The Captain's Logs are below.

Read the Crew's Views.

Back to Captain Logs 2001

We are delayed getting underway for New York City. On Wednesday we got into a re-pitching project that needs to be finished before we can leave Philadelphia. We're re-pitching a portion of the deck over the galley due to some irritating leaks.

While "bumping down" the oakum caulking to harden it up between the planks, the fiber material slid down through the deck seams between the king (main) planks. This happened because some of the planks have shrunk over the last 13 years since Pride II was built. Now there is a sizable gap between the centerpiece planks of the deck (known as king planks). Thus the caulking material won't jam into place as it should, but slides right through.

Fortunately, the Independence Seaport Museum, located at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia where we are docked, is equipped with a good woodworking shop. I was able to negotiate some wood from their woodpile to fashion into wedge strips. These are glued to one of the planks adjacent to the overlarge seams. This fills the gap so the caulking will wedge into the seam snugly. As usual, the time estimated for the work was too short. As I write, we are waiting till the job is done before getting underway. Meanwhile we are losing the favorable ebb current to push us out of the Delaware River.

But the crew is working faithfully and tirelessly to get the job done as quickly as possible. I can see that we are will be ready for departure before long.

Pride II has been to a lot of places but the most supportive one are those with marine institutions nearby that offer their services and/or equipment as needed. Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia is such an institution. It prides itself on its hospitality and its support for things maritime and traditional. It helps that Pride II is well thought of in these parts.

It also helps that a number of the staff at the museum are contemporaries of mine who have been in the business of sailing and/or caring for traditional vessels as long as I have. Paul DeOrsay, Vice President for Operations, and John Brady, the shop boss, both have a great appreciation for the never-ending needs of an active traditional vessel – especially one as busy as Pride II. Especially one with such beauty, power, and grace that she shares with so many all over the globe. Our friends at Independence Seaport Museum were honored to help. What we actually needed was, in fact, is of very little monetary value - about the equivalent of a two by four cut into two or three special shapes. They gave us the wood and Cal Ocampo, Pride II 's engineer and accomplished carpenter, did the cutting using the museum's tools. Although the value of the materials supplied was minimal, access to the tools in the boatshop and the support of museum staff was invaluable. Thanks to all our friends at the Independence Seaport Museum!

Our stay in Philadelphia was otherwise uneventful but fruitful. Tuesday we hosted a daysail with the Maryland Port Administration. Tuesday evening we hosted a dockside reception with the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. Wednesday and Thursday the ship was open to the public and the weather was good for getting a lot of maintenance accomplished. Also, the crew got some time off. Having the deck caulking going on at the same time that the public was aboard gave the ship a "living" look, which is a bit different from our usual "ship shape" image that we normally present during Open Houses.

Cheers,

Captain Jan C. Miles