Will Work for Sailing... Eventually

Photo by Erin Doak

Hello! We've been wanting to get this post up for a while but have been waiting until we had a good photo collection of what we have been doing. There is definately a certain amount of Pride (sorry for the bad pun) in the work the crew has been focusing on the last six weeks. Projects are extensive, such as recaulking the deck, repairing and refinishing blocks, patching up serving on standing rigging, painting topsides (often involving removing the many layers of underpaint), stripping and varnishing the rails, and giving the rig loads of love and care against new chafe. And that's just the tip of the iceburg, as projects change as the weather permits. To accomdate all of the work, we've set up rig shop on the grounds of a local boat builders society, who were kind enough to lend us some room among old concrete war bunkers. We've gotten to know a few of the members as much as the language barrier allows - great guys all around. Since our arrival, two of our crew have left us as their contracts came to term. First Mate Miles and Bo'sun Maria have filled the shoes of departing Andy and Kelly (till next time friends!). Life on the boat goes on, as always. The days are getting shorter and we are getting to work right around dawn. The weather is getting wetter and colder. Sometimes there seems to be nothing to do in St. Nazaire... But hey, I'm in France, surrounded by awesome shipmates, and learning a ton putting the Pride of Baltimore back together. Can't ask for much more. Oh, yeah, and Bhodi and I just went to Paris last weekend (photos to come). Woo hoo, y'all! Take care! ~~Erin (P.S. To explain the title photo, in Saint Nazaire we walk past the School of Wall Street English every time we head into town. And on the posters in the window are pictures of people jumping estatic into the air proclaiming that they know Wall Street English. So, we felt inspired one day while measuring the sails. I don't know if they'll go for it.)

Our rack, or some of it. As the fore channels were disassembled for repairs, we moved out and Josh, Dave, or Alan moved in. Made us clean up our stuff, at least.




"That's so unnatural..." Second mate Jamie saws away at the tip of the broken jibboom, in order to carry it to the rig shop and use it to shape soft eyes for the stays.



We looked up form work one day to see a tall ship sail into St. Naz. It was the Stavos... actually, I don't remember the name. The professional crew were nice but there is a reason we chose this shot to show you the vessel. They stayed a few days for repairs.



Josh protects his varnish.














Sophie, Bhodi, and Alan work together to ease the deadeye collar nut. (Not as easy as it sounds)
Photo by Erin Doak



The art of caulking.
Josh and Sophie reef the seams and new oakum is set...








Dave works the pitch to just the right temperature...
Photo by Andy McKee


Bhodi pours the pitch into the seams to seal the deck so we can sleep dry at night. (The players change occassionally)

Photo by Erin Doak








Speaking of changing players, here is a shot of our new Bosun, Maria.










The rig shop, aka the green room. Stay serving and chafe gear.










The rig shop, part 2, block repair and refinishing.








Pro wrestler Josh after he tackled the port topside with the large sanding grinder.








Its a dirty job. Erin tries unsuccessfully to blend into the hull.









Bhodi, Alan, and Dave working on the topside and channel.









First mate Miles.















Dave under the port channel, his home for two weeks of work.








And as we work, the engineer conducts his mysterious business... Here's Rubin workin on the trash pump.

Photo by Dave Castle