It was a clear and sunny day. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was teaming with visiting schooners and vessels from all along the East Coast. The waterfront promenade was jammed with over 100,000 onlookers- the faithful from the 10 remarkable years of the first Pride, as well many new well wishers for Pride of Baltimore II.

The new hull was pristine in her form and colors as she sat on blocks next to the massive floating red barge crane, “Big Red,” moored next to the seawall promenade.  The enormous lifting arm was centered over Pride, and tilted alarmingly as it raised her over the water. Everything went smoothly and Pride was held just above the water with her bow near the edge of the promenade so she could be christened by The Honorable Helen Delich Bentley. Seven glorious swings it took to break the champagne bottle. Was this an omen?

Pride was lowered into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to lie along the promenade near the Maryland Science Center in the southwest corner of the harbor. She lay beautifully without masts or spars. Her interior was empty of furnishings, and she did not have her engines. All would be put in and made right over the next few months until her commissioning on October 23rd.

In celebration of her launching, Captain Lane Briggs of the tugantine Norfolk Rebel made a formal challenge of a race between his ship and Pride from Baltimore to Norfolk… for a case of beer. That challenge later became the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, bringing together the biggest schooner fleet in the world. Since that first race, Pride of Baltimore II has become the most world renowned American sailing vessel sailing in the 21st Century.

Today Pride is in Annapolis sailing 8th graders on The Chesapeake Bay, educating them about the remarkable Baltimore Schooners of the 1812 War, the defense of Baltimore by Fort McHenry and the militia in Paterson Park, and the creation of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

So much good has come to our city, Maryland and The Chesapeake Bay as result of the inspiring voyages of the Prides.  In the past 25 years Pride II has spanned eastward as far as Russia, westward as far as China, and to most places in between. She is admired by the world, and brings much honor to her home and country.

Today Pride of Baltimore II is as strong and sound as she was when she first started sailing. She is likely to remain strong and world voyage worthy for at least another 25 years. Actually, we fully expect her to remain strong and voyage worthy for two times her very productive and rewarding first 25 years!

Jan C. Miles

A Captain with Pride of Baltimore, Inc.

A vessel pulled out of the water can be described as being “on the hard.”

Life for all who live aboard a vessel that has been pulled out of the water and set upon the hard is dramatically affected.

For most instances of being on the hard, continuing to live aboard is not acceptable to the shipyard. This is the case for PRIDE’s crew. Fortunately the Hotel Dinwittie of downtown Portsmouth is less than a mile walk away. Every day, including weekends, PRIDE’s crew trudge or bicycle to and from the ship. Days start at 0700 and end at 1800. All meals are aboard, so breakfast is around 0830 or 0900. Lunch is around 1230. Supper is at 1700. A quick cleanup and then climb down off of the ship and walk out of the shipyard by 1800.

An 0700 start means it is dark on the way to the ship. Work commences right away as the sun rises above the horizon, with breaks from work when meals are called. The cook starts creating breakfast as the crew starts work.

The crew look forward to hotel life…at first. But not long later we all look forward to PRIDE being back in the water, when we all can again live within reach of our personal things. It gets tiresome at the end of the day figuring out if we will continue the evening in the same cloths we worked in. Or in the morning, continue to work in the cloths we came to the ship wearing. It is also a small inconvenience living at night so far away from PRIDE’s snack locker. However, the hotel is right in downtown Portsmouth, so there are conveniences within a few blocks.

Dry-dock work this year has been more extensive than recent years. In past years we were playing catch-up with re-hardening the caulking due to a drying out process the “green” underwater planks were doing while upon the hard. It seems we have succeeded in the catch-up caulking effort, as there was little wide ranging caulking needed this year. However, there was localized caulking seam carpentry repair required close to but above the waterline under PRIDE’s counter (stern quarter). This carpentry repair has created some lengthening of the overall time out of the water.

While the extended dry-docking is undesirable, it has provided time for the crew to attend to some cosmetics that seem much harder to do when the ship is in the water. It seems possible to all of us PRIDE might actually look like she has just come out of the ship yard this year. More often PRIDE looks little changed except to the discerning eye. Meanwhile the crew are left with simultaneously learning to sail and execute the mission as well attend to cosmetics.

Of course weather has a hand in most things associated with dry-docking. Lots of rain means no painting. Deep cold can cause problems. The spring weather for 2013 in the Mid Atlantic has been quite frosty. We have seen snow flurries punctuating the rain and have read about actual inches of accumulation just outside of the Hampton Roads area. Even without the caulking seam carpentry repair creating a delay to re-launch, the rain we experienced surely has caused delay. As it stands now, we are looking hopefully to launch this coming Monday.

Signed,

Jan C. Miles

A Captain with Pride of Baltimore, Inc.

From Captain Jan Miles in response to being honored by Tall Ships America with the Lifetime Achievement Award:

Many thought streams have been running through my head since the award. They get jumbled up in their rush to be viewed more closely- each quickly shoved aside by another and another.  My sincerest appreciation goes to all those responsible for nominating me.

At this year’s conference, Executive Director, Bert Rogers reflected on the beginning of Tall Ships America 40 years ago. I was reminded of sitting in on the very first conference in Newport, when it was decided to form the American Sail Training Association.  I was mate aboard BRILLIANT at the time.

Surrounded by those Captains and management types I felt out of place, although I was honored to be included and hear their long range thinking and philosophical perspectives on the value of such an association. Back then the working class sail vessel fleet was small but showing signs of growth. BILL OF RIGHTS and HARVEY GAMAGE were recent new-builds, some five or more years after Sloop CLEARWATER.

Today the fleet, now termed “Tall Ship,” has not only grown and spread throughout the country, but has done so with a focus on “training” rather than mere recreation. While this training focus is of the programmatic “education curricula” formula, the vessels I have sailed seem to have been advocates of the “experience” of sailing, with the “educating” coming from the requirements of the vessel to accomplish safely its voyage.

This sometimes occurs with youth trainees aboard, mostly with adults looking for “what it feels like”, but always with a majority of 20-something, professional crew seeking to learn by doing- experiencing more over greater distances.  It seems there has been a “train the professional sailor or sail-trainer” program at play for most of my sailing, or it may be better to say “develop the professional sailor”.

It is truly a deep personal honor to have contributed to our profession in a manner seen as a valued contribution!  I am truly blessed by my career and deeply humbled, yet extremely appreciative, of the honor of this recognition by my peers, shipmates and colleagues for what they see as my contribution to the whole of our community.

Many, many thanks to all of you!

Most sincerely,

Jan

PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II and the National Sailing Hall of Fame is pleased to present a series of on water lectures this Spring! 

On Water Lecture Series

A series of talks on the Pride of Baltimore II
NSHOF Education Program

Boarding at 5:15 p.m. | Departing the Dock at 5:30 p.m. | $50 per person per lecture | Light Refreshments

War of 1812 and the Privateer
Jan Miles
April 23

Captain Jan Miles joined Pride, Inc. in 1981 and was one of three rotating Captains on the original Pride of Baltimore. With 35 years of experience as a professional sailor, his voyages include five Atlantic Ocean crossings, as well as three Pacific voyages.

$50.00

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Spirit of Sailing
Gary Jobson
April 30

Gary Jobson is a former All-American collegiate sailor. He won the America’s Cup in 1977 as tactician for Ted Turner. As a broadcaster / producer (he is ESPN Sailing Analyst), lecturer and writer (he is editor at large for Sailing World and Cruising World magazines), he is the pre-eminent ambassador for sailing in the U.S. and is President of U.S. Sailing.

$50.00

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Early American Music of the Sea
David Hildebrand
May 7

David Hildebrand has been an adjunct instructor at Peabody Institute since 1994. Dr. David Hildebrand is a specialist in Early American Music. He has been performing professionally since 1980, mostly in duet with his wife Ginger.

$50.00

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War of 1812 on the Chesapeake
Scott Sheads
May 14

Scott Sheads is a park ranger, historian and historic weapons officer at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. He is author of Guardian of the Star-Spangled Banner: Lt. Colonel George Armistead and the Fort McHenry Flag and co-author of The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake.

$50.00

Show Details & Purchase

What:                  Annapolis Maritime Museum 2013 Winter Lecture Series:

Captain Jan C. Miles, Reliving Bicentennial History in the Pride of Baltimore Schooners

When:                 Thursday, January 24, 2013

Time:                   7:00PM – 8:30PM

Admission:      Museum members $12.50; Non-members $17.50

Where:               Annapolis Maritime Museum

723 Second Street

Annapolis, MD  21403

More info:        www.amaritime.org

The Annapolis Maritime Museum will present the second lecture in a series of ten presentations for their AMM Winter Lecture Series on Thursday, January 24, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM. Captain Jan Miles’s talk “Reliving Bicentennial History in the Pride of Baltimore Schooners” will be accompanied by a privateer history wall display and video showing PRIDE II under sail.

Captain Miles will highlight his experiences over the years sailing both Pride of Baltimore schooners as part of an international community of tall ships. He will describe the role that Pride II continues to have in raising awareness of the role of Baltimore Clippers as privateers in the war of 1812, leading the British to attack Baltimore and Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.

Since 1981, Jan C. Miles has served as a captain of the reproduction Baltimore Clippers Pride of Baltimore and Pride of Baltimore II for the not-for-profit company Pride of Baltimore, Inc.  Captain Miles has sailed these topsail schooners as far east as St. Petersburg, Russia and as far west as Canton, China, demonstrating that skilled seamanship can achieve the superior sailing performance required for Baltimore Clipper success as privateers in the War of 1812.

During the War of 1812, America’s Second War of Independence, President James Madison attempted to overcome the small size of the US Navy by issuing Letters of Marquee and Reprisal to private ship owners. This document allowed its holder to arm his vessel and act as a privateer, or, in essence, a legal pirate, representing the United States. Privateers were permitted to prey upon the merchant fleet of the belligerent nation, Great Britain, and take captured cargo and vessels as prizes. American privateers, many of them sailing out of Fells Point in Baltimore Clippers built throughout the Chesapeake region, captured or sank some 1,700 British merchant vessels during the two and a half year war. Other Baltimore Clippers served as cargo vessels to bring needed munitions and other armaments through the naval blockade that the British imposed on the US coastline, including Chesapeake Bay.

For more information about the Museum: www.amaritime.org

One of the most rewarding aspects of being part of the PRIDE organization are the amazing individuals that make up and have contributed to our past.  Like all great stories, we have a rich history involving celebration, journey, heartache, and growth, and the shelving and walls of Pride, Inc. are proudly covered in some of our fondest memories.  To show our appreciation for all those that have contributed to our collection, we thought it would be fun to share some of these priceless pieces of history with our friends and supporters.

In October of 2007 Pride, Inc. was contacted by Ms. Anita Scheiwe, and generously gifted a plank on frame model of PRIDE, lovingly crafted by her father, Mr. Jerome (Jerry) Batzer. Jerry constructed the model from pieces of timber used in the actual building of PRIDE OF BALTIMORE.

An overview of the project, as described by Jerry Batzer’s daughter, Anita Scheiwe:

“In 1977, the City of Baltimore announced plans to construct a replica of the Baltimore Clipper ships that once sailed the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. The ship was to be named “PRIDE OF BALTIMORE” and was to become a roving ambassador for Baltimore and Maryland. It was to be built at a location alongside the inner harbor of Baltimore.

Having read of these plans to build the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE, Jerry Batzer, a retired Savings and Loan Vice-President, sent a letter to Captain Melbourne Smith asking for any position that would allow him to be part of this exciting event. He came out of retirement in 1977 to take the position of Yard Master during the building of the ship. Although he was hired as the gatekeeper and office administrator, he quickly demonstrated his woodworking skills and could participate in any area of the construction where an extra hand was needed. Though not a member of the original crew, he was an invited guest aboard PRIDE for its maiden voyage to Philadelphia.

As the construction phase of the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE was drawing to a close, Jerry decided to build a model of the ship. Taking small pieces of wood from the scrap lumber pile to his home woodworking shop, he lovingly cut each piece of wood used in the building of the model. Since he had access to the architectural drawings from the beginning, he was able to copy the measurements and placement of each section of the ship. In 1988, he completed the model as we see it today.”

Thank you to everyone that made the trip to S. Clinton Street on Saturday to support Toys for Tots! Your generosity is sincerely appreciated.

Pride of Baltimore, Inc. crew members are responsible for safely operating and preserving our beautiful ship, learning and teaching traditional practices of seamanship, educating our youth on the living history of the Chesapeake Bay, and helping to inspire thousands of people each year.

Crew Alumni of our ship are members of a small, nationally spread, close-knit group of sailors that share a love of the sea, respect for the tall ship profession, and great PRIDE in our 1812-era Privateer.  They are PRIDE family, many whom over time have gone their own ways, and lost touch.

Over the last few years Pride, Inc. have seen an increase in inquiries from PRIDE alumni crew members, looking to get involved and reconnect with past shipmates.

In response, and thanks to the beauty of social media, we’ve created a members-only, Pride of Baltimore, Inc. Crew Alumni Group on Facebook.  There we hope past and present crew members will connect, share memories, network, stay informed, receive “PRIDE Perks” and show their continued support for Pride of Baltimore II.  In time, members will also be recognized on a future “Alumni” section of our www.pride2.org webpage.

If you are interested in joining the Pride of Baltimore, Inc. Crew Alumni Group, please send an email entitled: “PRIDE Alumni” to Kate Welsh, Public Relations and Marketing Manager at kate@pride2.org, and include the following information:

Full Name

Years employed by Pride of Baltimore, Inc.

Positions Held (Deckhand, Bosun, Cook, Engineer, etc.)

Mailing Address

Email Address

Phone Number

Please help us reconnect with our family! We appreciate your support and efforts in identifying and reaching out to past crew members.  Together we can do this!