Left Behind

Today Bill hauled out for her Marine Surveyor inspection. All crew are required to disembark as the travelift takes her out of the water, but I had a feeling someone was missing.

No, not Bryce. I knew he was in the water, shivering madly.

The rest of the crew was on the dock, standing by... but where... was....



SPIDEY! Man that kid gets around.



I wonder what Spidey's owner, Jim Gladson of LAMI, thought of Spidey's shenanigans. There's Jim below in the foreground.



And here is one  of the surveyors. JB and Shawn are asking him questions about what he's marking. Much of the very bottom of the keel is rotten. The rest looks great! I'm thinking that many of the crew will be employed by Puerto Ricans in 2 months.

Sated

Looking foreward from the main crosstrees

Looking aft at the main gaff.

Spidey hangin' with Martha



Chef Guillermo prepares tomorrow's dinner...

But above is what he cooked tonight (swordfish, roasted red pep salad and red potatoes cooked in wine and garlic!). See the crew's sated look after eating...

Spidey Hidey Hole

Above is Lady Crew "Shiny". Below are Lynx crew Kirsten and Matty

Here's Sean "Griff" hanging from a bosun's chair on the main, varnishing.





Captains JB and Michael Kellick commanding a fine vessel with morale officer Heather

Carpe Riggum!

For the last few weeks climbing our shrouds has been like a circus act gone wrong - where you're sure the guy is about to fall. We tuned the rig, took her out sailing on the Gray's Harbor bar, and after that one sail we were still spinning around wildly while climbing topmast shrouds. In the twilight hours of our last day in Westport we descended on the lanyards like a plague of flat-seizers - Carpe Riggum! That's well, belay. And we were off...

Although we were almost delayed by a TSUNAMI. The question was, go way out to sea or head for higher ground? We wanted to go out to sea and save the boat! But it wasn't necessary. The town decided not to evacuate and there were many cheers for the bars still being open. As our new crew Raff Mendez said: "You bet there's gonna be a tsunami... a tsunami of BEER inside my mouth!" 

We love our new Puerto Rican crewmembers!

THANK YOU to the Islander Hotel in Westport for wi-fi in their lobby, 15 donated hotel rooms, breakfast for all the crews! You guys are AWESOME!

Below are Lady & Lynx during their first Westport battle sail.

Yay for Mini Brigs!

New crewmember "ROBO" with Engineer Macgregor, hooking up the intercom.

OK so Natalie thought she could handle the throat halyard, with new slippery line, with Adventuress's sails bent on and creating quite a bit of tension on our rig (they don't totally fit - the peak is way high, both the main and fore are reefed, and we're pulling up the boom jaws a lot higher than usual). The line didn't exactly get out of her hands, it took her hand with it. Natalie has rope burn like you've never seen before! She's cooking one-handed. I said "Natalie! They replaced your hand with a roast!" What they should have done was replace her fingers with spatulas and whisks.

Here's Nick tending to Natalie's raw paw.

AH... the morning of the movie shoot I woke up and said "I can't work in these conditions! Where's my assistant?? I need to be dressed! Get me my Shiny!" But the movie crew didn't bring us assistants. They brought us breakfast, lunch and dinner at the top of the dock for 2 days though!

Here's Lady/Lynx cook Jesika Starr and Assistant Shopkeeper Carley Tallman before hitting wardrobe.

A beautiful Westport sunset.

The movie crew also brought lots of fake cargo to make Bill look like a merchant vessel.

And plenty of camera gear of course.

Last day in Westport: transferring an old sail up the dock. The guys are checking out a big purple starfish.

Our mate, Capt. Michael Kellick, waves goodbye to Lynx.

Baby Guns, I mean Big Guns, since he's Bosun now, poses for the camera. Bosun Shawn Jonutz shows off his new bicep implants.

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.