And a bad day - had something fall from aloft - yikes!
Bad news first.
Three of us were on the fighting top tensioning (huh, computer says that's not a word but you know what I mean...) the Bentinck shrouds with come-alongs...
a come-along...
Here is how the concept works. You can see the come-along at the top in the middle. Each end is secured to the two ends of the rope reaved through the round wooden things (hearts/deadeyes). When you get it tight you seize (gah, been spelling this wrong - why didn't anybody tell me?) it so it can't slide back and you can then remove the come longs (so you can look like an old timey sail ship *wink* *wink*)
...when the pin securing the cable guide sheared off (we still aren't sure how but it may have been an errant lanyard line that nobody noticed) causing the guide to slide and making the use of the come-along dangerous, so we had to swap it out for a new one. That is when the problem occurred - when we took tension off the cable the guide slid free and fell all the way to the deck. Honestly it was a little scary but luckily nobody was on the fore part of the ship. Safety is big around here and this event obviously compromised the Niagara's great track record.
The good news.
We got the first sail on the ship.
(*pardon the poorly and quickly edited 2 photos into 1 - could fit the whole ship in one good photo)
Look near the top of the main mast - the one on the right. That is the main t'gallant yard with the sail bent on and furled so you can't really see it. (the black platform on the left mast is where we dropped the piece from the come-along FYI)
It was really cool to put this on. It seems like a ship now. My job in the whole thing was to walk the capstan (remember the big man-powered winch from the earlier post?). I have not been that high up on the ship yet but it can't be too far away!
How about a word of the day?
We need to be a little mature about this one but Three Sheets to the Wind. I had some trouble figuring out a way to explain this so I went to the interwebs and found this sweet explanation on www.phrases.org:
"To understand this phrase we need to enter the arcane world of nautical terminology. Sailors' language is, unsurprisingly, all at sea and many supposed derivations have to go by the board. Don't be taken aback to hear that sheets aren't sails, as landlubbers might expect, but ropes (*editorial note: i got confused by this for several days before I asked someone. There are also leeches, braces, clews, halyards, and more...). These are fixed to the lower corners of sails, to hold them in place. If three sheets are loose and blowing about in the wind then the sails will flap and the boat will lurch about like a drunken sailor."
And for the finale of the show a new bio - Gail Issacs. She is the ship's Steward. In short she is responsible for the food and following all the FDA rules and regulations.
Gail, Everyone. Everyone, Gail.
Gail is super interesting. She basically realized the run-around of "normal" life was not for her. She sold everything she owns and got a job as the cook on a private yacht. She has since moved on to tall ships and has seen cool and new places. She save much of her money so she can spend the winters in Mexico.
Gail's quote: Well she just drove off with another crew member so I can't ask but it would probably sound something like this..."Clowns get a bad rap." (Gail has also been a clown for the past 14 years - I think but I can't ask cause she left, but its something close to that)
Don't think I will blog again until at least Saturday. Tomorrow we work from 1pm-9pm and the internet shuts off at 6:00 here at the library. I may be able to send out a quick blog Saturday. If not see you Monday!
Ahoy!
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