The Captain's Log is below.

Read the Crew's Views from John, KC, and Caroline as they reflect on their experiences in Asia.

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DATE:	February 19, 1999
POSITION:	Secure at Baltimore, Maryland
ENTERED BY:	Captain Daniel Parrott

But by Christmas Eve, the vessel was emptied of every seagoing accouterment. Her masts, sails, and rigging were removed, and a winter cover had been constructed over her deck. After the last supper was eaten, the diesel stove was shut down, and coldness and darkness filled the place that had recently held such a remarkable community of shipmates. In the usual way of a ship, the crew was paid off and headed in every direction, home.

Repair Projects

At this writing, the deck of PRIDE II is strewn with a host of projects in various stages of completion. On deck, skylights and hatches are dismantled. Below decks is potholed from the removal of the sole boards so that the bilges can ventilate. The galley is an abandoned ruin of bare cupboards and empty shelves.

The engine room is possessed by a special state of disarray all its own, with tools and parts arranged on every horizontal surface with a randomness that approaches art. Elsewhere about the ship, wood shavings are flying and new varnish is gleaming.

In a separate location, all of the spars have been refinished. Nearby, 135 blocks dangle on little strings like a scene from the aftermath of a failed rebellion, the large and the small, side by each, awaiting the touch of the varnisher's brush.

A major rig overhaul is over halfway complete, and a wide assortment of ship's hardware has been sent out to our friends at Baltimore Galvanizing for re-galvanizing.

It is fortunate for the ship that so many of the crew were eager to return for the winter maintenance period. This has given us the manpower and the skill to tackle a wide scope of long-term projects. We have been able to do this to a standard of quality that will pay huge dividends in the future when the ship is put to the test, as she undoubtedly will be and already has been for a decade. PRIDE II has delivered everything that has been asked of her. These projects represent a long-term investment to maintain that capability. Now, if we can just get it all to go back together...

Capt. Miles and I have been overseeing the diverse endeavors of the winter maintenance crew. We generally meet at the workshop or at the ship in the mornings and make the rounds, asking questions, answering questions, limiting or expanding the scope of a given project. Sometimes a particular problem prompts a round of product research or consultations with our friends at the CONSTELLATION restoration project. There is always something, and it is always different. Bear with me for some details.

The Rig Renewal

In December, both masts and the bowsprit were removed with a crane, courtesy of Martin Imbac Marine Construction, and laid on the pier at Egan Marine on Key Highway. In January, all the rigging was re-located to a warehouse near the Inner Harbor that was made available by HarborView Properties Development Inc.

This kind of civic support is invaluable to facilitating PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II's objective of promoting economic growth for Baltimore and Maryland.

The former Chief Mate, Wes Heerssen, headed up the rig crew. He was joined by Jennifer Huggins, Pamela Coughlin, John Hope, and Micah Faust. Only Micah had not been part of the Asia with Pride crew. However, his recent experience working with Wes, Jen, and Pamela on the BALCLUTHA project made him the perfect choice for the rig team.

The team started by cutting off the old wire seizings that hold the deadeyes in place. The seizings showed signs of rust deep inside where it is hard for paint to penetrate.

As more of the wire standing rigging was exposed, it became evident that the earlier service had largely done its job well. In most places, the wire was bright and shinny, and the galvanizing intact. In the vicinity of the old wire seizings, some surface rust was found. In general, the foremast shrouds showed more rust than the main shrouds, mostly down low. This is explained by the fact that the fore shrouds see a good deal more salt water spray, particularly down low, and they receive a good bit of chafe from the rest of the rig. Chafe wears away the service, which allows salt water to penetrate down to the wire. Though service can be mended, it is never as impermeable as before it was breached.

Once exposed, the process of cleaning and re-protecting the wire begins. The basic premise behind the traditional method of parceling and serving is to create a barrier between the wire and the atmosphere. If you are successful in keeping the atmosphere out, then odds are you are keeping the salt out too. To this end, the bare wire was brushed where needed and treated with a rust-converting product called Ospho. Next, a lubricant called Pre-Lube 19 was applied. The linseed-based lubricant penetrates between the wire strands into the core of the wire and helps prevent oxidization. This was followed by subsequent layers of pine tar, new parceling, more tar, new serving, tar again, and then some tar followed by tar. After that, everything got a coat of tar. One may correctly surmise that we hold tar in high regard as a means of sealing the standing rig. It is also effective in preserving the other components that form the protective barrier, such as the marlin and the parceling. The rig crew is also well protected from decay at this point, not to mention tarred with the same brush. It is from the prolific use of tar that we get the sobriquet, "Jack Tar," the sailor's equivalent of G.I. Joe.

In preparation for serving, the wire is laid out horizontally and tensioned at a point a bit lower than chest level. Parceling is applied by hand and hitched in place with twine.

On account of the fore shrouds showing a bit more rust, the decision was made to "worm" them. This amounts to laying a length of marlin into the gap between each strand. On larger wire, worming protects the wire by filling the voids formed by the gaps, and makes the serving go on more smoothly by eliminating the lumpiness formed by the strands and their gaps. In our case, worming was purely for protective purposes.

The service is laid on with a special tool called a serving mallet. The mallet holds a spool of marlin and is swung around and around the wire in the vertical plane, working slowly from one end toward the other. Using the serving mallet, the wire is enveloped completely in marlin, like a mummy in mummy-wrap, with a uniform tension and no gaps whatsoever. Despite the antiquity of the tools, methods, and materials, the process goes quite quickly and remains the most efficient way to accomplish the task. It has scarcely been improved upon since the days of the original Baltimore Clippers, almost two hundred years ago.

When several shrouds had been completely served over, the rig team rolled into the seizing stage. Seizing is a process of meticulously binding the shroud back onto itself with a lighter gauge wire, using as much tension as the seizing wire will bear without breaking. The end of the shroud is "turned back" and held securely in place without damaging the new service by means of a rigging vice, and fitted around a groove in the deadeye. The seizing wire itself is about 1/8 inch diameter and is comprised of seven smaller strands. Each shroud requires four seizings, which are then painted with yellow zinc chromate. Working in pairs, each seizing takes about an hour. We have two vices so two teams can work simultaneously. However, if a flaw develops while the seizing is being "turned in," or the wire inadvertently parts before it is finished, then the entire seizing must be cut off and started again. Our rig team has had to abort its fair share of seizings, but the emphasis has been on quality workmanship that will hold up over time.

[MicahWrap] The discoveries of the rig renewal project have been for the most part encouraging. Given the overall good condition of the original wire, we are not faced with the surprise expense of purchasing new wire. We replaced the flying jib stay, courtesy of Indusco, here in Baltimore, but that was foreseen. We also spliced up new bowsprit whiskers. At a time when many traditional sailing ships are using high tech rigging materials and techniques, such as stainless steel wire and poured sockets, it was comforting to see how effective the traditional approach has been for PRIDE II. The ship has sailed an estimated 175,000 nautical miles on her original standing rigging, and most of that was blue water. Few vessels can match that level of activity. It appears that, with proper maintenance, many miles lie ahead before a comprehensive replacement of the standing rigging will be needed.

There has been a lot of talk in this installment about wire. When one thinks of a tall ship slicing her path gracefully across a brilliant blue ocean, galvanized wire slathered in tar is not the image that comes to mind. Yet that is precisely what forms the sinews that prevent those billowing sails from collapsing in a heap like a pup tent at the close of Memorial Day weekend. Our intent this winter has been to act early and leave nothing to chance.

At this stage, all of the lower mast rigging has been completed and the top hampers are undergoing the same treatment. We hope to step the masts come the first of March. All of the projects we have undertaken this winter, including the rig renewal, have been sped along by a small but loyal handful of volunteers. Scott Sheads, a Ranger at Fort McHenry, has joined us one day a week, as he has since the dawn of time. Harold MacIver, who was part of the team that built PRIDE II, was lured out of retirement to pitch in with us once a week. Stan Fowler, who sailed with us from Puerto Vallarta to Baltimore last year, has been helping out weekly, and PRIDE friends Charlie Blauvelt and Mary Rush took home a load of sole boards from the aft cabin to strip, sand, and refinish. Many other individuals and companies have supported this undertaking as well, which should result in a quality job and many more years of service from PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II.

Watch Below,
Captain Dan Parrott