in the supermarket buying a bottle of Jack Daniels. These people really want to see that person who walked in their shoes… and maybe that’s an area where I have an advantage. I try not to tell my story any more than I have to, but they know about it.

So in talking about expanding this and having another boat in a couple of years, I can see that the big challenge is

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going to be finding captains. I’m starting to think that my next captain will be one of the GCMs who have gone through our program on this boat.

That’s the big if, in growing this business: IF you can find the right people.

MS: What happens when you haul out?

KK: In January we hauled out; our business plan provides for us to do that every three years. We do sail a lot, and we’ve gone with the ablative paint, so we’re hoping that helps us go longer between haulouts. We also have a contract with the shipyard here, and they go through the boat, check all the levels and filters and so on when we get back from every trip, so we’re focused on preventive maintenance. I’m running this more like a flight department than a boat business. I try to stock up on whatever spares I need and keep those in inventory, to try to minimize our downtime. Downtime is a killer for me. Anything we can do to keep the boat moving!

MS: What was your boat maintenance/ownership experience before the Catalina?

KK: Just those smaller boats that I mentioned: Sea Rays, Malibus, ski boats, little sail boats. The Catalina 42 was my jumping-off point.

MS: And at some point you sat for your six-pack license?

KK: I did. I’m going to do the sailing endorsement next, and that’s about as far as I’m going to go.

Speaking of six packs, I think it’s important that the sail community be aware of this. You know, the sailing community gets a bad rap sometimes. People definitely associate boats with drinking.

MS: Justifiably, I think.

KK: We get that now and then, when we’re at anchor.

People will come over to the boat and ask to come aboard, and they’ve got a beer in their hand. And I have to shake my head.

We do keep a certain level of anonymity. We don’t let people know here what we’re doing. As far as people know, we’re a family or a group of friends going sailing together.

That’s for the protection of our clients. They don’t need to be stigmatized or branded.

MS: Demographically, what is a typical client for your program?

KK: I had envisioned younger people, but for the most part I’m getting clients in their 30s and 40s. We had a housewife from Scarsdale, New York, a guy from Iowa, people from all over the country. Some of them have been 18

on boats before; some of them don’t remember if they’ve been on boats before. And some have never seen a boat before. The kid from Iowa had never seen the ocean.

In terms of their issues? All over the map. You name it, they’ve had it. Some people got hooked on prescription drugs, and apparently that’s what the rehabs are seeing more of. They get hooked on oxycontin, they’re on some sort of pain-management program, and that morphs into a heroin addiction. Lots of people with alcohol problems.

Everything. I facilitate Smart Recovery meetings at Passages, and some of the people, some of the stories, it’s just heartbreaking.

But the beauty of the boat is that at the end of the day, they’re exhausted. Even when we’re at the islands and we’re at anchor, we have kayaks, we have paddleboards, a massively overpowered dink that goes 60 miles an hour — they can’t wait to get their hands on that! When they get back on the boat, with the longer days nowadays, they’re wiped out. It’s 8 PM and they’re in their racks and they’re gone.

MS: So important to sleep well.

KK: They get a great night’s sleep and they’re up early.

Out at the islands, the stars at night, they’re just spectacular, we sometimes get phosphoresence in the water… but I try to get them to come on deck to see the stars, nothing!

We do have a curfew of 11:00 when we’re in port.

Nobody even approaches that. The first day when we get back in, between going to their IOP all day and being wiped out from the trip, they can’t wait to climb into their rack. When we’re back we do some provisioning, then Wednesday we start planning our itinerary, where they want to go and what they want to do, and Thursday morning, 6 AM, we’re out of the slip and we’re gone.

We leave the itinerary open for the clients. We ask them, what do you want to see? In the winter we plan to do more down in Marina del Rey, Long Beach, maybe San Pedro, where they can see the Queen Mary, the USS Iowa, the Aquarium, things like that. The days are short. We do vary our destinations by the season and the weather.

MS: I was in Long Beach this winter on board Hawaiian Chieftain. It’s a great port to visit, but wow, it’s just bar after bar.

KK: True. And that’s something we work on, when we go ashore. That’s a life lesson. There are going to be bars wherever we go; they’re not going anywhere. How do you just walk by it? How do you just maintain having fun, having a good time, without stopping in there? And for the most part I haven’t seen anybody really itching to do that. I can’t speak for how they actually feel.

We do give them crew shirts, with JERSEY GIRL II on them, and I think they have sense of pride about what they’re doing.

So far, so good. b

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Small Country,

Tall Ships

The Netherlands — with just 17 million people, fewer than New York State — boasts one of the largest fleets of traditional sailing vessels in the world. The Dutch operate over 400 traditional vessels, from full-rigged ships to small “botters”.

By Gerhardus van Wilgen World War II pulled the Netherlands off its moorings, and the Dutch people were adrift for decades.

The important Dutch colony of Indonesia became independent. Companies like Shell Oil and Unilever, which had been dependent on the resources of the colonies, now had to vie for themselves. Domestically, the country had to rebuild its devastated cities and infrastructure. The spirit at the time was: out with the old, in with the new. Many medieval structures were destroyed to make place for modern offices, highways and shiny retail stores.

But the protest generation of the 1960s marked the end of the post-war period and the beginning of a historic era of self-discovery. Dutch traditions, including 10,000 years of seafaring, were restored and cherished again.

The catalyzing event for this transformation was Sail Amsterdam, celebrated in 1975 as the city’s 700th birthday party. Tall ships from all over the world were invited to Amsterdam to celebrate its maritime history. At the time, there weren’t any Dutch tall ships in existence. Attendance was beyond expectation; the event had struck a nerve with the Dutch public.

Around that same time, Conny van Rietschoten was preparing for the Whitbread Around the World Ocean Race, now the Volvo Ocean Race, which he won twice with a Dutch-designed and -built ship.

A popular and influential documentary series was aired about the VOC, the Dutch East India Company. The documentary reminded the Dutch that their ancestors had been trailblazers in capitalism, in world trade, and in exploration, building a trading network that spanned the entire known world.

People started to convert old freighters back to sailing 20

ships. Traditional sailing vessels started to reappear in the coastal towns of the Netherlands. A thriving charter business emerged. By the 1990s it was fashionable for young professionals to live on a working sailing ship. Hanging out with friends on the weekend often meant scraping tar off the deck planking in order to ‘earn’ that drink.

“Transport over water has dominated our lives for centuries; it’s part of our DNA,” says Arjen Wapenaar, Chief Editor of the website Klassiekezeilvaart.nl (Traditional Sail).

“Look at the barges sailing up and the down the Waal River, or at the Port of Rotterdam, one of the largest and most technologically advanced ports of the world. Look at how we live, with our face to the water. Everything here revolves around water, and ships are a part, as a means to make a living.”

The oldest boat known to mankind was found in a peat bog in the northern part of the Netherlands. During the construction of a new highway in the 1950s, workers pulled out an object that looked like a tree trunk. Scientists have carbon-dated the crude vessel and it’s estimated to be roughly 10,000 years old.

To say that the Netherlands can boast a 10,000-year shipbuilding tradition would be stretching it, but from the beginning of recorded time, when the Romans halted at the Rhine, transport over water has been essential to the Dutch culture.

In the early Middle Ages, during the reign of Charlemagne, the town of Dorestad was an important trading hub between the European inland and Scandinavia, Britain and the French shores. This is where the modern currency system was first used in order to exchange goods on the international market.

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CLIPPER STAD AMSTERDAM

Small knarr or kogge vessels sailed up the river from the North Sea, where they were met with flat-bottomed barges used for inland transport. The kogge developed into the vessel of choice for the emerging Hanseatic League later in the Middle Ages. The city of Kampen boasts a working replica of a medieval kogge.

The Netherlands as a nation didn’t exist until the Protestant United States of the Netherlands were able detach themselves from the Roman Catholic Spanish empire after an 80-year war.

As in many wars, technological innovations created a decisive advantage. In this case it was the development by the Dutch of a small, fast, armed sailing vessel called a jacht (from jagen, to hunt.)

This fast and maneuverable vessel, which gave the large and unwieldy Spanish vessels fits, evolved after the war was over into a recreational vessel. People went to church on Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon they went for a sail. The quays in Amsterdam got so crowded, the city opened its first marina in 1622, just for sailing jachts. Even in those days, the slip fees were hefty!

Another important design was a type called de fluyt (flute).

This vessel was significantly larger than previous designs and easier to sail with a smaller crew, enabling the Dutch to become the principal cargo–carriers of Europe during the next two centuries.

Trade was, and still is, the foundation of the Dutch economy. When a cargo ship arrived in Amsterdam from the East, its contents would be shipped by boat to the warehouses along MarlinspikeMagazine.com

Yet another Dutch maritime festival

The Dutch maritime tradition includes small working vessels as well as Tall Ships

the many channels of Amsterdam. From there they would be distributed, also by boat, to markets all over the country.

Starting in the 1500s the Dutch developed a canal network for transport of goods and passengers. Passenger vessels were pulled by horses, while cargo vessels would sail if there was a favorable wind. Spices, fabrics, ivory, precious hardwoods and other goods arriving from distant coasts were sailed along the channels, rivers and lakes of the Netherlands and beyond, to be delivered to small towns and municipalities. For centuries, these vessels were operated by families who lived aboard their vessels and competed with other families for delivery jobs.

The 19th century saw a transition from wood to steel, and from sail to power. After the diesel engine was introduced, skippers exchanged their rigs for engines, making them faster, more efficient, and lower — and thus independent of drawbridges. There was short boom in the industry after a bourse system was established, creating a more fair system of offering and accepting freight. But this period of prosperity was cut short by the start of start of World War I. Over the course of the 20th century, the nature of industry changed. The German factories up river demanded huge quantities of raw materials. At the same time, the trucking industry became more competitive, forcing those in water transport to either invest in larger ships or abandon their traditional lifestyle.

The Dutch fleet of thousands of small, tarred, dieselsoaked vessels with a large cargo space and small living quarters became obsolete. Many were scrapped; others were turned into houseboats. Fortunately, enough of these ves22

sels survived that the reawakening of Dutch interest in their maritime heritage found boats ready to be restored and sailed once again.

Wapenaar says that the growth and sustainability of the “Brown Fleet” — named after its tanned cotton sails — is as natural as the many windmills and other monuments in the Dutch landscape. There are now more than 400 registered charter ships and an additional number of private vessels.

As the Dutch sailing industry re-emerged, there was a

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need for qualified captains. The Enkhuizer Zeevaartschool (Enkhuizer Maritime School) was founded in 1978.

“This is the only maritime school in the world that strictly focuses on professional sailors who want to work on traditional sailing ships,” says Capt. Bernt Folmer, director of EZS. Around the same time, an industry organization was founded, the BBZ Vereniging Beroepschartervaart, to create and uphold standards and procedures for employers as well as employees. The school and the organization are the foundation on which this thriving industry has been built.

his nonprofit carried on with an even larger project: the construction of De Zeven Provinciën (The Seven States), the flagship of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, one of the Netherlands’ heroes.

The reconstruction of this 150-foot 1664 warship is based on a bestek (description) found in archives, of a similar ship which was built in 1666. The original vessel was built in Rotterdam and carried De Ruyter to several victories over the English.

Almost every part of the ship will be created on the premises in Lelystad: the sails, lines, blocks, nails, tools, hinges and the extensive woodcarvings that were customary The Dutch maritime heritage encompasses more than for warships in those days. The 80 guns will be cast elsejust small jachts and canal-freighters. where.

Willem Vos, an old-school A medieval kogge Both the Amsterdam and the craftsman who has been passionate Batavia are open for visitors. about building boats traditionally his Although they look ready to sail whole life, wanted to see a Dutch away at a moment’s notice, they tall ship docked in Amsterdam, rarely move. It’s the craftsmen who Hoorn, or one of the other former get the most out of working with VOC towns. In the 1970s he conthese ships, not the sailors. sidered acquiring Moshulu, now on Luckily, this is not true for all the Philadelphia waterfront, which Dutch ships. was moored in Amsterdam and later In 1989, a newly-built 200’ threerefitted there. He decided the last masted schooner was christened De original windjammer wasn’t the right Eendracht (Unity) by HM Queen choice, because she wasn’t a Dutch Beatrix. Her purpose was to educate ship. the rising generation about life at sea After visiting the Wasa in and indeed, many of her graduates Stockholm, Vos knew what he had are among those sailing and mainto do: build an East Indiaman. After taining the current fleet. learning that director Paul De Eendracht was followed by the Verhoeven wanted to film the story launch of the well-known bark of the mutiny on the Batavia, he Europa. A converted lightship, origidecided that was the ship to build. nally built in Hamburg in 1911, her He wanted a traditional tall ship with a story. hull was brought to the Netherlands in 1986, where it took Vos wasn’t the only one dreaming of the construction of eight years to convert it into a bark. She is now a sail-traina VOC ship. In 1969 the remains of the ship Amsterdam ing ship operating from the North Sea to the Antarctic, were exposed on the beach at Hastings, England. The ship with many of her crew being interns from the Enkhuizer had run aground after its rudder broke in a storm in 1748.

Maritime School.

The VOC Ship Amsterdam Foundation was founded to Then, in the 1990s, millionaire Frits Goldschmeding preserve the ship and display it in a museum, just like the hired Gerard Dijkstra to design the Clipper Stad Wasa. Their attempts to raise the wreck were unsuccessful, Amsterdam. Her design is based on an 1854 clipper, also however, and the Foundation decided to build a replica called Amsterdam. She sails the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the instead and created thereby something of a rivalry between Mediterranean and the North Sea, offering individual sailVos’s initiative and Amsterdam’s. ing experiences as well as corporate hospitality.

Batavia, as Vos states in his writings, is a reconstruction of the 1628 vessel, not a replica. Vos insists on using that The long Dutch maritime tradition features both ecoterm because he wanted to stay true to the materials of the nomic successes and technological advances. But both are 17th century, as well as the tools, to the greatest extent underscored by respect for the sea. Most of the Dutch poppossible. He wanted to explore how ships were built in the ulation lives below sea level. The struggle against the seas 17th century. In 1627, that took eight months; in the 20th started centuries ago as the people built manmade hills to century, it took 10 years. stay dry during the spring tides. But rather than view the Now, the wharf in Lelystad where the reconstruction sea as their enemy, the Dutch came to see it as a highway was built and is now on display has become an internation- for the commerce that has long been the lifeblood of its al center of traditional shipbuilding. Vos has retired, but economy. b MarlinspikeMagazine.com

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This photo of the CORWITH CRAMER passing the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse was taken last summer.

The CRAMER is owned by the Sea Education Association (SEA), and named after SEA's founding director.

Her home port is Woods Hole, MA. She was designed

by Wooden and Marean specifically for SEA and was constructed by ASTACE in 1987 in Spain. She is a 134-foot steel brigantine built as a research vessel for operation under sail.

Displacement: 270 Tons LOA: 134 feet / 40.8 meters LOD: 98 feet / 29.8 meters Draft: 12.5 feet Beam: 26 feet Sail Area: 7,500 sq. ft. / 697 sq. m.

Auxiliary Engine: 500 HP Cummins diesel Complement: 38 persons Classification: American Bureau of Shipping A1 and A Rig: Brigantine Photo by Dan Stone

L’HERMIONE crosses the Atlantic, May-June, 2015.

All photos NIGEL PERT

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY

Construction of the modern representation of conquisTwo staples of this feature ever since the magazine tador Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s galleon began at Spanish debuted in December 2013 have been the Oliver Hazard Landing Park near the San Diego airport in February 2011.

Perry and the San Salvador. While Perry is currently in the The $6.2 million vessel has been built almost entirely by a “final, final” stages of construction, according to her corps of nearly 400 volunteers.

Executive Director, the San Diego Maritime Museum has To view hundreds of photos of the construction (as well run into difficulty getting their vessel into the water. as other local vessels such as Bill of Rights, HMS Surprise, A detailed explanation of the Museum’s dilemma, and Swift of Ipswich) go to http://jgsoto.smugmug.com. issued by Dr. Ray Ashley in May, concluded with: H “So what’s next? We have several scenarios in development... All of them rely on the generously donated use of expensive equipment that will be available when SAN SALVADOR not otherwise occupied and almost certainly at short notice. All of the technical service providers are in agreement that launching the ship can be done safely, but that none of the methods envisioned lend themselves to a tightly scripted public event with an audience, a program, and a timed agenda.

“Accordingly, we will not make a public announcement about when or how the ship will be launched, though we will certainly document it.

Instead, we will convey all of the ceremonial aspects of the launch to the commissioning, which will be a truly grand event, and doubly so now that anticipation has JERRY SOTO been thus heightened.”

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Although a recent crowd-funding campaign fell well short of its $50,000 goal, Educational Tall Ship continues to make progress on their sail-training brigantine, Matthew Turner.

The vessel, when complete, will be operated by Call of the Sea, who has been running on-the-water programs since 1984. Matthew Turner will more than triple the organization’s reach from 5,000 to 17,000 students each year.

Call of the Sea currently operates the 82’ steel staysail schooner Seaward, which berths 22. This summer they plan to conduct three- and five-day sail training voyages in and around San Francisco Bay, as well as public sails and private charters.

Matthew Turner is being constructed in Sausalito, CA, in Marina Plaza, just off the waterfront in a historic shipbuilding district. The shipyard and Visitor Center are open Monday-Friday, 9:00-5:00.

For a live feed from the boatshed, be sure to check out www.educationaltallship.org.

H This spring, the volunteer crew began planking a traditionally-built reproduction of Maine’s First Ship, the pinnace Virginia.

Virginia, the first ship built in North America by English colonists, was constructed in 1607-1608 at the mouth of the Kennebec River. During her lifetime, Virginia crossed the Atlantic at least twice.

The 51-foot replica of Virginia will be built to USCG Subchapter T standards. When the pinnace is complete, middle school and high school students will participate in programs that teach operating and maintaining a traditionally-rigged sailing vessel.

For more info, visit www.mfship.org.

H An inclement New England winter delayed the beginning of the Ernestina-Morrissey’s rebuild in Boothbay. In

COLUMBIA

VIRGINIA May, however, the tug Jaguar towed the 121-year-old schooner 200 miles from New Bedford to the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

The $6 million contract is being financed by private donations, state funding, and the ongoing fundraising of the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association (SEMA).

H Columbia is coming!

The Gloucester Schooner Festival and the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival got a big boost in early March when Eastern Shipbuilding confirmed that their new steel Columbia replica will attend the two events.

Columbia was in Newport, RI at press time and will remain in northern waters for the summer. She plans to sail to Sable Island in August to commemorate the loss of the original Columbia with all hands back in 1927.

A second Columbia replica is currently under construction at the Eastern yard in Panama City, Florida. The hull components have been built and project manager Jake Stevens says Eastern will start erecting the hull this fall, as the yard is currently backlogged with other projects.

The masts, spars, rig and sails are all being completed by Covey Island Boatworks in Lunenburg. b Got an update for Boatyards? E-mail us at marlinspike1812@gmail.com

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To be included in future editions of our calendar, e-mail your event information to marlinspike1812@gmail.com.

WEST & SOUTH Maritime Museum of San Diego, San Diego, CA (619) 234-9153 * SDMaritime.org Working on launching San Salvador, the Museum’s full-scale replica of conquistador Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s galleon.

Los Angeles Maritime Museum, Los Angeles, CA (310) 548-7618 * LAMaritimeMuseum.org Voyages of Discovery is a five-day summer camp program on which campers sail one of the LAMI brigantines to Catalina.

Offered July 27-31 for $500 pp including bunk and meals.

Texas Seaport Museum/ELISSA, Galveston, TX (409) 763-1877 * TSM-Elissa.org Passage to Galveston: The Story of Elissa, is presented every day on the hour and half-hour, in the theater. This 17-minute, award-winning documentary beautifully tells the story of Elissa’s discovery, purchase and restoration.

Annapolis Maritime Museum, Annapolis, MD (410) 295-0104 * AMaritime.org The Museum's Summer Camp engages campers with the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay and the maritime history of Annapolis. At our waterfront location, campers will explore Back Creek and Annapolis through hands-on nature activities, exciting games, crafts and songs. One-week sessions start June 29.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, MD (410) 745-2916 * CBMM.com August 9. The 6th Annual Watermen’s Appreciation Day celebrates Chesapeake watermen and their heritage. This year’s festival includes a “watermen’s rodeo” boat docking contest, live music, and celebrity appearances. Steamed crabs, beer, and other foods and beverages will be available for purchase.

EAST COAST

GREAT LAKES BaySail – Appledore Tall Ships, Bay City, MI (989) 895-5193 * BaySailBayCity.org The half-day Science Under Sail program encourages students to engage in real-world problem-based learning. Available from May to mid June and from September to early October.

Inland Seas Education Assoc., Suttons Bay, MI (231) 271-3077 * www.schoolship.org ISEA's Schoolship program is a half-day science learning adventure aboard the schooners Inland Seas and Manitou. Students from 4th to 12th grade collect and analyze samples from the bay.

Spring programs run from early May–mid June and the Fall programs run from early September–early October.

Erie Maritime Museum, Erie, PA (814) 452-2744 * FlagshipNiagara.org June 10-July 3. Environmental Science Field School: a multidisciplinary program incorporating marine sciences, underwater archaeology, and square-rig seamanship. Itinerary includes PutIn-Bay, Alpena and Georgian Bay. July 7-21. Exploring the Great Lakes: A voyage-based program intended for HS students ages 16-19 and recent HS graduates.

Michigan Maritime Museum, South Haven, MI (269) 637-8078 * MichiganMaritimeMuseum.org Friends Good Will is available for Educational Sails, Passenger Sails, Dockside boardings, Charters, Weddings, and Conferences.

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Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, WI (866) 724-2356 * WisconsinMaritime.org Explore the nation’s most completely preserved WWII submarine, stroll the streets of a 19th-century shipbuilding town, sail a boat down a river and more!

Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA (978) 283-0455 * CapeAnnMuseum.org June 27, July 25, August 15, Sept. 5 & 26. Fitz Henry Lane’s Gloucester Walking Tour. Lane was a Cape Ann artist, printmaker and world-renowned marine painter generally regarded as one of the finest 19th-century practitioners of luminism. Take a stroll through this artist’s Gloucester neighborhood. Tours are held rain or shine and last about 1½ hours. $10 members; $20 nonmembers. Space is limited; reservations required.

Sloop Clearwater, Beacon, NY 845-265-8080 * Clearwater.org Sailing Apprentice positions last for one month, during which two hired apprentices live and work aboard the sloop alongside the professional crew. They participate in all crew activities, including sailing, maintenance and education.

Conn. Maritime Heritage Festival, New London, CT CTMaritimeFest.com Sept. 9-12. This year we are recognizing the Coast Guard as it celebrates its 225th birthday. The new steel COLUMBIA will be one of many vessels in attendance.

Gloucester Schooner Festival, Gloucester, MA (978) 281-0470 * GloucesterSchoonerFestival.net Sept. 4-6, 2015. The new steel replica of the Gloucester schooner COLUMBIA will be one of many vessels in attendance.

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Herreshoff Marine Museum, Bristol, RI (401) 253-5000 * Herreshoff.org The Museum offers youth and adult sailing classes for the summer and fall. All classes are taught on our Herreshoff 12 1/2s — 16 foot wooden sloops with jib, main & spinnaker — or our Sea Sprite 23 on Narragansett Bay. Historic Ships in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD (410) 539-1797 * HistoricShips.org July 4. Independence Day Deck Party Picnic aboard USS Constellation, 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Join us on board for your backyard barbecue favorites served with local beverages. There will be special tours, cannon firings, and of course, the best view of the FIREWORKS! $75 adult / $45 teen / $25 child. Discount for Historic Ships Members. Children 5 and under are free!

Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA (215) 413-8630 * PhillySeaport.org Maritime Adventure Camp consists of two-action-packed weeks, August 3-14, for campers aged 13-16. $750 pp.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT (802) 475-2022 * LCMM.org The Museum’s inaugural Lake Adventure Camps offers experiential adventures for young explorers to discover our maritime heritage and environment.

Long Island Maritime Museum, West Sayville, NY (631) HISTORY * LIMaritime.org The Museum's flagship oyster sloop Priscilla offers a relaxing sail on the Great South Bay. We’ll sail the very waters she worked harvesting oysters when first launched in 1888.

Lowell’s Boat Shop, Amesbury, MA (978) 834-0050 * LowellsBoatShop.com Lowell’s Boat Shop is offering after-school apprenticeships for up to ten high school students grades 10-12. Youth enrolled in this after-school program work alongside experienced staff and volunteers to learn the skills and art of boatbuilding; this year we will build a traditional Lowell Skiff.

Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, ME (207) 443-1316 * MaineMaritimeMuseum.org Opening this summer: a significant redesign and renovation of “Lobstering & the Maine Coast” now in its own 6,200 square foot, two-story building, just steps from the Kennebec River.

The Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, VA (757) 596-2222 * MarinersMuseum.org July 6, 13, 20, 27, 10-11:30 a.m. Children ages 18 months to pre-school, and their adults, are invited to join us for Maritime Mondays through the summer for an hour and a half of stories, music, crafts and other activities.

Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT (860) 572-0711 * MysticSeaport.org Complimentary after-hours Museum admission to all Sunday evening visitors in July and August. Stroll the grounds and along the waterfront. Relax with friends while dining outdoors at Schaefer’s Spouter Tavern and listen to live music beginning at 5:30 p.m.

New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA (508) 997-0046 * WhalingMuseum.org July 8th and 9th, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The visiting Class A Tall Ship SAGRES will be open to the public, free of charge.

North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort, NC (252) 728-7317 * NCMaritimeMuseums.com Exhibits feature the state’s rich seafood industry, life-saving stations and lighthouses, and sailboats and motorboats.The Museum is the official repository for artifacts from Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge, which ran aground near Beaufort in 1718.

Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem, MA (978) 542-1609 * PEM.org More than two centuries of collecting have produced the finest and most comprehensive assemblage of art and objects relating to the sea in the country, including grand gold-framed oil paintings, drawings, ship models, marine decorative arts, tools, weapons, navigational instruments and ship and yacht plans.

Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, ME (207) 548-0334 * PenobscotMarineMuseum.org One of New England’s largest displays of classic small craft, with more than 50 boats on view in several buildings.

Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth, NH (603) 433-1100 * StrawberyBanke.org June 29 – July 3. History at Play: Growing up Colonial.

Campers aged 9-11 experience George Washington’s time, wear colonial clothing, use the tools and skills of the 1700s, and cook on the open hearth!

US Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD (410) 293-5275 * USNA.edu/Museum Highlights include Oliver Hazard Perry's famous "Don't Give Up the Ship" flag from the Battle of Lake Erie, a piece of USS Monitor, a video and light display illustrating the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Rogers Ship Model Collection, the largest collection of 17th- and 18th-century models in North America.

USS Constitution Museum, Charlestown, MA (617) 426-1812 * USSConstitutionMuseum.org The ship is currently drydocked but both the ship and the Museum remain open to visitors. In “All Hands On Deck” you can explore the harsh realities of life at sea and join USS Constitution just as the War of 1812 is declared. Discover the unique world afloat and the men and women that made history alongside Old Ironsides. b

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A select list of sailing programs, summer camps, and passage opportunities open to the public.

Ocean Classroom Foundation, Portland, ME (207) 699-3368 * OceanClassroom.org Revamped organization plans to offer programming beginning this spring, and semester-long high school programs in Spring 2016.

WEST COAST Grays Harbor Historic Seaport, Aberdeen, WA (800) 200-5239 * HistoricalSeaport.org Two Weeks Before the Mast programs on Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain.

Los Angeles Maritime Institute, Los Angeles, CA (310) 883-6055 * LAMITopSail.org Sail-training for school and youth groups.

Oliver Hazard Perry, Newport, RI (401) 841-0080 * OHPRI.org Week-long summer teen camps; educational programming for students of all ages; sail-training cruises for adults and families.

Schooner A. J. Meerwald, Bivalve, NJ (856) 785-2060 * BayShoreCenter.org Day and overnight Maritime Camp programs for children 13-17.

Schooner Adventuress, Port Townsend, WA (360) 379-0438 * SoundExp.com Overnight programs for teens, adults, seniors, and families.

Schooner Zodiac, Bellingham, WA (206) 719-7622 * SchoonerZodiac.com Windjammer cruises in the San Juan Islands, April-October.

Schooners North, Friday Harbor, WA (360) 378-2224 * SanJuanSailCharter.com Cruises from the San Juans to Alaska on the schooner Spike Africa.

GREAT LAKES Appledore Tall Ships, Bay City, MI (989) 895-5193 * BaySailBayCity.org Day-sails, charters, educational programs, and overnight sail-training opportunities.

Brigantine St. Lawrence II, Kingston, ON (613) 544-5175 * Brigantine.ca Sail-training programs on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario.

Traverse Tall Ship Co., Traverse Bay, MI (231) 941-2000 * TallShipSailing.com Education, day-sails, charters, and multi-day windjammer cruises.

US Brig Niagara, Erie, PA (814) 452-2744 ext. 214 * FlagshipNiagara.org Live-aboard sail training and Boot Camp weekend programs.

EAST COAST Barque Picton Castle, Lunenburg, NS (902) 634-9984 * Picton-Castle.com Sailing the East Coast of the US & Canada this summer; open to all.

Liberty Fleet of Tall Ships, Boston, MA (617) 742-0333 * LibertyFleet.com Windjammer-style Caribbean cruises during winter months.

Maine Windjammer Association, Midcoast Maine (800) 807-WIND * SailMaineCoast.com Eight vessels offering windjammer cruises on the Maine coast from mid-May through early October.

Schooner Alliance, Yorktown, VA (757) 639-1233 * SailYorktown.com Public sails and private charters in Yorktown during the summer; Windjammer-style Caribbean cruises during winter months.

Schooner Ardelle, Gloucester, MA (978) 281-0470 * SchoonerArdelle.com Public sails, private charters, and educational programs in conjunction with the Maritime Heritage Center.

Schooner Fame, Salem, MA (978) 729-7600 * SchoonerFame.com Public sails, private charters, and educational programs. Week-long Schooner Day Camp sessions for ages 8-14.

Schooner Mystic Whaler, Mystic, CT (800) 697-8420 * MysticWhalerCruises.com Single-day education programs for youth, overnight cruises for adults.

Schooner Pride of Baltimore II, Baltimore, MD (410) 539-1151 * Pride2.org Formerly offered passages up to 46 nights; 2015 opportunities unclear.

World Ocean School, Boston, MA (340) 626-7877 * WorldOceanSchool.org Education programs on board the schooner Roseway.

Schooner Sultana, Chesterton, MD (410) 778-5954 * SultanaProjects.org Weeklong “Chesapeake Adventures” programs for ages 11-14.

Schooner Wendameen, Portland, ME (207) 766-2500 * PortlandSchooner.com Overnight trips for up to 14 passengers on Casco Bay. SEA Semester, Woods Hole, MA (508) 540-3954* Sea.edu Accredited semester-at-sea programs for college students.

Sea/mester, Sarasota, FL (941) 924-2900 * Seamester.com Semester-at-sea and gap-year programs for college students. b

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b

VIRGINIA at the Gloucester Schooner Festival in happier days 34

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b

M. RUTSTEIN

The schooner Virginia has finally been listed for sale.

Last summer, the schooner cut short her summer sailing programs and returned to Hampton Roads to be laid up. Her Board of Directors announced that “revenue from current operations and other sources has proven inadequate to support her current operating model... Accordingly, the sale of the vessel appears the most prudent decision.”

The vessel, however, was not offered for public sale and no updates were issued over the ensuing ten months.

Executive Director Will King of the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation told Marlinspike this spring that despite some back-channel activity, the schooner’s situation had not changed, and that listing the schooner for sale “is still an option.”

A small group of dedicated volunteers were caring for the schooner while she lay idle, King said, pumping the bilges and shoveling snow.

Then, in early May, the VMHF announced that the 122-foot schooner had been listed for sale with Sparkman & Stephens. No details were immediately available, but the asking price was reportedly $1.8 million.

Virginia was launched in 2005, providing an educational resource for youth and adults. She conducted sail training voyages, appeared at numerous maritime festivals in the Chesapeake Bay and on the East Coast, and made voyages to Nova Scotia, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. In 2007, she set a course record for the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race.

Sailing operations were funded by student and adult bookings, appearance fees, donations and public funds.

But according to the VMHF’s press release, “The 2008 recession led to a substantial drop in philanthropic support and the disappearance of public funding. Despite the mending economy, bookings, charters, appearance fees and contributions from private donors have failed to reach a level adequate to sustain the ship’s continued operation by the VMHF.” Inquiries regarding Virginia should be directed to Harry Morgan of Sparkman & Stephens at (203) 687-4535.

H This summer, the schooner Martha will participate in the TransPac race from California to Hawai’i. Hailing from Port Townsend in Washington State, and built in 1907, Martha is the oldest participant in this year’s race and is believed to be the oldest TransPac entry ever.

Since leaving Port Townsend last fall, Martha has traveled back to her original home port of San Francisco, made repeated trips to the Channel Islands, Santa Catalina and San Diego, and ventured as far south as the Sea of Cortez. She has competed in the America's Schooner Cup in San Diego, the Great San Francisco Schooner Cup, the Master Mariners Regatta and the Yesteryear Regatta.

The schooner is operated by the all-volunteer, non-profit Schooner Martha Foundation, created in 1996. It has managed the restoration of the vessel, as well as the recent upgrades needed to travel and compete offshore, and it supports scholarships to allow young people to experience hands-on sail training aboard Martha. The Foundation hopes to create an endowment that would fund Martha’s ongoing care and provide a salary for her captain, and this trip is intended to increase Martha’s visibility and support base.

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The race departs from leaves Long Beach, CA on July 13. Martha and all the TransPac entries can be monitored on the TransPac website.

Martha is scheduled to visit Victoria, BC for the Classic Boat Festival September 4-6 and return to Port Townsend for the Wooden Boat Festival on Sept. 11-13.

H Eighty teenagers from Portland and Rockland will celebrate the longest day of the year sailing aboard two of Rockland Maine’s iconic windjammers as part of the Schooner Kids program, an invitational event hosted by the Maine Windjammer Association that encourages Maine’s next generation of sailors to experience traditional sail.

While all of the teens have taken lessons in either Opti or 420 sailboats through their local sailing programs, few have ever stepped foot on a large traditional vessel like the American Eagle or Isaac H. Evans, the two National Historic Landmark schooners that will host the group on June 21.

Captain John Foss, owner of the Eagle, says, “Getting the next generation of sailors onto the water via Schooner Kids is a great way to inspire young people who might want to pursue a career in the windjammer industry.”

The Schooner Kids idea originated in 2014 when 86 teenagers from Portland and Rockland enjoyed a hands-on daysail around Penobscot Bay. “Last year’s kids were great,” said Captain Brenda Thomas of the Evans. “They tried their hand at everything, from steering and raising sail to furling and knot-tying.”

This year, sailors from Portland’s SailMaine and the Rockland Community Sailing Programs have been invited to sail out of North End Shipyard in Rockland. Plans are

already in the works for 2016, with two schooners from Camden volunteering to host next year’s Schooner Kids.

H We reported in our spring issue that the Spirit of South Carolina — rescued from circling Yankee sharks by local businessmen Michael Bennett and Tommy Baker — had a new partner and a new lease on life. According to a local newspaper article in February, she was expected to be re-certified this spring and to be running programs shortly thereafter.

It was also reported that the schooner, which languished for several years until being sold at auction last summer, was now working with the Lowcountry Maritime Society.

Not so fast, apparently.

Although a representative from the Spirit attended the Tall Ships America conference in February, the schooner’s new owners have yet to establish a website. The facebook page hasn’t been updated in four months. Phone calls to Baker and Bennett have gone unanswered. And there’s been no mention of the schooner on the Lowcountry Maritime Society’s website or facebook page since February.

H On June 9, Sean D. Kearns, Commanding Officer of USS Constitution, and USS Constitution Museum President Anne Grimes Rand removed the first sheet of copper from the ship’s hull. This ceremony, akin to a ground breaking, commemorates the start of restoration work for Old Ironsides.

Constitution is currently drydocked adjacent to her normal berth at the Charlestown Navy Yard. She is expected to be out of the water for at least two years.

The crew of the schooner Fame of Salem reports the advent of a promising new watering hole, one with an unmatched view of Salem Harbor including the Salem Maritime National Historic Site and its reproduction of the three-masted East Indiaman Friendship. The Sea Level Oyster Bar on Wharf Street opened in April to rave reviews.

Next time you’re looking for a good spot to keep an eye on the weather, head for the upper-deck bar and order a Rumbustion or a Poseidon’s Punch. “Is this the new Bluesmobile or what?” — MR 36

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Constitution’s hull is layered with 3,400 copper sheets secured with half a million copper bolts, weighing over 11 and a half tons. These sheets protect the ship against boring mollusks, such as shipworms, and other marine organisms that eat away at wooden hull planking and can ruin a ship’s structural integrity. The copper oxidizes and turns green over time and must be periodically replaced.

The British and French navies began experimenting with copper sheathing in the 18th century and found it extended the life of their ships. Copper sheathing also allowed for greater ease in cleaning barnacles and crustaceans from ships’ bottoms. Each of the six frigates added to the U.S. Navy in the late 1790s, including Constitution, were covered below the waterline in thousands of overlapping copper sheets.

Because rolled copper sheathing was not yet manufactured in America, Paul Revere of “Midnight Ride” fame acted as a middleman and acquired English sheet copper that was then sold to the U.S. Navy. Revere also provided the original copper bolts used to secure the sheets in place.

Throughout her lifespan, Constitution’s copper sheathing has been periodically replaced and the old copper fashioned into souvenirs. This process was last completed during the ship’s 1992-1996 restoration.

H The Picton Castle Bosun School will be held once again in Lunenburg this summer, from August 12 to September 23.

Captain Daniel Moreland, master of the world voyaging Picton Castle for the past 20 years and six global circumnavigations, set up the first Bosun School back in 2007. Its purpose is to pass on traditional seamanship skills in all manner of boat and ship’s work to aspiring professional mariners, in a more concentrated manner than is readily possible at sea.

Applications are accepted from people of any age or nationality who demonstrate a serious interest in building a career at sea. Some relevant prior experience is necessary — time in sailing ships, motor vessels, boat building or related fields, but the main criteria is simply a strong desire to get good at traditional bosun skills.

Students will send topmasts of a square rigged sailing ship up and down, send down and cross yards, and bend and send down square sail. They will learn the use of tackles, including overhauling blocks. Hand marlinspike seamanship skills are taught: ropework, rope splicing and seizings, wire splicing, worming, parcelling and serving. Students get the opportunity to learn caulking in heavy plank and light plank and learn skills in boat building and rebuilding at the Lunenburg Dory Shop.

Cost is $3,000 USD, which includes room, board, instruction and course materials. A discounted rate is available for Picton Castle trainee sailors.

For more info, visit: picton-castle.com/bosun-school H Ocean Classroom and the Oliver Hazard Perry have announced that they will collaborate on a high school semes-

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J. P. URANKER WOODCARVER ★

THE TRADITION OF HANDCARVED EAGLES CONTINUES TODAY

(508) 693-5871 ★ WWW.JPUWOODCARVER.COM

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Sully’s Port Punch (for use in port ONLY) was invented last summer after a partial case of San Juan Vineyard’s port was discovered in Zodiac’s lazarette. In a blazing moment of clarity, deckhand Sullivan Vanderboom was able to craft the overbearing desert wine into a delectable cocktail in time for a dockside party. The Port Punch is now a summertime staple aboard Zodiac and Sully is widely regarded by the crew as a messianic figure. — Bob Boroughs

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Port Punch

2 bottles Port Wine 8-12 oz. Kraken Dark Rum 5-6 cans San Pellegrino Limonata 32 oz. Sparkling Water 5-6 fresh squeezed limes Mixed in a large bowl with loads of ice 37

ter at sea in the spring of 2016 (see page 10).

The program will cost $27,300 which includes room and board, customs and immigration fees, and education materials. Transportation to and from the ship is not included; a valid passport is necessary. Financial aid is available.

The Oliver Hazard Perry will depart from St. Thomas, USVI, on February 6. The program concludes in Portland, Maine, on May 14.

H The eight vessels of the Maine Windjammer Association will be joining up for special events several times this summer, beginning June 21-27 with Windjammer Days in picturesque Boothbay Harbor.

On July 3, the fleet gathers for the Great Schooner Race from Islesboro to Rockland, followed by an Awards

Ceremony/Party with live music. The Great Schooner Race is North America’s largest annual gathering of tall ships.

A week later, on July 10, the windjammer fleet participates in an afternoon Parade of Sail past mile-long Rockland Breakwater, providing spectators with stunning, close-up views.

On Labor Day weekend, the fleet heads to picturesque Camden for a Windjammer Festival which includes a parade of sail, live music, dancing and fireworks.

Finally, on September 15, the fleet gathers in Brooklin, Maine, headquarters of WoodenBoat Magazine and WoodenBoat School. Now in its 29th year, the event includes refreshments, live music, tours and a harbor full of historic schooners. b Do you have news for Boats, Bars & Beaches? Send it to us at marlinspike1812@gmail.com

for Schooner HIGHLANDER SEA Two-masted schooner, currently laid up dockside. 1924, oak on oak. Located Gloucester, MA. Asking $2,000,000.

Schooner VIRGINIA Two-masted schooner launched in 2005 for sail training. Laminated white oak frames with wana planking. 98 GRT. Located Norfolk, VA. Asking $1,800,000.

Schooner HALIE & MATTHEW Bald-headed schooner in the Maine Windjammer trade. 2006, fiberglass. Located Eastport, ME. COI for 100 on deck, 50 overnight. Asking $1,400,000.

Schooner VICTORY CHIMES Three-masted schooner in the Maine Windjammer trade. 1900, oak on oak. Located Camden, ME. COI for 50. Asking $925,000.

PROVIDENCE in May

Schooner HERITAGE Two-masted schooner in the Maine Windjammer trade. 1983, oak on oak. Located Rockland, ME. COI for 30 overnight. Asking $895,500.

Schooner AMERICAN EAGLE Bald-headed schooner in the Maine Windjammer trade. 1930, oak on oak. Located Rockland, ME. COI for 56 daysails, 28 overnight. SOLAS and PSSC. Asking $750,000.

Schooner UNICORN Topsail schooner, currently a sail-training ship. 1947, steel. Located Lunenburg, NS. COI 12 daysails, 6 overnight.

Asking $375,000.

“Pirate Ship” FORMIDABLE Brigantine. 2000, steel. Located Gloucester, MA. COI 49 daysails. Asking $349,900.

Sloop PROVIDENCE Replica of Revolutionary War sloop. 1976, fiberglass. Located Newport, RI. 59 GRT. COI for 40 daysails. Being sold as a project after she blew off her jackstands this winter; spars broke and a jackstand pushed through the port side.

Asking $295,000.

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Guana Cay in the Abacos. The Bahamas offer so many shallow, sandy beaches with crystal-clear water, that if we started featuring them one by one we’d never come to the end of them.

This photo stands out as evocative of that hour before sunset, with the boat anchored securely, the dinghy run ashore and the crew spreading out through a new destination — going for a swim, walking on the beach, playing a silly game, bellying up to the bar, hunting for Wifi, or sitting down to a piping hot order of conch fritters.

No emergencies to be addressed. No work to be done. Nothing to do for the moment but watch the sun slide toward the water...

“Hey, Cap? One of the new deckhands stepped on a flip-top and is bleeding like a stuck pig.” — MR Post a photo of your favorite beach to our facebook page, or e-mail us at marlinspike1812@gmail.com

The Friends of Windjammer Days in Boothbay Harbor, Maine would like to thank the following schooners for helping make a spectacular 2014 event:

Alert, American Eagle, Bowdoin, Eastwind, Heritage, Lazy Jack and Sherman Zwicker

The dates for 2015 are June 21-27, with the windjammers arriving for a clambake on Cabbage Island on Tuesday the 23rd and the Parade of Sail into Boothbay Harbor on the 24th. Interested in joining us for 2015? Visit our website:

www.windjammerdays.org or email windjammerdays@gmail.com MarlinspikeMagazine.com

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of the

They say idle hands are the Devil’s workshop, but in the case of Canadian Ryan Karakai, downtime between his stretches at sea have produced a set of personalized serving boards, mallets, pullers, heavers and fids Every time I end up “on the beach” after a sailing contract, I get a hankering to indulge in one of my favorite shoreside hobbies: making new rigging tools.

Sometimes this occurs out of a need for some small item for a specific job, or in the case of Niagara, a desperate case of tool envy.

After serving on Niagara I absolutely had to make myself a small heaving mallet. I quickly whipped up a small Gary Oak mallet head on the lathe and used a cheap mildsteel handle. That heaver has served me faithfully ever since, and I still cannot manage to break it no matter how large the job happens to be.

As time marches on I have made a number of different tools. A purpleheart serving mallet that is my pride and joy came from wood given to me by the carpenter on my first ship. A very small teak serving board made for serving grommets and selvegees has proved to be one of the most useful so far.

A small puller inspired by another tool I saw on Niagara has seen its fair share of use in passing robands and lashings in tight places. The puller has a turned Gary Oak handle and a bight made from copper wire.

Disclaimer: I am a complete amateur as far as woodworking goes. I have no more experience than a few months of high school wood shop. But with very little experience, a lathe and a couple of cheap chisels you can really enhance your rigging tool inventory. Over the past few years, I’ve experimented with a number of different hardwoods, and up until my most recent project I have always loved working with and finishing purpleheart the most. Purpleheart not only has a unique color and beautiful grain structure, it is not terribly difficult to work with.

40

That being said, keep your tools sharp and make fairly light passes on the lathe! When you get chatter marks in your purpleheart it can take a while to lathe and sand them out.

I tend to be pragmatical when it comes to rigging work; I like to use what works. Along those lines I almost exclusively use modern metal Swedish fids whenever occasion warrants a splice. That being said, I love the look of the simple classic wooden fid and have seen hundreds of variations in shape, size, and wood.

Turning fids is really fairly easy after a bit of practice and you can end up with hundreds of variations in size, taper length and general shape. I enjoyed making two small fids as gifts in the past couple years, one of purpleheart, the other of Cambodian rosewood. Of all the tools I’ve made, I have enjoyed turning those fids the most.

They are simple beautiful objects and can certainly be put to practical use.

On my return home after my last contract, as bosun on the Lady Washington, I decided it was about time to make myself a classic wooden fid. For a couple of months I puzzled over what type of wood to use. I didn't want it to be the same as the previous two. It had to be something unique, dense and strong. I stared at ebony turning blanks, and chunks of coco-bolo in my local hardwood shop for a time, until it dawned on me that I should try and find some of that legendary lignum vitae, purported to be the strongest, densest wood known.

I found an exotic hardwood company on eBay that offers odds and ends of various sizes, and I ordered a 2 x 2 x 8 chunk. It arrived and I went to work. This wood has a

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Continued on page 42

Above: starting to cut the taper into the blank.

Below: Grommet serving board, serving mallet, puller and heaver.

Authentic Tarred Hemp Marline

American Rope & Tar 8115 River Front Ln. Fair Oaks, CA 95628 877 965 1800

www.tarsmell.com MarlinspikeMagazine.com

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Continued from page 40 fantastic weight in the hand and is exceptionally beautiful, even unfinished, due to its natural oils. If there is any advice I can give on turning this stuff, it's to take extremely light passes and be patient: it turns well, but I still dulled two chisels to make this 7 3/4” fid.

I finished from 80- up to 4000-grit paper and applied the first couple coats of teak oil with the piece spinning on the lathe.

As you can see, after the first oiling, it came out looking almost like a piece of blown glass. b Ryan Karakai is currently working on board the Pride of Baltimore II.

Below left: the lignum vitae blank. Above: after finish sanding and oiling on the lathe, the fid tip is cut off the block and finished by hand. Below right: the final product

WINTER 201

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AT MYSTIC MARINE ART on Essex British Raid To Be Saved SS Columbia U WKH 6HDÀ RR RQ HV rn VLY ([SOR nd Cape Ho Voyage Arou sh Ru ld Go DS KI R FO Sea History

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Over 12,000 visitors boarded the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY during the Volvo Ocean Race festivities in Newport RI this May

Continued from page 13 and others who will prefer the relative luxury of the Oliver Hazard Perry. I think for that reason alone, there are two distinct audiences, and there are other audiences we might be able to appeal to as well.

The first time we’re going to be thinking about another vessel would be for summer 2016 programming. If something landed in our laps, we’d find something to do with it, but we’re not looking to do extensive programming until summer 2016 at the earliest, which is independent of this spring semester program.

JW: You don’t even want to look at my to-do list! For the semester program, we’re also involved in the recruiting, although the admission process is primarily through Ocean Classroom. We have a sales and marketing manager in our office, Eric Spicer, who’s working on recruiting as well.

Events, recruitment, insurance, crew hiring, customs and immigration — that’s where the experience of Ocean Classroom comes into play as well, helping us to work though those issues. My previous job was running semester programs in the Caribbean, so I don’t find that too daunting. I know that area well. But you’re right, I have quite a to-do list on my desk these days! b

MS: Margo, what’s on your to-do list between now and February, when this collaborative semester program departs?

MM: Recruit, recruit, recruit. Hone the curriculum. Go through the years and years of lesson plans and material that we have from the old organization and make sure that’s in its best state. Prepare the organization for independent accreditation, which is ultimately what we’re going for. For now, Ocean Classroom students will receive credit for the courses through North Yarmouth Academy, an independent, co-ed, college preparatory day school in Yarmouth, Maine.

Starting Oct 1, 2015 Lunenburg - Azores Spain - Gibraltar Morocco - Canaries Senegal - Cape Verde Caribbean islands Sign on for 3 or 6 months

MS: Jessica, you’ve also got an outrageously busy eight months ahead of you.

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CAPTAIN / RELIEF CAPTAIN CAPTAIN Sloop Clearwater The 106’ sloop Clearwater is an all-wood work boat, a replica of sloops that sailed the Hudson River in the 18th and 19th centuries. Instead of the bricks and produce cargo of earlier ages, Clearwater’s “cargo” is a message of care and concern for the environment, especially the Hudson River and its surrounding waterways. The Captain is an ambassador of Clearwater’s environmental agenda and acts accordingly.

Clearwater is owned by the members of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a nonprofit environmental education organization.

Clearwater crew provide a solid schedule of onboard education programs for schools, educational groups, adult programs and members.

Clearwater is a Coast Guard inspected vessel. It sails from the tidewater reaches of the Hudson River, including greater New York Harbor, northern New Jersey and Long Island Sound. The sailing season runs from early April through the end of October. The captains work ten days on the boat, then work five office days, and five days off before getting back on board.

To apply, email a resume, cover letter to office@clearwater.org MASTER Schooner Pioneer The 1885 schooner Pioneer seeks a full-time Master. Pioneer sails seasonally in New York Harbor on school education programs, charters and public sails, and travels occasionally to ports in Long Island Sound and the Hudson River.

Pioneer operates in New York Harbor, a waterway with significant operational challenges including high-current boathandling, piloting in restricted visibility, maneuvering in dense commercial traffic, and others.

In addition to the usual command duties, the Master functions as a key staff member in the management team of the Museum. A strong ability to work closely, productively, and collegially with peers is essential. The Master hires, trains, and manages all relief crew and is responsible for the advancement of Pioneer’s people through the ranks.

This post is full time, year-round, salaried in the low 40s, and comes with benefits including excellent, medical, dental and vision. Participation in a defined benefits pension is also included.

To apply, contact: Capt. Jonathan Boulware South Street Seaport Museum (212) 748-8772 jboulware@seany.org

MATE / BOSUN / ENGINEER CHIEF MATE, Aug. 28th to Dec. Ketch Hawaiian Chieftain www.historicalseaport.org This position requires a 100-ton near coastal Masters license with a sail or auxiliary sail endorsement. Experience on traditional vessels preferred. The Mate is responsible for carrying out the Master’s orders safely, maintaining a well-trained crew, and working with the Master to maintain a positive and professional experience for all aboard.

All positions require a positive attitude, teamwork, strong work ethic, comfort working aloft, and the ability to respond calmly and safely in all situations. Crews live aboard and participate in daily housekeeping, routine maintenance, sailing in all conditions, teaching education programs, safety drills, and cross-crew training. Excellent passenger interaction skills are a must.

We offer a monthly stipend, health insurance after 90 days, room and board, as well as the adventure of a lifetime.

To apply, e-mail a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to: Patty McLaren pmclaren@historicalseaport.org MATE Schooner Roseway Schedule: Full Time on Rotation

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Pay: Commensurate with experience Job includes all aspects of tall ship sailing both coastal and offshore as well as an ability and desire to work with kids of all ages in both day and overnight programs. Applicants must be licensed and have experience in the maritime industry, preferably on tall ships. They must be an enthusiastic, flexible, and energetic leader with experience in the industry. Positions are live aboard.

Schedule: Full Time on Rotation Pay: Commensurate with experience For application and details, visit www.worldoceanschool.org BOSUN, Sept. to Dec. Ketch Hawaiian Chieftain www.historicalseaport.org Knowledge of traditional and modern vessel maintenance required. Ability to track multiple projects, organize and train work crews is essential.

All positions require a positive attitude, teamwork, strong work ethic, comfort working aloft, and the ability to respond calmly and safely in all situations. Crews live aboard and participate in daily housekeeping, routine maintenance, sailing in all conditions, teaching education programs, safety drills, and cross-crew training. Excellent passenger interaction skills are a must.

We offer a monthly stipend, health insurance after 90 days, room, and board, as well as the adventure of a lifetime.

To apply, e-mail a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to: Patty McLaren pmclaren@historicalseaport.org ENGINEER Schooner Liberty Clipper www.libertyfleet.com Liberty Fleet of Tall Ships is accepting applications for Mechanic/Engineer on board the Liberty Clipper. She operates weeklong excursions in the Bahamas during the winter and multiple day sails during the summer in Boston Harbor. Must have a working knowledge of: Detroit diesel 6-71, familiarity with diesel generators, 12,24,110 & 220 V electrical systems, AC & DC water pumps, experience with steel and PVC plumbing, commercial propane stoves, commercial refrigeration, reverse osmosis water makers, outboard/small engine repair, Headhunter electric flush toilet systems, air compressors. This position requires a positive attitude, teamwork, strong work ethic, and the ability to respond calmly & safely in all situations.

Engineer lives aboard and interacts with ships' guests regularly.

Please contact us at jobs@libertyfleet.com if interested.

ALL DECK POSITIONS Sloop Clearwater Clearwater is currently accepting applications for all deck positions (1st Mate, 2nd Mate, Cook, Engineer, Bos’un, Deckhand and Apprentices) for the Fall 2015 season (July 15th through November 1st 2015). You will be working with a crew of 10-18 people (some volunteers) delivering Clearwater’s education program to 4th-12th graders as well as occasional programs for adults. Applicants with prior educational/sailing experience are preferred.

Applicants should have strong communication skills, an active interest in education and an ability to work/live in a close knit community. Crew members work a 5-on, 2-off schedule. Our fall sailing season will end at in early October for an extended haulout this winter. The fall sailing crew will finish their season by helping prepare the vessel for a major hull restoration project. All crew are required to pass a pre-employment drug test and background check. Compensation includes room and board.

See detailed job descriptions here: http://www.clearwater.org/thesloop/crew/. Applicants should sent their resume with a cover letter specifying which positions they’re interested in to office@clearwater.org.

DECKHAND DECKHAND INTERNS Schooner Roseway Job includes all aspects of tall ship sailing both coastal and offshore as well as an ability and desire to work with kids of all ages in both day and

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overnight programs. While previous experience is not required, applicants should be energetic, flexible, and eager to learn. Positions are live aboard and require at least a twelve-month commitment aboard Roseway. Room and board are provided aboard.

Schedule: one year contract Pay: monthly stipend For application and details, visit www.worldoceanschool.org DECKHAND INTERNS Brigantines Irving and Exy Johnson LAMI is seeking energetic team players with a passion for working with youth on tall ships. Come live aboard one of our twin brigantines and join our fun, dedicated volunteers in sailing out of LA Harbor to Catalina and the Channel Islands, delivering character-building, adventure-based learning to under-served students from the LA area and beyond. Peak sailing season is late May to early October, and there is some contract flexibility. First Aid/CPR certification and square sail experience preferred, but not essential. Background check and drug test required.

Send us a resume and cover letter telling us what makes you a great shipmate, what you can do to help create a professional, fun, safe environment where kids can flourish, and what you'd like to get out of the experience.

What are your goals and interests? What makes you an asset we can't afford to pass up? What's your favorite joke?

Apply by email with resume and cover letter to Contact name: LAMI crew Phone: 310.833.6055 Fax: 310.548.2055 Email: crew@lamitopsail.org WINTER APPRENTICES Sloop Clearwater Monthly, October to March The 106’ sloop Clearwater is an all wood work boat, a replica of sloops that sailed the Hudson River in the 18th and 19th centuries. Instead of the bricks and produce cargo of earlier ages, Clearwater’s “cargo” is a message of care and concern for the environment, especially the Hudson River and its surrounding waterways. Clearwater is owned by the members of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a nonprofit environmental education organization. Winter Apprentices work for one to two months alongside the crew of the Clearwater under the direction of the maintenance coordinator in Kingston, NY. An apprenticeship is a great opportunity to participate in both the basic maintenance and the intense restoration of the sloop going on this winter. Apprentices will be extremely necessary for all of our typical annual maintenance (sanding, painting, cleaning, inspecting, and servicing), in addition to dismantling the interior and moving and organizing tools, lumber, and bilge weights. While apprentices will not become shipwrights, rebuilding the centerboard trunk, or building or installing frames or planks, they’ll be on hand to help with and learn about those processes.

Apprentices’ salary includes room, board, and $100/week.

Applicants must be willing to work outside in cold weather. Experience doing maintenance projects is a plus, but will train the right person.

Eagerness to learn new skills and be a part of the Clearwater community is essential.

To apply, visit: http://www.clearwater.org/about/job-opportunities/

COOK COOK, Sept. 19th to Dec. Ketch Hawaiian Chieftain www.historicalseaport.org The Cook’s primary function is to provide the crew, both paid and volunteer, and occasionally paying passengers, with three nutritional meals per day plus snacks and beverages as appropriate The Cook is responsible for provisioning the vessel within the established provisioning budget and keeping track of provision expenditures and number of meals served each day in the Cook’s Log. The Cook is also responsible for maintaining an adequate supply of paper goods and household cleaning supplies.

To apply, e-mail a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to: Patty McLaren pmclaren@historicalseaport.org

OTHER POSITIONS PURSER, Sept. 30th to Dec. Brig Lady Washington www.historicalseaport.org The Purser is the chief financial officer. The Purser is responsible for the accurate tracking, recording and reporting of all income and expenses aboard the boat. This includes oversight and responsibility for the Ship’s Store, admissions, charters, donations, sailing and education program fees, as well as all ship-related expenses. Accurate record keeping, daily and weekly reports are essential. The purser is a member of both the boat and Merchandising Committees.

To apply, e-mail a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to: Patty McLaren pmclaren@historicalseaport.org GREEN CITIES COORDINATOR Sloop Clearwater Our Green Cities Initiative (GCI) seeks to create sustainable Hudson Valley communities, with a focus on Hudson River cities including Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Beacon and Peekskill, through education, training, community organizing, and planning assistance related to watershed management, green infrastructure, and environmental and climate justice. It also includes elements of career development and preparation for inner city youth.

The Green Cities Coordinator is responsible for performing program work, which currently has a focus on urban watershed protection initiatives and is grant-supported. Duties include coordinating community groups, performing stream assessments, developing green-infrastructure plans, mentoring youth, and organizing education and outreach programs and events.

To apply, email a resume, cover letter to office@clearwater.org. b Got a job opportunity you’d like us to include in our next issue? E-mail us at marlinspike1812@gmail.com

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This is the first phase of a 3/4 sleeve I'm having done. The ship is the Picton Castle and the wheel is one I found in an antique shop. I had this work done at Artist’s Ink in Summerside, PEI in February of 2015. I sailed on Picton Castle for two short voyages. The first was in 2006 from Summerside to Lunenburg and the second time was in 2013 when I was on board for the tall ship race from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand. Tattoo is to commemorate those voyages and the friends made!

— Brian Matthie, PEI

Here’s my Plimsol and load line.

On either side of the Plimsol I have my initials and on the load line I have the two states I spent most of my life in and my parents’ and two brothers’ initials.

— Nathan Pablo

My tools for rope work, including a real ‘Marlin’ spike — made from the bill of the fish!

— Michael Rossouw, Lyttelton, NZ Michael’s outfit, Jack Tar Sailing, offers sails aboard the gaff-rigged yacht Oyster, one of the oldest boats in survey in New Zealand.

Charters generally sail past Rapaki or Quail Island and explore the sheltered bays around Lyttelton Harbour, one of two major harbours on the Banks Peninsula. The area is rich in dolphins, sea birds and other marine wildlife.

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MarlinspikeMagazine.com

This is the first phase of a 3/4 sleeve I'm having done. The ship is the Picton Castle and the wheel is one I found in an antique shop. I had this work done at Artist’s Ink in Summerside, PEI in February of 2015. I sailed on Picton Castle for two short voyages. The first was in 2006 from Summerside to Lunenburg and the second time was in 2013 when I was on board for the tall ship race from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand. Tattoo is to commemorate those voyages and the friends made!

— Brian Matthie, PEI

Here’s my Plimsol and load line.

On either side of the Plimsol I have my initials and on the load line I have the two states I spent most of my life in and my parents’ and two brothers’ initials.

— Nathan Pablo

My tools for rope work, including a real ‘Marlin’ spike — made from the bill of the fish!

— Michael Rossouw, Lyttelton, NZ Michael’s outfit, Jack Tar Sailing, offers sails aboard the gaff-rigged yacht Oyster, one of the oldest boats in survey in New Zealand.

Charters generally sail past Rapaki or Quail Island and explore the sheltered bays around Lyttelton Harbour, one of two major harbours on the Banks Peninsula. The area is rich in dolphins, sea birds and other marine wildlife.

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CRANE STOOKEY

Leaderproof Leadership How does a leader make their leadership leaderproof?

The Nova Scotia Sea School boats have no place set aside for the crew to sleep. There are no bunks. When night comes, we lie down together and sleep on the oars.

Have you ever slept on a set of oars? No? Really, never?

Well, this is how it works.

To go to bed, once the tarp is set up between the masts, first we get what we need for the night out of our duffel bags: foul weather gear and boots in case of a storm, warm clothes to wear during our turn on night watch, sleeping bags. Then we stow our duffel bags down under the thwarts, the rowing benches that run at intervals across the boat. To make a place to sleep, we take the 13-foot oars and lay them side by side, spanning the gaps between the rowing benches. All the oars lying together next to each other make a kind of platform, and we lie down across them to sleep. They’re hard and uncomfortable, so for comfort everyone gets a half-length foam pad, a quarter of an inch thick.

Once the oars are in place, we spread out our sleeping bags. Now we’re lying on the oars over the duffel bags below, so we can’t get at the duffel bags anymore. If anyone forgets something, we all get up so we can shift the oars and get at the duffel bags again. If in the morning one person won’t get up, we can’t shift the oars, so none of us can get at our duffel bags to dress.

The power of the situation is that the instructors never have to say, “Okay, crew, it’s time to practice our teamwork.

So you’re all going to do this really fun team-building exercise we made up.” And the crew replies, “Forget your stupid game. What do you know?”

All we have to say is “Time to go to bed.” The oars do the rest, and they do it much more effectively than we ever could.

Our telling the crew to work together is just hot air. The oars are real, and they focus, involve and commit the crew in a very real way. It doesn’t matter how people react to the sleeping arrangements: if they want to go to bed, they have to deal with it.

If the crew are having a hard time with each other, bickering and complaining, usually the voice of calm and collaboration is already present in some member of the crew. If the instructors trust that and are patient, that person can discov-

er their own leadership and let it surface. If the instructors aren’t patient — if we step in to be “helpful” — we dilute the situation with our leadership. Everyone looks to us instead of to themselves, all the power of the situation leaks out, and the person who was about to discover that they are big enough to be the voice of gentleness and cooperation retires quietly back into their smallness.

Now at first the crew are likely to be saying to the instructors, “Tell Joe to get his act together. He’s holding everything up. Why don’t you tell him?

What do they pay you for, anyway?”

But our leadership, our command, consists of entrusting the duty of engagement to the oars. The oars are worthy of the task, and we let them take command, recognizing that the oars will support the crew’s discovery of cooperation better than our intervention ever could. Then, when the crew needs to work together to sail the boat through rough water, avoiding the rocks and reefs, they’ve got the working together part down and can focus on the sailing. Sailing may be new to them, but because they can work and learn together they can more quickly acquire the skills to keep the boat safe.

We created the conditions that support people to discover their ability to work together when we designed the boat.

It might have been possible to devise a system of panels that fold up into place at night to make individual beds, which could be folded down by each person if they needed to get at their gear again. But from the engagement point of view, that would have been poor design. It would have been making up something extra for sleeping, and would have required us to make up something else extra for building engagement.

The oars are already there. They’re real, and they’re hard to argue with. How can we use them for more than rowing in a way that will entrust the duty of fostering self-discovery to the oars, knowing that if we set it up right, the oars can do a better job than we could?

With a well-designed situation, the situation becomes leaderproof and does the work for us. b Excerpted from Crane’s book, Keep Your People in the Boat-Workforce Engagement Lessons from the Sea. If you would like to talk to Crane about his support for your leadership and engagement strategies, or to have him speak to your group, please contact him.

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