Today we had our first day of the Bayshore Intensive Learning trip. Our main goal each year is to help get New Jersey Tall Ship AJ. Meerwald ready for her summer sailing season. Because water, sun, wind, and salt are tough on boats, our work generally involves stripping the old paint and varnish from the boat, sanding everything, and putting a shiny new coat of paint or varnish on to protect the wood for another year. This year we split into two service groups: one to work on the boat down at the Yank Marine boatyard, the other to work at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve. The groups will take turns at each place.
Sanding planks at the boatyard
Upon arrival, the boat group was introduced to the crew that are working on the boat for the summer season. Next, we sanded down objects, cleaned them off with TSP and painted them with new coats of white paint. We worked in an enclosed portion of the boat and started many projects that we will finish next Monday. By then, the tarp will have come off the boat so we will be able to see the sky and (fingers crossed) feel the warm sun.
Sanding spars at the Bayshore Center
The Bayshore group met Bosun Liz and got to work sanding the spars. Spars are the bits of wood that attach to the mast and hold the top and bottom of the sail. After three sandings with different grit sandpapers the spars were smooth as silk and ready for us to oil on Monday. While sanding, we told Liz our favorite subjects, including math (50 percent of the students!) and world language. We also learned about bosuns. According to Liz, a ship’s bosun is in charge of making sure the boat is in working order at all times, and historically is also in charge of crew discipline. Bosun Liz promised us we would not have to walk the plank even if we missed a few spots sanding — apparently, Disney made up this punishment for cartoons in the 20th century, and it never really happened to anyone.
