Mast work and new crew on Bill

Here's the crane removing the old foremast with shrouds attached.



Above are Yana and Bryce. Yana has been working through maintenance and is Lady alum. She's getting off the boat soon to return to her home in Brooklyn, NY. Bryce is from Tahoe, and is a licensed EMT going to Maine Maritime Academy. He's getting credit for his summer aboard Bill.

Below is longtime Lady Alum (master, mate, steward) Captain Michael Kellick. Michael is our current Chief Mate and SAG representative (if any of us were SAG members...). That means he's our Hollywood connection. He's worked in "the business" and works as a liason between the filmakers and the boats to make everything run smooth. This coming week, the Lynx, Lady, and Bill are all going to be part of filming a movie about Blackbeard for the Hallmark channel. It will probably come out next year. Michael is known for his puns and great sense of humor.

New Mast and New Faces

These two pics are of the refinished mainmast being replaced. It was black with slush and pollution before.



Below decks. Above is "A Compartment" (like a focsl). Viewing the port bow. Below is looking aft from "A" on the stbd side, through "B Compartment and into the galley, through 2 watertight hatches. The shower is the door on the right.



Above is Nick, new Bill crew, former Lady crew. Below is Kent and John Boy, project coordinators for the Seaport on the Bill's remodel.



Above is Bob Esposito, affectionately known as "Slideshow Bob" - an awesome and useful volunteer and GHHSA boardmember. Below are Nick and our new engineer, "Macgregor" fixing up the new mast wedges.

Check out the new sticks

http://ladywashington.org/archivemay2005.html

I (Kim) will be returning to Bill of Rights this Friday. We'll be getting ready to head out to Westport next week and greet Lady WA and Lynx!

Hopefully I can get to a computer this weekend and put a bunch of new pics/info on this site!

Unless, of course, I could get Nathali, Shawn, Phineas, Nate or Mark Toy to send me an update......

The sticks are back!

John Boy is wrapping up his time on Bill of Rights as captain, overseeing the important maintenance project this month that is going to make us look new again for the festival...

The sticks are back! The Bill of Rights is once again a schooner. After several intense hours at the Sierra Pacific Pier the Lower masts are stepped, the booms are resting on their tables, or at least close by, and the Bill looks good again. It's amazing how much of a difference some sticks make.

With all that has happened today I have mixed feelings. I'm looking forward to my time on the Lady, but I am going to miss this crew and even though I hate to say it, I'm going to miss this project. Getting the sticks in a little early has been a huge triumph, considering all the roadblocks we've had to clear.

Project MVPs are:
MV-Bosun- Shawn. Shawn has been throught some of the most overwhelming projects and just stuck to them untill they were done
MV-Shipwright- Scotty Kimmet. Scotty put in extra hours to insure the heel tennon was perfect. He also faceted the top of the mast above the new tressel trees.
MV-Site Manager- Kent Wall. Kent has been a pleasure to work with, never complaining about the clutter of his shop, or the paint drip here and there in his spar lathe. His carpertry skills have been relied upon heavily in the construction of the new tressel trees, boulsters, hounds, and a million other things. Thank you Kent.
MV-Lathe Operator- Matt. Thanks for the new foremast Matt. Matt has also lended a hand in construction of the new fore top, and can get the flat bed to run, something that none of us can do. (I had to tow it with the forklift today)
MV-Volunteer-Jonathan Thomas, and Nate Killops. It's a tie guys I love you both. Jonathan and Nate are the type of guys who work well independantly, as well as have the leadership skills to lead a project.
MV-Local Volunteer- Dan, thank you for driving into the shop and lending a hand, the new leather on the shroud eyes looks great, the patch service under them looks great too, and a zillion other things are in their rights beacause you came. Thank you.
MV-Cook- Natalie. Natalie kept food in the crew and smiles on our faces... I think it was her cooking that kept the Volunteers coming back for more.
MV-Engineer- MacGregor- He knows what you did. Most of it is beyond me.
MV-Lady Crew Member that was here- Bob. You helped keep me sane Bob. You don't know how to weld or are able to whip up a mean leather chafe pad quick like Nick and Yana, but you kept me Sane thank you.

Thank you all for your hard work, those of you I didn't mention thank you too, you were probably just so good at what you were doing that I didn't notice that it ever needed fixing.

Monday I will decend on the Lady like a plague of locust bringing benovlence, compassion, neat deckedness, and better furls.

John Morrison

Erin & Bhodi Live!

Mark Olson, the Lady Washington's official webmaster, donates unfathomable amounts of time and money into supporting the brig Lady Washington and all things affiliated with her. He's professionally trained in wooden boat design and has served in many crew positions, including first mate, aboard the brig.

Mark just posted an update regarding our departed crew, Erin Doak and Bhodi Sherridan.

Thanks to Yuri's instruction, I have learned how to post links on this blog! Yuri is alumni brig crew as well, currently working as a shipwright in the British Virgin Islands. So now there are links to our affiliates and to the websites put up just for Tall Ships 05.

Update from John Boy

Bill of Right will be finally give up her title: "Best looking barge in Grays Harbor" The Masts(new fore, old main) will be going in Saturday Morning around 10am at the Sierra Pacific pier on the Chehalis river in Junction City. Capt. Christopher Trandell will be arriving tonight and stepping back to the wheel for the big day. The Bill of Rights Crew meet with Capt. Victor this week who is hoping to by the Bill. His plans include community service programs, as well as courses for college credit on board during the school year. If Capt. Victor decides to buy Bill then he will be taking her to Puerto Rico, so watch the ASTA billet for that trip.

Welcome Back Nate!

Our beloved crewmember from the Lady, Nate Killops, as well as alumni Lady crew Phineas (AKA Michael) Macgregor and of course John Morrisson are here, eating some of Natalie's great food, along with Shawn (not pictured). It's so great to see Nate back after his long european trip!

photo courtesy of maintenance volunteer Jonathan Thomas. Thanks Jonathan!

Bill of Rights Needs YOU!

John Boy reports...
The work on the bill is going well, we havn't run into any major road blocks yet, and are hoping to put the sticks back in her early.Scotty Kimmet is arriving tomorrow and will be out shipwright on the project for the next week or two. He'll be chasing rot, rebuilding our skylights on the cabin top, and faciting out new foremast. He will aslo lead the shop crew in building the new tressel trees, hounds, and the like.We're into the big push for the next week preping for the sticks to go back in, so if any one has some extra time and would like to come down and help call me at (360) 589-2299.

John Boy

Elissa

Here I am, tarring the main course brace pennant on Elissa in Galveston. The t'gallant and top pennants were easier than the main! I attempted to haul the block inboard with a gasket around the shroud, then I tried to lift the stiff served pennant over the yard, so I wouldn't have to hold it while tarring it. I would have done better if I'd tended myself in a bosun's chair!

The Way North

Here's our great volunteers Roy & Deborah, cranking on the winch to haul our anchor out of Drake's Bay, CA

Here's Bosun Shawn mending the staysl while underway.

Here's Shawn again. What do you suppose he's rigging to the main boom while underway? (Hint: mainsl blew, and we have extra headsls! Oh Jeez!)

GHHSA Operations Manager Mark Toy in all his 18th century glory!

The well-loved Cottrell Brothers performing a not-so-sad Burial at Sea

The Boy is in charge!

John Boy said...
Bill the Barge!Bill's sticks are out, down, and a new one coming off the lathe today. Les is going to try and sell her old foremast to the mouse and make some money on her. We're all doing well here... Although JP is leaving us tomorrow morning and will be sorely missed. Tomorrow is a big day for the Bill. We are getting 22 men, 2 teams, from Washinton Department of Corrections-- Yay Orange Jump suit day. So today has been mostly prep work for tomorrow. We'll be having them Scrape, Sand, Wire brush, haul, lift, paint, oil, shovel, and whatever else we can think of. Cheers to all my old crew.
Love ya Kim
John Boy

In case you are not wont to open "comments", I have copied and pasted this informative comment from The Boy, as he's running the show down in A-Town! Hopefully we'll get some updates from Natali, Shawn, Mark Toy and whoever else is helping fix up our girl Bill.

I just finished 3 days of volunteering aboard the 1877 barque Elissa down in Galveston, Texas! Read more about that here. Their new rigger, Dave Mowr, wanted me to pass along a greeting to Bill captain Christopher Trandell, as they used to crew together aboard AJ Meerwald. Dave is the most experienced tall ship sailor they have at Elissa. He recently crewed aboard Denis Sullivan with Karen "Jellyfish" Clapp, as well! Sounds like they had fun.

Bill of Rights Mainsl (R.I.P.)

More to come

Our girl Bill is getting a makeover. I (Kim) will be writing lots of entries about our transit north once I get steady access to a computer, which will be soon. Great pics, too! Check back in a few days.

Are we there yet?

Nope.

But Bonine sure works great.

And the bos'n is busy, if you know what I mean. This isn't one of those transits where everyone gets to sleep a lot. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

The weather's been beautiful. The ocean is gorgeous, as always, without fail. Lots of jellies.

We saw a giant orange bird in the sky this morning. It was really loud and made off with one of our crew! Yikes! We got her back later, unharmed, though.

Shawn's been dunked repeatedly, keeping those heads'l furls intact. Joanie plays mandolin and sings Irish drinking songs. The salt sea still loves us even though she puts us through our paces!

2 days to Coos Bay. (We hope!)

Look Who's Got A New Blog...

The Lady, in her constant attempts to keep up with our lovely Schooner, has started her own blog:

http://brigtime.blogspot.com

I heart the info superhighway!

Girlz with Gunz - that's hot

Laura visited this weekend! Thanks for the hard work Laura!

Touchhole flame

Nice gunz! Maybe this one should be on the Women of Tall Ships calendar?

Quite the heel!

Elaine & Kim. Elaine will be missed! Come back soon, Elaine!

Hot Sausalito

Guess what Erin's doing.... c'mon, she does it ALL THE TIME!

That Crazy Haida lookingdown into A Compartment on Bill

The Ships' cooks found rapiers in the back of Todd's car. They avasted the provisioning temporarily



One of our newest volunteers, Bill!

Here's most of the crew - discussing proper reefing procedures of a big gaff sail over chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and OJ

Soon to be Bosuns Mate, Shawn, plus Jes, in the galley

Finally dockside in Sausalito. A lift broke on the way here, so the short transit was a bit hectic. Here's Bosun Rich Sloat, 2nd Mate Bhodi Sherridan, and 1st Mate Jim Pearsson discussing the rest of the day's projects: bedding the new kevel that blew apart on the way to SF Bay from Morro Bay, rigging a new lift for the mainsl, scraping, sanding, priming and painting, caulking hatches and prisms.... and the list goes on.

Cook's tat

a belated St. Patricks!

I'm late with all the cute St. Patty's photos! Here's our beloved volunteer crew Natalie. Today (Easter) is her last day aboard and she will be missed. Natalie has been the biggest help EVER when it comes to helping the Education Coordinator! She loves to tell stories, sing songs and entertain in general. Plus she's a genuinely peppy and happy person. She never complains, and is always eager to help. The other day we had a group of kids on board for more than TWICE the regular sail time, and Natalie jumped in to fill up the time with her songs and stories. Natalie loves to make baggywrinkle. Most of the new baggywrinkle on Bill of Rights is her handiwork. She will be missed and we're trying to get her to leave her land life and join us long term...

A surprise shot of brig crew - Rachel, Shiny, Stacy and Elaine

Oh, and then there's Kim and Erin, who along with volunteers, have exhausted time and sanity trying to keep these sails together!!!!

Greetings from the middle of the South Bay

Looks like we're gonna be here for awhile... enjoy the view, and let's have dinner....