NHS Dockyard

Welcome Gary Jobson!

2012-02-13T11:22:00.002-05:00

This week's edition of the NHS newsletter, The Pennant, announced sailing legend Gary Jobson joining the USS HORNET Project Board of Advisers. Welcome, sir, and thanks for your support!

NHS Staff | News | 7 February 2012

GARY JOBSONWELCOMED TO HORNET TEAM

In a meeting with NHS Chairman Will King,sailing legend Gary Jobson volunteered to join the USS Hornet Project Board ofAdvisers.

“Sailtraining provides a lifetime experience in leadership, teamwork andunderstanding the world. Hornet will provide thousands of youngpeople the opportunity to learn life’s lessons.” he said.

Another reason why Sailors are awesome

2012-02-09T13:20:00.001-05:00

Apologies for the general lack of blog updates lately - I've been exceedingly busy and the press isn't letting up anytime soon. But I have been doing some travelling, and last weekend I had the opportunity to visit with HORNET Design Team leader Melbourne Smith in Palm Beach, FL to discuss the progress of the plans and review some of his latest work. Things are moving right along, but you'll have to wait for more updates in that department - mum's still the word on those advances. We will, however, have some considerable project news in next week's issue of The Pennant, the NHS weekly newsletter, which is published every Monday. If you haven't signed up, visit www.navalheritage.org and click on "Hoist Your Pennant" to join the mailing list.

While I was in Palm Beach, I took a short jot over to the Society of the Four Arts for the opening of a new exhibit called "Recapturing the Real West - The Collections of William I. Koch". The collection is absolutely stunning, containing amazing art and artifacts, from larger than life figures like Wild Bill Hickok, General Custer and Sitting Bull to the common 'cowboy' and the people who made the push westward. I also caught the collector's personal presentation where he discussed his affinity for the subject but also made some interesting remarks about sailors. Why sailors in a presentation on the Old West? If you know a Sailor, you might well guess.

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I'm glad somebody is saying this

2012-01-17T08:07:00.001-05:00

Last weekend while at the NHS Winter Retreat, the attendees were amazed to watch the initial reports of the Costa Concordia sinking roll in - no pun intended. I'm not going to get into the weeds on this, but suffice it to say that I'm very relieved to see some of the press more latched on to the "over-reliance on electronic navigation" and "a failure of judgement by the captain" and less on "we need safer ships and higher training standards".

Ships today - by and large - are very safe. Remarkably so. But the mariners who manage them on the other hand, well, as one myself I can tell you I've grown increasingly concerned over the past 10 years that fewer and fewer are rooted in the fundamentals of that profession. So many today rely on electronic gizmos - and it's so easy to! - that the most basic principles, such as management of lifesaving on a foundering ship, are going by the wayside. There was an old Quartermaster aboard my first Navy ship - the crusty type who is almost irritating to talk to at first. But I learned quite a bit from him, including evolved use of the Mark 1 Mod 0 Eyeball. As incidents like these continue, I wonder how long it's going to take everyone to realize how simple the solutions really are.

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Low gravity environment

2012-01-11T13:04:00.001-05:00

One of the core missions of NHS is to use antiquated technology 'at sea' to develop teamwork and leadership skills. This we accomplish with our small boats, a mission we will someday expand to Hornet. Putting participants in an open boat with no engine and forcing them to be reliant on their own abilities to get underway and return safely is rather startling, too. It has the effect of peeling back that blanket of security most people have in their daily routines and modern technology, leaving most feeling a little vulnerable. And that's where the education starts - building up from the base of core abilities as individuals, and coming together as a team in a foreign, and highly demanding environment.

But it has another effect as well - it makes people think about the technology they rely on every day. Some hearken back with anecdotes of the days before cell phones and the internet. And after a while one question always comes up - as technology makes life, and information, more convenient, are we getting dumber, or perhaps worse, lazier?

Some time ago, I came across the picture above, and I've been thinking about that concept ever since.
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HELLOOOO Annapolis!

2012-01-05T12:18:00.001-05:00

As we enter the new year, I've moved to Annapolis and started a new assignment as a seamanship, shiphandling and navigation instructor at the US Naval Academy. Yes, I've entered the history-bedecked halls of our Navy's most celebrated educational institution. I know - God save the Navy.

My regular weekdays will largely be spent alternating between Luce Hall and a gray-hull on the Severn River, returning to my surface warfare roots tackling all manner of naval navigational gnarliness. After two years on an admiral's staff, the move is tremendously refreshing, and I'm psyched!

I also have to say, having not spent much time in Annapolis before now, that I'm amazed to find it such a small, close-knit community. Everyone seems to know everyone else and I've constantly been meeting new people - including a few, um, fans. That's right, a few NHS followers caught me out in town and stopped to say hi - so HELLOOOO Annapolis! And don't worry - I. Have. A. Plan.

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Bicentennial year - and we're already celebrating the 200's!

2012-01-02T16:18:00.001-05:00

Well, I've been away for some time now - and to the more or less devoted readers follow this blog, you have my apologies. It's been a busy season, not just for the holidays but also here at NHS, where the point was far from lost on our staff that we are entering the first year of the War of 1812 bicentennial commemorations. But 200 years ago, right now, one of the fastest ships in the American fleet was racing diplomats to and from Europe. During the winter of 1811-1812, newly promoted Master Commandant James Lawrence would find himself at the proverbial spearhead of the United States’ entry into the conflict we’re about to commemorate.

Many will no doubt recall that Lawrence would go on to give the Navy its legendary motto "Don't Give Up The Ship". But in 1812, he was already somewhat well known. In fact, while most no doubt associate Lawrence with the capture of the frigate Chesapeake, he had quite a stellar - albeit curtailed - naval career which I feel significantly outweighs the 'glory' of his bravely fought end.
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California Cannonball Melee

2011-12-08T07:47:00.003-05:00

The crew of Mythbusters sent a cannonball shooting through a residential neighborhood during filming for a recent eopisode where they were trying to measureits speed. The shot wound up leaving some very clean holes in a nearby house, in which the family was sleeping, and without injuring anyone bounced around before exiting the structure, bouncing across a busy street, off the roof of another home, and ending up coming to rest inside a parked mini-van.
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Update - Intrepid

2011-12-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

My previous post regarding the repatriation of the remains of the 13 Sailors of USS Intrepid crew from Libya has gained considerable attention. Of course, I have deep sensitivities to our Navy's history and heritage. I also have a moral obligation to defend my service. And so I'm doing my best to see the issue of repatriating the remains of the Intrepid crew from the Navy's point of view. As anyone giving even a glimpse to the argument can tell, the issue is a complicated one. So let me play devil's advocate and see what shakes out.
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Fossilized Pearl

2011-12-07T08:09:00.001-05:00

There is a lot of media attention this year for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Pearl Harbor. And much of it seems to be rightly recognizing that our living connection to that event - our veterans - are slowly fading away. Consequently many articles this year focused on the stories of that day told from those who lived it.

But what will we remember of the event when everyone associated with it has passed on? What do we remember of any event when the chief reminders are monuments silently extolling the unspecified sacrifice of faceless names, lost ships, and numbered unit designations?
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Navy abandons its dead? or honors them?

2011-12-06T08:40:00.001-05:00

There has been significant press lately on an issue more than 200 years old: thirteen American Sailors, often referred to as the first predecessors of today’s Navy SEALs, remain buried on Libyan soil. The families of some of those Sailors want the remains repatriated to the United States. Navy officials argue that the early practice of burying its dead at sea and along foreign coastlines near the site of death constitutes an official burial, and therefore considers the matter closed. Is the Navy honoring its dead? or doing an injustice to their memory? The issue is hotly contested.
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NHS Winter Retreat

2011-11-30T10:26:00.000-05:00

I'm definitely slipping in updating this blog lately - the holiday rush can be thanked for much of that. We've had lots of visitors to the Dockyard over the last week, but mostly just to check things out and not much actual work has been accomplished. Oh well. Now we have a short dash until Christmas and then on into the new year!

But Dockyard work aside, we do have a great event coming up - our winter retreat. Last year, we just called it a board meeting - as it proved one of the rare occasions that our entire Board of Directors assembled in person to conduct business. It also allowed our membership to come out and take part in the proceedings and discussions - so that the humblest of us could play philosopher for a few days. The setting helped dramatically - rather than being cooped up in a board room, activities were held on the top floor of a board member's beach house in North Carolina's Outer Banks - with phenomenal views of the ocean, Pimlico Sound and Hatteras Light. Everyone was accommodated in private suites, giving the proceedings a more casual, family-like feel, and the heated pool and hot tub were phenomenal, even in January.

This year, we're putting more effort into non-board business with several working groups and discussion forums. What will those be, exactly? Well, we hope our members will help us decide that.
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You leave me no choice

2011-11-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

A recent South Park episode entitled A History Channel Thanksgiving proved funny and sad all at the same time. To summarize, the characters in South Park decide that rather than read books about Thanksgiving they'd watch the History Channel instead. After waiting through Swap People, Hairy Bikers and Ice Road Truckers (I seriously could not have made those up), a show comes on about how the Pilgrims were really aliens from another planet, as were the Native Americans. I nearly peed myself laughing. And of course the episode goes on to get dumber and less funny - but as I stopped laughing I realized - this is it. I'm not the only person who thinks HC programming is crap. They get a lot of criticism, but stand staunchly behind rednecks and hillbillies as part of their network's programming objectives. I've long since stopped pausing on HC to see what's on - but if it's part of their master plan, then someone must enjoy that crap. That South Park episode was the first hint that anyone other than history enthusiasts despise their programming - that the idiocy can be recognized by mainstream viewers.

And so it begins - if this seems stupid to everyone, then you. leave. me. no. choice.

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Ruby slippers authorized

2011-11-15T09:31:00.001-05:00

Progress on the restoration of Monomoy No. 3 is moving along quite quickly - so quickly in fact that last weekend we totally expended our supplies of fasteners and epoxy putty - both critical materials in our re-framing process. This isn't a wholly bad place to be in - it's a startling change to our usual schedule of movement, i.e. too slow. But it does pose a problem in that our enthusiastic volunteers have picked up some great steam, and once you've got turns on, killing the momentum is deadly.

So in our latest edition of The Pennant (the NHS weekly newsletter) as well as in a previous blog entry, we decided to create a "wish list" and ask supporters to chip in. There's no gift like fasteners. There's no gift like fasteners. There's no gift like fasteners. You get the idea. I suppose it's better than asking for a heart, brain or courage - though we might start there too, soon. We weren't really sure how well this would go over, but at least by allowing supporters to buy materials and send them to us, vice send money, at least they could be sure we weren't using the money for drugs.

But I'm very happy to report that less than 24 hours after publication, we've got enough material on its way to the Dockyard to keep efforts going for several weeks, maybe even months. So thanks to those generous supporters who chipped in and helped keep our efforts going. That said, I need you to be cool, honey bunny. If I'm curt with you, it's because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast, and I need you two guys to act fast if you want to get this boat done. That's right, we're going Harvey Keitel and a little Amanda Plummer on this thing.

Or maybe, like most people, you just didn't get that quote at all.

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All about drills, or, using your powers for good or evil

2011-11-08T07:47:00.001-05:00

Actually, according to one of my favorite characters - Strongbad - you can only use your powers for good or for awesome. Today, I'm eagerly awaiting a fascinating new machine - my taper bore countersink drill bitts with stop collars. Kind of sounds like a Red Rider BB gun with a compass in the stock, doesn't it? And like Ralphie, I have no shortage of people telling me I'll shoot my eye out, in one form or another. The bitts cost a pretty penny - $90 plus $14 shipping for a set of 4 bitts and other assorted goodies - and like a kid at Christmastime, I'm waiting to rip open the package.
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Open up a can of INSPIRATION!

2011-11-07T10:50:00.002-05:00

Lately we've seen a steep decline in the number of volunteers who manage to make it out to our weekly working sessions. And while I'm pretty sure it has a good deal to do with having to reef seams and dig out old fasteners, the work is becoming more enjoyable and even therapeutic as we progress into some more palatable aspects of restoration - such as scraping paint. Or not. But in all seriousness, between all the military personnel who have transferred in the last several months, we're down to a bare bones staff working excitedly on Monomoy No. 3 in the hopes of getting her into the water next year. What's so exciting about that? Well, that's where the inspiration comes from!

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The things best learned by failure

2011-11-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Last week, we had a few problems with our steam bending as we started work on the pieces that had a tighter bend at the turn of the bilge. Throughout the whole process I'd read just about everything there was to read about steam bending, at least as far as laying in frames "hot" - that is to say, right from the steam box into the boat. But as I returned to the great and venerable texts from which I'd drawn much of my information I discovered that I had wholly discounted a different method, which the late great Howard I. Chappelle describes as "great for building single-handed". Cool - that sounds about right for our skill level! And on reading, I kicked myself for the simplicity of the most basic concept that had, until that moment, completely eluded me in all my research - that the hot bend was not, in fact the end-all, be-all of steam bent frames. All at once I remembered why I pine so for the guidance of experienced builders that simply don't seem to exist in my neck of the woods, and despite all of my study, went back to feeling like the relative novice I am.

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Where are THESE trees?

2011-11-03T09:05:00.000-04:00

Last night's working session went over well, with the exception that the one frame we set out to bend ended up not cooperating. Getting the hot frame correctly pre-bent and clamped in place proved pretty challenging, and ultimately proved to us that we need a pre-bending jig, or 'horse' to get the tight radii of the turn of the bilge before handing up the frame. As I said yesterday, embrace shortcoming, learn and move on.

Luckily, I've found a few trees that might help with that appreciably. I have no idea where these are but we need to find and harvest them ASAP.
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NHS Steampunk

2011-11-02T11:45:00.000-04:00

Well maybe not that steampunk. But certainly a little Rube Goldberg-ie, and steam is definitely involved. Over the last two weeks, Monomoy No. 3 has been prepared for her first replacement frames to go in. On Halloween, I decided of my own accord to go ahead and jump the gun, firing up the steam box and laying in some stock. And even though I've followed all of the directions from every major boatbuilding publication almost to a tee, I was still amazed that the process worked relatively flawlessly and that I, decked in leather apron, welding gloves and knee pads, managed to singlehandedly replace two of the floors with brand-new gorgeous white oak in only a couple of hours - most of which time I spent reading the newspaper.

So while I may not have been 'steampunk' by the modern pop-culture sense, I still certainly felt like it. Maybe I ought to invest in an old leather jacket and some round eye goggles. Then maybe we can get some Comic-Con types to start volunteering - you never know.

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U-Boat vs Monomoys, 1943

2011-10-31T17:09:00.001-04:00

Doesn't the premise of that sound a little like SWOs vs aliens (aka Battleship, the movie)? But step back a moment and check out the image above. Who hasn't seen this famous picture? Official Caption: "COAST GUARD CUTTER SINKS SUB: Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SPENCER watch the explosion of a depth charge which blasted a Nazi U-Boat's hope of breaking into the center of a large convoy. The depth charge tossed from the 327-foot cutter blew the submarine to the surface, where it was engaged by Coast Guardsmen. Ships of the convoy may be seen in the background."
Date: 17 April 1943
Photo No.: 1517
Photographer: Jack January

What a great shot, depicting some of the very valuable service rendered by the USCG in WWII. But in the same series of photos, taken by the same photographer from the same ship, we have another spectacular shot. Click for a high-res view.

Official Caption: "OFF TO RESCUE THEIR BEATEN FOES: A pulling boat leaves the side of a Coast Guard combat cutter to rescue Nazi seamen struggling in the mid-Atlantic after their U-Boat had been blasted to the bottom by the cutter's depth charges. Two Coast Guard cutters brought 41 German survivors to a Scottish port."
Date: 17 April 1943
Photo No.: 1516
Photographer: Jack January
Description: The men in this pulling boat were in fact a trained boarding team led by LCDR John B. Oren (standing in the stern and wearing the OD helmet) and LT Ross Bullard (directly to Oren's left). With the assistance of the Royal Navy they had practiced boarding a submarine at sea in order to capture an Enigma coding machine and related intelligence material. They were forced to take a pulling lifeboat when the Spencer's motor lifeboat was damaged by friendly fire.

Check out more, including photos of the Monomoy alongside the U-boat, here.

Some interesting commentary...

2011-10-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

I'm a huge fan of Google Books, and here's another example of why:

From Marine Engineering, 1898

"THE STANDARD NAVY BOATS."
By Arthur B. Casmdy, Esq,. Member. (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers)

By way of preface, the author refers to the New England dory, the New Bedford whaleboat, the Ranger boat for naval survey use in Central America, the racing cutter or barge, and the light steam or uaptha launch in common use on the coasts, as examples of highly successful craft for special uses. Navy boats have also been designed for their special purpose.

Requirements include: Strength to stand hard usage in rough water; stability under sail or oars: great carrying capacity, and weight as light as is consistent with necessary strength. Steam cutters must not only carry their own loads, but be capable of towing other heavily loaded boats. Aboard war vessels stowage space is limited, and the number of boats which can be carried also limited, so that the boats provided may be on occasions very heavily loaded with men, equipments and provisions—as in abandoning ship. Landing parties mean heavy loads, a probable pull through surf, and much banging upon the shore. In 1870 navy boats were classified according to size, but not form, and Chief Constructor Philip Hichborn has completed the standardization. In carrying out this scheme the best existing boats were selected and studied, also opinions invited from navigating officers who held different opinions about the rig. About 75 per cent favored the sliding gunter, and the others preferred the standing lug. The list of boats classified includes: Steam cutters, launches, cutters, barges, whaleboats, gig whaleboats and dinghies. Essential qualities of design for naval boats are: Safety, weight, comfort, and speed, in order. The author comments on each requirement, and gives much practical information concerning materials and methods of construction. In the matter of speed for steam cutters only a moderate rate is sought. In rough waters this ranges from eight knots for 40 ft. cutters to six knots for 28 ft. cutters. There are about a thousand boats in use in the Navy, and the average life is ten years.

Oh no he di-int. Isss ON!

2011-10-20T09:58:00.002-04:00

Like Donkey Kong - from the Washington Post: FIGHTIN' WORDS

The deputy ambassador at the British Embassy recently boasted about the British burning of the White House during the War of 1812, calling the sacking of Washington a “great British victory.”

Philip Barton, in an apparent attempt at humor, referred to the attack on the U.S. capital as he welcomed British boxer Amir “King” Khan to Washington this month to promote a Dec. 10 championship match with D.C. prizefighter Lamont “Havoc” Peterson.

“Amir, you may have ceded the home advantage to Lamont,” Mr. Barton said at a reception at the British Embassy, “but you - and he - should know this: There are a lot of us Brits here in Washington.

“We have had some notable victories here over the years. We even managed to burn down the White House in 1814!

“So, rest assured, come 10 December, you’ll have your share of local support. All of us are looking forward to another great British victory.”

Oh yeah. So hit 'em back, yo! ...or not.

The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines created an uproar over his claims that 40 percent of male visitors to the South Asian nation come for illegal sex.

Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. made the comment at a forum in late September and then scrambled to apologize after realizing he got his facts wrong.

“I should not have used the 40 percent statistic without the ability to back it up. I regret any harm that I may have caused,” he said in a text message to reporters in Manila this month.

He expressed “deep regret” for his remarks and promised that the United States will continue to work with the “strong and dedicated partner of the Filipino people in combating the global scourges of human trafficking and sexual tourism,” an embassy official told reporters.

Mr. Thomas sent his apology to Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, and a government spokesman called the matter closed.

Wait. You mean the Brit ambassador lashed out, and then we went and embarassed ourselves? And in the end we didn't even address any of the percieved wrongs? Wow - it's like the War of 1812 all over again there on Embassy Row in Washington.

200 years of progress in microcosm. Awesome.

NNNN

Color me confused

2011-10-20T08:43:00.001-04:00

Last night's working session proved particularly productive. With Monomoy No. 3 in the shop, we removed two complete floors, 8 and 17, and began cleaning up the planking interior faces for laying in new material this Saturday. We're now down to the absolute bones of the boat - digging around deeper than a TSA agent screening a guy with frazzled wires hanging out of his pocket. And in the process we're learning even more about the boat's construction and history. No, we didn't find any dates scrawled between her planking, but it might as well have been.

As we began unscrewing and prying up the spongy old floors and poking around for other symptoms of dry rot, we broke out the trusty heat guns and started scraping back layers of paint. And in the myriad colors bursting out under the scrapers, we were actually able to find some interesting tidbits that might help us validate the little we know of her documented past.
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Back to work

2011-10-19T08:01:00.000-04:00

All summer, the Dockyard has been fairly well neglected - not much serious work going on as our boat programs came to a screeching halt - due largely to señor management (he's Uraguayan)devoting most energy to Hornet. It didn't help that Monomoys 2 and 3 were outside, and the mosquitoes were quite bad this year. Or that seam reefing is possibly worse than breaking rocks when it comes to hard labor. But now the Monomoys have been shifted, and No. 3 is all set up so nicely - indoors I might add - and ready for volunteers in armchairs around the Hampton Roads area to start coming back out.

So I'm calling you all back in! Over the last several weeks we've been horrible about keeping up the Wednesday night working sessions, but I'm trying to get that started again tonight. 1900 (7 pm)- Dockyard - get it. We'll be getting started on planing down the framing stock, pulling out a few of the floors to be replaced, and getting out clamping devices ready for the actual work.

There is one thing missing in all of this - a budget. The funds available for Dockyard work are scarce, and in 2011 were largely allocated for large materials. That means we haven't purchased much in the way of tools and consumables that we'll need for moving forward.
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Up to no good

2011-10-17T10:57:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we bit into the last big "power shuffle" project at the Dockyard - flipping Monomoy No. 2 completely upside down, securing her in that position and then moving her to her 'parking spot' behind the Framing Bay. No. 3 is resting comfortably inside the Framing Bay, preparing for her big re-framing - but before that happens we have some work to do - which I'm hoping we can knock out this week.

First, we have to complete No. 2's move. Just like moving No. 3, this involves winches, rollers, sledges, mallets, a big can of lard, a young priest, an old priest, a corn-fed harvest mouse, whips, chains, whistles, yo-yo's, a circus midget - Wait, are you crying? I'm so sorry.

It's not an exact quote, but I'm sure some will figure it out. After more than a year of having almost no readers who get my movie quotes - suddenly I have some connoseurs out there. Hat tip, movie lovers. But I digest.
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Up to Richmond for the Navy's Birthday

2011-10-14T08:26:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I had the incredible privilege to be guest speaker at the Richmond Council Navy League's annual Navy Birthday Luncheon. Hosted at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond, the festivities included a number of Sailors from USS Carter Hall LSD-50, USS Normandy CG-60 and Navy Recruiting District (NRD) Richmond. I felt truly fortunate to be able to address such distinguished company.

Of course, I was quite nervous - this was my first major speaking engagement. True, I've been in board rooms and conferences pushing the Hornet Project, and I've even written a few published book reviews, but this was my first 'general audience' presentation. Of course, my slides failed to load, the projector had an issue - everything on my end that could go wrong did. But the leadership of the Richmond Council were so incredibly gracious and welcoming that it more than made up for my technical issues.

The presentation initially focused on the early Navy and its first iteration during the Revolutionary War - but pointed out that it was only a temporary measure; the ships were sold off or destroyed after the war and the Sailors disbanded. Later, the permanent Navy built to fight Barbary pirates was severely cut back, largely in response to criticism that it was cheaper to buy off the pirates than to fight them. The first realization of the peace and wartime benefits of a permanent naval force were brought out during the War of 1812, a bitter struggle fought in the midst of a tremendous recession with high unemployment, sharp political divides - much the same conditions we face today. That led to a quick discussion about Hornet, and the need to connect to the heritage - not just the history - of the Navy.

I'll publish more a bit later, but for now, back to the grind. But thanks again, Richmond Council, for the tremendous honor, a great event, and even better company!

NNNN

Remember USS COLE

2011-10-12T07:32:00.000-04:00

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the attack on USS COLE. The photo above was taken just over a month before the bombing. The following is a list of the officers and crew killed in the attack:

Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

Signalman Seaman Recruit Cheron Luis Gunn, Rex, Georgia.

Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, Norfolk, Virginia.

Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer, San Diego, California.

Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, Ringgold, Virginia.

Ensign Andrew Triplett, Macon, Mississippi.

Seaman Apprentice Craig Bryan Wibberley, Williamsport, Maryland.

Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, Mechanicsville, Virginia.

Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis, Woodleaf, North Carolina.

Information Systems Technician Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna, Rice, Texas

Engineman 2nd Class Mark Ian Nieto, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class Ronald Scott Owens, Vero Beach, Florida.

Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett, Churchville, Maryland.

Fireman Apprentice Patrick Howard Roy, Cornwall on Hudson, New York.

Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class Kevin Shawn Rux, Portland, North Dakota.

Mess Management Specialist 3rd Class Ronchester Mananga Santiago, Kingsville, Texas

Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., Rockport, Texas

Rest in peace, all.

USS COLE continues today, her motto 'Determined Warrior', carrying out her nation's work.

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A Navy Birthday Party - complete with costumed entertainment!

2011-10-12T07:19:00.000-04:00

Navy Marks its 236th Birthday

By Corinne Reilly
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 12, 2011

PORTSMOUTH - Chris Grimes adjusted his tall black top hat and picked up a shiny silver bone saw from the display table in front of him.

"This is my capital saw, for arms and legs," he explained. "And this smaller one is my metacarpal saw, for fingers and toes."

A doctor who was looking on - a real physician - grimaced.
"And the patients were awake for this?" he asked.
Grimes nodded. "Unless they'd passed out from shock."

The doctor shook his head. "A lot's changed," he said as he picked up an old, rigid metal catheter, probably used in the early 1800s.

Grimes was one of a handful of volunteer re-enactors who set up historical displays at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center on Tuesday as part of a celebration marking the 236th birthday of the U.S. Navy. The exhibits were supposed to be arranged outdoors at Hospital Point in front of the medical center's oldest building - the Navy's first hospital. Bad weather forced plans to change, so Grimes and the others instead set up inside, in patient waiting areas just down the hall from the hospital's modern-day operating rooms.
"Kind of a neat juxtaposition," one passerby remarked.

The Navy hosts a birthday celebration in Hampton Roads every year. Last year, it was held at Oceana Naval Air Station, and the year before aboard the battleship Wisconsin.

This year, organizers decided on a theme of Navy medicine, so Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, founded in 1830, seemed like a fitting venue. In addition to the historical exhibits, this year's celebration included a formal evening ceremony. In a speech before a room full of officers and dignitaries, including Gov. Bob McDonnell, Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., the head of Fleet Forces Command, said the re-enactors and their displays served as a reminder of just how much the Navy and Navy medicine have evolved.

Grimes, who's been posing for years as a 19th century Navy surgeon's mate, said he agrees - but only to an extent.

He pointed out a number of drugs on his display table that are still administered today, and then remarked that many of his tools are still in use as well; they've just been refined a bit.
"Actually," he said, "it's amazing how much is the same."

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Monomoy Musical Chairs

2011-10-11T08:04:00.000-04:00

This weekend, the Dockyard crew turned out to do a little shuffling of Monomoys 2 and 3. Both boats are moving into winter quarters of sorts - so they'll be protected without constant attention (as last year, when we had to brush snow off of tents regularly).

Monomoy No. 3 is now in the Framing Bay - a move of some 88 feet over soft and uneven ground, four turns and a slide sideways - all while stabilized (the keel is carefully aligned and the hull shape preserved in a cradle). Overall the whole assembly weighs about two tons, and we moved it the only way possible - slowly. Now, I know what you're thinking - don't hurt yourself. Yes, yes. All possible safety measures were adopted - such as "the scamper" - a means of semi-rolling and crawling quickly away from a boat that is about to fall on you, or "the worry" - where you chant "no, no, no, no" with increasing quickness in a verbal effort to stop the boat from moving. But I digest.

All in all, the techniques for moving something this heavy yet so fragile are relatively simple. Just take the whole thing like a box of chocolates - and assume you never know what you're going to get until you get there. Adopt, adapt and improve, sort of thing. Or maybe we should just name No. 3 "Jenny".
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On Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T08:05:00.000-04:00

A little off topic this morning? Maybe. And I certainly don't want to jump on any bandwagons - I'm far too busy trying to drive a small one. But as a guy who has never bought a mac or anything with an "i" in front of it, I'm oddly moved by the passing of a guy who is described as a "visionary" and "innovator". This is a guy who made a real difference doing what he loved, and I've always been inspired by people like him. And Steve himself was very quick to often point out - it wasn't about the money. In his own words, “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

Now I'm sure a few regular readers have just realized my connection to all of this - Hornet. There are a few quotes of his that I think are also pretty pertinent:

"you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

"Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?"

So I'm taking some time today to think about Steve and his vision - between everything else that is tugging at me from every angle and all the things I'm pulling my own hair out over. The chance to take a moment out and dig deep into an idea is a tremendous luxury we can all afford.

NNNN

Printing costs WHAT?

2011-10-05T14:34:00.000-04:00

So we're finally at the point where we're starting to print new Hornet Project overviews and summaries. The overview is just that- a short overview, while the summary is much more in depth. The overview is 8 pages front and back with lots of pictures while the summary is about three times the length with far fewer images. The team has spent weeks hammering these things together, fine tuning text and tweaking formats. Now, with our proud little bundles of awesomeness ready to print, we've just recieved our cost estimates and every jaw just hit the floor.

For a single printing of the overview, our printer wants $17 each. Now that's low quantity - things would get much cheaper with greater quantity, but OUCH. I'm not even going to tell you what printing the summary costs. And while I'm sure everyone out there is thinking "you're publishing for a multi-million dollar project, what is a few hundred for printing?" its always been our focus on the bottom line that keeps our productivity up and our donors happy. Splurge? Yeah right.

Overall, we'll be keeping costs down by putting the materials online for YOU to download and print for yourself if you like. But we still need hard copies for prospective donors, and for now, that's my biggest headache.

BT

Tonight's working session at the Dockyard has been cancelled. Working session this Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm.

NNNN

A productive start to the week

2011-10-03T14:40:00.000-04:00

The Hornet team is making a round of presentations this week to key influencers. Our new promotional material is rolling out and we wanted to have a chance to put it out to a select group before it made it available to the public. The first of these just wrapped up, having gone quite well. To be honest, I'm a little excited that things went so smoothly, despite a few not-so-well-placed comments and reassurances that I didn't need to make.

No, I won't say who it was with. But I will say that it was rather close to home, which made things all the more shaky for me. For some reason I always feel more comfortable presenting to total strangers - and the meetings seem to run better. I know I'm definately more astute in conversation when I know the person I'm talking to isn't looking right through me. A good rule of thumb to follow - that I need to start paying more attention to - is when you get what you want shut up. Oh well, live and learn.

But here I am going on about my own uneasiness and what you're really looking for is what's going on now. The long and short of it is, things are moving in a positive direction, and we continue to make progress. More will follow as things solidify, so stay posted.
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What really grinds my gears

2011-09-30T12:03:00.003-04:00

Some of you might remember the news last year about the sudden sinking of the Sailing School Vessel (SSV) Concordia off the coast of Brazil. All 64 people onboard survived after an annoying stint in the ship's liferafts. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board released its report yesterday, blaming human error due to insufficient training standards. The investigation found that the officer on watch had several opportunities to avoid the capsizing, including tracking the very squall that did them in visually and on radar. The master of the ship was below sleeping, but had fully identified the threat of increasingly inclement weather.

Now, a sail training professional I am not, but a maritime professional I am. I hold a US merchant mariner's license (chief mate unlimited tonnage) and have been a commissioned Naval Officer for 5 years (qualified OOD in two weeks and SWO in 5 months, for those who understand what that entails). I've sailed aboard a half dozen tall ships, volunteering my time as a deckhand. But all of that aside, this is relatively simple common sense stuff. After all, as one of my early mentors pointed out, there is nothing in seafaring that is overly complicated, it's putting those simple things together and making good and timely decisions that makes or breaks your value. In the simplest of terms, this has EPIC FAIL written all over it, and there is more than one person who ought to have their knickers hoisted for this.
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Back again

2011-09-29T07:52:00.000-04:00

Okay folks, sorry for the long absence. Things have been very busy lately but I don't need to tell you - between the retirement of ADM Roughead and ADM Mullen, a new CNO - things are pretty exciting. And here at NHS things are no different. Yeah, we're still working on what we're working on, including new promotional and informational materials for the HORNET Project, along with a fresh round of website updates. And all of it has kept me pretty busy. Thankfully, its all exciting stuff and so that helps keep the motivation up.

One of the biggest projects recently has been a revamp of the website, conversion to .aspx format and updating the content. We're still not done with this, but most of what's new is posted. A quick word on this - yesterday we found that our "join our mailing list" link was not working properly, so if you have joined since Monday, please go back and join again to ensure we don't miss you in future mailings.

We've also been churning and burning on new HORNET promotional material for donors to keep the press on there. Most of these will be published on our website soon, and snippets have already been published in our weekly newsletter, The Pennant. Part of the reason that I've taken so long away from the blog is that I've been very wrapped up in those publications, and the website material. It still isn't perfect, but it's getting there.
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Sneak peek...

2011-09-16T08:15:00.000-04:00

A quick look at one proposed draft of the new NHS Membership Cards.

Proof you're working too hard

2011-09-16T08:04:00.000-04:00

In recent weeks, the Hornet Project team has been pushing to get the latest round of informational materials out - project summaries, white sheets, leave behinds, and power point presentations. All of it to adjust for the shift in construction timeline from this winter to next summer and everything that goes with it - from the capital campaign to projections and pro formas, all is being re-hashed, cleaned up and adjusted for the most current information.

This just means that we've been rapidly sending emails back and forth, editing draft after draft, even throwing out and starting again in some cases. And now we're all starting to get tired. We're sick of hearing from each other - in a very Jerry/Newman relationship, almost across the whole team. Of course a few days off will do some good, offering some rest and undoubtedly result in one final burst of relative genius before we finally publish, splash, and see if any ripples come back.

But this comes at an interesting time - this weekend I'm heading up to Alexandria for the USS Hornet (CV-8 and CV-12) reunion at the invitation of the USS Hornet Association. I only hope to be able to keep up the smiles, enthusiasm, and constant conversation, even though I really shouldn't be anywhere near any mental processing of the project. Maybe my vacation will start later. Good news guys, take a week off - sort of thing. At least I am genuinely looking forward to meeting everyone - with whom I've only ever had phone calls and email exchanges. There are some great sea stories waiting for me, I'm sure, and if there is one thing I love its sea stories.

More to follow on Monday.

BT

Subscribers to the NHS mailing list - as you read last week the free reign of the NHS Publishing Team is coming to an end in October. But don't worry about scrambling for your memberships just yet - the new and improved website will make joining and payment of dues much easier, so standby for that. Oh crap, that is something else I'm supposed to be doing. No rest for the weary.

Have a good weekend, all!

NNNN

Our Navy today... so much pun!

2011-09-15T07:18:00.000-04:00

I've been receiving more and more emails from folks around the world who love Naval history but don't know much about today's Navy. So, this morning I thought we'd take a great opportunity to catch up a little on what the real Navy is doing - ADM Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, spoke about the overarching mission and state of the Navy recently. So let's go there - to that magical place. I'm talkin' about a place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talkin' about a little place called Aspen. Yes, it's true - a precious little few of you get the movie quotes. Forget it, just check out the flick.

NNNN

Why books "for dummies" usually apply to me

2011-09-14T07:43:00.000-04:00

As our team continues work on re-tooling the NHS website, I'm remembering why the ever-popular "for dummies" series of books are sometimes my best friend. As with most NHS projects, we always finish with fewer volunteers than we started with, and it's usually up to yours trully to fill in the blanks. This time, we're just plain short-handed all around, and so while our web guru Dave Lotz manages the conversion of our pages to ASP format, it's fallen to me - as final approval authority for content - to learn HTML so I can input my own writing to the website. In previous editions, we've had skilled volunteers who do this without blinking, but as we spread ourselves thinner and thinner running around on various projects, I get to re-discover my role as supreme idler and slack remover.
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Website/worksite

2011-09-12T08:47:00.000-04:00

Those of you who visit our website frequently might have noticed that over the past several days it has looked a little - well - jacked up. Our Web Developer, David Lotz, is steadily converting our site from HTML to ASPX coding, a change that will streamline its operation and allow for easier updating. Now I'm no techie but I do know this is a lot of work, and from what everyone seems to be telling me, is the next principle step to getting many of our more interactive website features - those we haven't turned on yet - working.

Some of you who have been following for a while might notice that I'm taking a much less sarcastically critical view of the website redevelopment than I did the last time it was overhauled. No more practical jokes back and forth and far less pithy commentary - last time I received a number of emails from people that I was too critical and demeaning to our great volunteers doing the work. Oh ye who know and appreciate my sense of humor not. Thankfully they got it. But I really can't make many jokes about this go-round of improvements - everyone is tired from a long year of volunteer work and many are running on empty.

So why make a push for improvements in these conditions? Well, for one, because we're just badass like that. But we also have some pretty cool stuff up our sleeve.

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Newsletter - slipping!

2011-09-06T10:07:00.000-04:00

Those who subscribe to the NHS weekly newsletter The Pennant have probably been wondering where this week's edition is. We've had some great new developments that put a stop to the presses late last week and there hasn't been time to regroup and put it all into the new edition - keep your eyes open next week.

I should also forewarn the subscriber's list that it will soon be limited to NHS Members. That's because as the NHS Board of Directors considers how to harness an influx of membership requests from all over the country, we realize that one of the greatest benefits we can offer is the distribution of that publication. There will be more, of course - trinkets and special admittance to future events among the list of membership benefits. And so the reign of free access to the NHS font of Hornet and Monomoy-related news could quite possibly be curtailed to those who are contributing to the press.

And now that we're on that subject - membership - I might as well make a few comments on that, specifically. After all, I will be the first person to admit that we dropped the ball on this in recent months - and now we're scrambling a bit to realign and meet the demand signal.
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A quick excerpt...

2011-09-02T18:15:00.000-04:00

...from a great book and one of those references that is hard to put down once picked up:

"Many muskets were levelled at him, but were prevented by our officers from firing on so bave a man." Midshipman Skiddy's story of the US officers' response to the sight of Penguin's lieutenant left alone on his forecastle points to the existence among those officers of shared values, in this particular case respect for bravery. Equally, the adroitness of Hornet's victory over Penguin - defeating the brig despite Hornet's first lieutenant, David Conner, being grievously wounded at the beginning of the action; her captain, James Biddle, being partly disabled during its course; and ending the battle with her twenty-one-year-old seconid lieutenant, John T. Newtown, as the senior uninjured officer - all suggests a high state of training and discipline among the officers. How had these shared values, the well-honed skills, been acquired?
Not by accident or inadvertence. Rather, they were the result of a conscious and sustained educational program. One could hardly overestimate the importance that the corps attached to its educational effort during the pre-1815 years. Operations aside, there may be no aspect of the US Navy's early history that is more extensively documented in its surviving records. "Without officers what can be expected from a navy? The ships cannot maneuver themselves, nor will the best of soldiers answer as substitutes for seamen" Thomas Truxton exhorted Secreetary of War James McHenry as early as 1797. "If we are to have a navy, we must make officers to manage that navy."

p. 153 A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession; The Creation of the US Naval Officer Corps, 1794-1815 by Christopher McKee.

Check it out on my book scroll to the right!

NNNN

A new leeboard - not that bad!

2011-09-01T08:05:00.000-04:00

Oh come on - they're not so ugly! I always hate it when people get on these rants about how leeboards foul the whole look of their nice graceful sheer - and there aren't many more graceful than that of a Monomoy. The thing is functional, dammit, so think happy thoughts and suck it up! When you look at it, just envision the windward performance and think of that nice course just off the wind.... sort of how when watching Susan Boyle I always just see Jack Black up there singing, and laugh a bit - then someone tells me I'm going to hell.

Last night at the Dockyard we cut out and shaped a plank of 5/4 white oak to serve as a new and theoretically improved leeboard for Monomoy No. 1. The design comes courtesy of the Niagara crew in Erie PA, whose work with leeboards for their own boats is rather extensive. It uses no tripping lines or rose-lines to drag in the water, and is much slimmer - in contrast to the fat, wide leeboard design we currently employ. The work was prompted by a desire to see how high on the wind we can get Monomoy No. 1 to point - we know her sail can be very efficient but thus far her fouled underwater profile has prevented her from really working to windward well.
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Feedback on HORNET - the NHS command model

2011-08-30T10:22:00.000-04:00

The first critical item of discussion aboard NIAGARA last week was the operation of HORNET under a military system, and the planned command model. Among all of the preparations this is perhaps the most controversial facet of all. For active duty sea service folks, this comes as no particular surprise, but for the civilian sail training community - as much as they want to say it isn't - this is a game changer. After all, the last military-run sail training ships left service more than a century ago - the era of naval discipline under the square rig is all but forgotten in actual practice.

Today aboard most ships, the officers are called and referred to by their first names (except in most cases the master, who is called captain or skipper) and nary a 'sir' or 'ma'am' is heard, and it isn't unusual for the officers to mix and mingle with the crew both on the ship and during off time. And while most get along just fine without it, including NIAGARA (which is often cited as being more organized than many), there is an intangible benefit to be derived from naval discipline - which is often displayed on the Navy's better ships - that not only brings a crew together but drives them onward, motivating them and instilling a sense of tremendous pride that can best be described as a fighting spirit. Hornet's crew has to set that bar highest of all - all eyes, even in the Navy's Atlantic Fleet - will be on her wherever she goes. Anything less will ring false to the active Sailors we know we're going to meet, and in many cases cater to. And none of this mentions the simple fact that onboard a Navy ship - even a mock-Navy ship like Hornet - it is what spectators and participants will expect to see. But in an era when many of Hornet's crew will never have served in the military - how do we do this? That's what we're working out, and NIAGARA's crew had some interesting feedback.

First, the obvious - the crew must adhere to a very rigid chain of command. So today's entry will cover the generalities of the model with respect to ranks and responsibilities, and some of the comments and criticism from NIAGARA's officers and crew.
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Back in the saddle, or um, whatever

2011-08-30T09:16:00.000-04:00

What would the nautical equivalent of the phrase "back in the saddle" be? I think I'm forgetting some common salty line there but it's eluding me. Nevertheless I'm back and working on picking back up in the NHS pipeline of events and activities. The hurricane did very little damage around the Dockyard, with most of the headaches being concentrated on policing up fallen branches. And thankfully I have yet to receive any report of any of our members suffering much - so that is great.

But back here in the office, I'm suddenly overcome by that feeling best described as 'a case of the Mondays' although I hope this isn't the sort of place where I'd get my a$$ kicked for saying something like that (this is an easy one, a cult classic!). After a week sailing aboard a tall ship, followed by a mad dash into a hurricane zone and two days cooking on my livingroom fireplace, the office has easily lost its usual charms. I'm itching for more excitement, but more on that later - I'm sure everyone would agree that my boredom is dangerous. But first, a little bit about the past week, and my absence.
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Come on Irene

2011-08-26T18:48:00.000-04:00

If anyone else starts quoting Freddie Mercury I'm going to loose my own bunt gasket. Nevertheless, suffice it to say that I have returned to Norfolk, have taken charge of the Dockyard, and the Severe Weather Response Plan has been implemented.

No volunteers will be required at the Dockyard during any portion of the hurricane/foul weather. The Monomoys are buttoned up as best they can be, and all else secured for sea. Remain safe - go where you need to - so long as it's not the Dockyard. On that score, I'm on high ground and I have beer - who wants a hurricane party?

Be safe everyone and I'll get back to writing next week. Yes, it is unreasonable to expect that I'll be answering the 200+ emails that have piled up on me this weekend. Watch below (hat tip Niagara crew).

NNNN

Meanwhile, at the idea pool

2011-08-12T13:51:00.001-04:00

This weekend we're setting to work quietly, in our favorite armchairs with our trusty laptops and memo pads and calculators by our side. Recently, we had a discussion about the USS HORNET Project and how it meshes with the existing 1812 bicentennial programming plans. Now that those plans are being finalized, a clearer picture of what to expect and how to augment it is available. But as we really focus on the question of what it all means, and should mean, we're in a great pool of thought processes - each with different origins and objectives but crossing somehow beneath the banner of "1812". The great challenge is weaving every path into a giant knit onion - where the various layers and sinews compliment and embrace the bigger vegetable. Served raw in that concentration is bound to make some restaurant-goers cry. But in the right combination, with some preparation, the flavor comes out with great taste.
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Grab a Snickers. Or just snicker, whatever.

2011-08-10T09:25:00.000-04:00

So what's that saying so often made by the ubiquitous 'them' - about the best laid plans? Yeah, well let's just say that I've grown soft and intolerant of traffic not having to drive onto Naval Station Norfolk in the mornings for going on two years now. Nearly every single member of the crew we put together this morning was late - myself included. And as I cursed everything from the Navy for not having more gates to the city for not designing a better traffic pattern to myself for not getting up earlier to the damned drivers who insist on tailgating the Monomoy where I can't see them - if I could kill with my mind it would have been a bloodbath.
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Time traveller cell phone - REPRISE

2011-08-08T10:09:00.001-04:00

"Oh nothing, just chilling at the Navy Yard, bored. What's up?"

I may have retouched that photo, just a little. In case anyone doesn't recognize it, this is a photo taken in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1861 after Federal forces had attempted to destroy the facilities as they evacuated in an attempt to deny them to Virginia state forces (Confederates) coming to occupy it. Call it a hat-tip to the ongoing Civil War 150th anniversary commemorations, which certainly deserve attention.

This weekend I had a chance to head over to Portsmouth and visit some of my local favorites - the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Museum and the shipyard itself. It's a visit I try to make a few times a year to go exploring with my military ID. Sometimes I lament that civilians aren't able to see the shipyard - which requires a military ID to get in - but harbors some truly awesome remnants of our Naval history. For those without a golden ticket, the museum is located in Downtown Portsmouth and you don't need one to get in, just a few dollars.
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All things new and exciting

2011-08-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

In NHS we always have a lot on our plate. From graphic design to architectural work, boat restoration, promotional material and blogging - we run a huge gamut. And it certainly keeps things interesting as focuses shift from one thing to another and back again - it has a certain freshness to it that just makes it awesome. But as my individual focus shifts from one thing to another our volunteers seem to follow in step, shifting their focus as well. It means that of all these great things, most are works in progress, completions are little victories unto themselves and more commonly overdue than not. I suppose that goes with being your fearless leader - or maybe it makes me "John" (see pic).

So what other awesome things are in the hopper, besides the things I've brought up lately? Plenty.
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Who wants a workout?

2011-08-03T07:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, some of our key volunteers met for lunch to discuss NHS operations. This year, we haven't had much in the way of active programming, most resources being diverted to the USS HORNET Project. But that hasn't stymied interest in getting Monomoy No. 1 back out on the water. We have had her out several times, but mostly as an impromptu 'fun run' rather than serious training. But as another round of Navy CPO selectees step up, we're finding more and more press to get our underway programming back in play.

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Sometimes I really do feel like an overgrown child

2011-08-02T08:34:00.000-04:00

As I've posted recently, the Dockyard has taken on something of a fascination with models, mostly due to the great response recieved from Mini-HORNET, our 1:12 scale mock up of the ship. As we continue to explore options to get models of HORNET commercially available, we're running the gammut of great model companies - many of which I've built kits from in my youth, or dabbled in turning to in adulthood.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with Philip Roberts, the owner of Steel, Chapman & Hutchinson LTD. SC&H is a company that specializes in large scale radio controlled sailing ships - which definately falls into the 'dabbled as an adult' category; I've probably been debating on how to work one of those models into my pasttimes for years now. These models, which are not cheap, are nevertheless durable, easy to build, fun to sail and absolutely gorgeous. For between roughly $3,000 to $5,000, any person can become captain of their own miniature square rigger.
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Even more brilliant ideas!

2011-08-01T09:13:00.000-04:00

Between moving Mini-HORNET up to Richmond - no small endeavor let me tell you - and the growing list of projects around the Dockyard, this weekend was one of the most productive in some time. Volunteers showed up around our operational area to help in a number of departments and I'm very proud to say our OpTempo is increasing. Special thanks are well-deserved by the crew that set up Mini-HORNET in Richmond at the Virginia War Memorial on Saturday - an evolution that took just under six hours.

Now, we have even more projects started with notes and ideas flying back and forth with several construction projects moving right along.

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Stay cool, honey bunny

2011-07-29T07:45:00.001-04:00

And survey says no, most of you don't get the movie reference. I can't watch these for you folks!

After we spent last weekend inside cowering from the heat, do you think we could possibly do it again this weekend? NO! We're on the move this weekend which means our perspiration-dripping work crew is going to be spreading their ofactory oasis all over this fine commonwealth of ours. And where will we end up? Why, Richmond, of course! Mini-HORNET, our 1:12 scale mock-up, is on the move to the Virginia War Memorial in the heart of Downtown Richmond. Why the Memorial? Well first - WHY NOT? and second because of the folks who made it possible.
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Pennants on paper

2011-07-26T08:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we published our first edition of a - what we hope to maintain as - weekly newsletter, The Pennant. I hope it helps keep everyone on the same page - we're starting to become so widespread in our activities and support that many elements aren't always up to speed on the big picture. It you didn't receive your copy of The Pennant, sign up for it by visiting our website and entering your email address - here.

To many, I'm sure it seems we are treading water - particularly if you don't live near or participate in our regular working sessions. The fact of the matter is that we are waiting on a major breakthrough that will demonstrate our credibility and feasibility and put our projects into the realm of the possible in the perceptions of the prospective donors from whom we've gathered interest thus far. But rather than sit patiently and wait for the breakthrough to come down the pike (and it seems to move slower and slower by the day) we're keeping busy, doing what we can, with what we have, where we are - so that when the capability for serious movement arrives, we can hit the gas hard and know we're accelerating in the right direction.

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Are you ready for the HEAT to be brought on you?

2011-07-22T10:10:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I'm fully anticipating most work in the Dockyard to come to a screeching halt, thanks to the abominable heatwave. Of course that won't stop some from heading out to at least the shaded portions of the shop and sweating all over the work in progress. Of course for many more sensible people there are more savory alternatives to the sauna, previously known as the Framing Bay.
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Back to work!

2011-07-21T07:52:00.000-04:00

Anyone familiar with the goings-on at the Dockyard is used to the endless shuffle of work - old projects and new, familiar and bizarre. And now that we have something of a week-long break between exhibitions for Mini-HORNET we have even more work getting her ready. So what else do we have rolling right now? Plenty. And the intense heat only adds to the FUN in the non-air conditioned shop and in the bright beating sun of the open dockyard.
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Sea Stories 2 - the Smoke Generator

2011-07-20T15:41:00.004-04:00

I was a new man aboard the USS Fremont. Our A division boat shop was the starboard half of the after deck house. The port side was property of R (repair) division, and aft of the deck house was the fantail, property of 3rd (deck) division. The ship was departing NOB Norfolk, when a "senior person" approached me. Now on the port side of the fantail resided a strange large covered object, under coarse canvas that had received multiple coats of gray and black paint.
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Writer's block, meetings and a head scratch

2011-07-19T07:59:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the long absence, but I've been absolutely mired in a number of items - most prominently the Association of Defense Communities Annual Conference here in Norfolk. Our volunteers set up Mini-HORNET here on Sunday night and yesterday was the first full day of activities and networking - today I'm back for the second day. And writing this from the business center at the conference, alas, I have no funny picture - surfing the net looking for them gets some really odd looks, so I gave it up. But I digress...
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199 years ago today....

2011-07-11T07:35:00.001-04:00

Today marks an interesting anniversary - 199 years ago something significant happened. This is in marked contrast to the tin sign hanging in the Dockyard that proclaims "On this site 200 years ago NOTHING HAPPENED". Actually, we're not sure about that one but it seemed funny. But today in history, a relatively small but significant 'first' ocurred having to do with USS Hornet.
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Road Trip - soviet style?

2011-07-07T07:05:00.001-04:00

Yes, that's right - it's time again for me to start getting ready to pack up and start driving all over creation on schedules that make truck drivers wince. And Mini-HORNET is going to be travelling a bit, too. First, I think I've beaten to death that she'll be on display at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott for the Association of Defense Communities annual conference on July 18-20. We'll need volunteers to help move on the 17th and again on the 20th, both in the evenings. After that, she'll be travelling up to Richmond on July 30th, where she'll be on display for two weeks at the Virginia War Memorial in the heart of Downtown Richmond. It's an exciting schedule and we have lots to get ready. We also have a few tricks up our sleeve.

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Them aren't oars, they're me wife and me daughters!

2011-07-05T08:52:00.000-04:00

This weekend at the Dockyard was particularly productive - we managed to turn out sixteen oars, completed two boats, made 18 sets of gun implements, nine doors, ran through nine pots of coffee and twelve jugs of sweet tea. Working from Friday through Monday night, the only breaks were to do some grilling, tend the fires in the pagan altar and slurp down a few Eastern Shore oysters. A great time was had by all who stopped out and volunteered in the efforts.
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Sea Stories 1 - sixty years ago

2011-07-02T11:27:00.003-04:00

Norfolk has changed a bit in the past sixty years. Fleet wide, Norfolk was known as "Ship City". (That's with a t, people) In those long ago days, there was a bridge and tunnel to Portsmouth. Ferries served to Newport News and Hampton, while the Cape Charles ferry ran from Little Creek to Kiptopeke. The Eastern Shore was the site of potato farms, poverty and a single track railway to Kiptopeke, as well as a two lane blacktop called R13.
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Holiday weekend means... WORK!

2011-07-01T07:57:00.000-04:00

Independence Day weekend is here and I'm sure everyone is getting ready to enjoy some well needed time to kick back and relax. I'll be doing that, in my own way, putting in some long hours at the Dockyard getting Mini-HORNET's detail parts finished up and ready to go. That said, I'll still be kicking back a bit and recharging the batteries.
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Who needs a press release?

2011-06-29T09:11:00.003-04:00

Our first round of actual press releases are nearing completion, and while they will be making some big announcements, I'll drop a partial spoiler on you now. After all, things are just too exciting to keep to myself, and I'll save the big announcements for the actual releases so there's still some surprise there.
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Mini-HORNET improvements

2011-06-27T07:13:00.003-04:00

This weekend work at the dockyard centered around work to improve Mini-HORNET, our 1:12 scale mock-up of the famous War of 1812 warship. She's an impressive display at more than 16 feet long at 12 feet tall.

So what were we making? Oh, just about everything, the biggest ticket items being boats and anchors.
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A great kick-off

2011-06-24T08:41:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday, the Board of Directors and several key supporters ventured to Washington DC for the kick-off reception of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemorations. The event, hosted by the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History in front of the original Star Spangled Banner (Kenneth E. Behring Center) featured guest speakers Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Dr. Jose Fuentes, Chairman of OpSail. The event lasted from 7 to 9 pm and was capped off by libations at the Old Ebbet Grill with the Navy Commemorations Office and OpSail staff a few blocks away.

Photos of the event have been posted on Facebook - both the official photos, here, but also the blooper reel on my personal page as well. Some faces have been blurred to protect the innocent.

The NHS team was received very graciously by Secretary Mabus, who took a few minutes to share with me a few recollections of his own sea duty as a surface warfare officer.

Museum ships - damage control

2011-06-20T07:19:00.001-04:00

As an amateur historian-type and active-duty SWO (surface warfare officer) I'm getting pretty fed up with reading about museum ships and their plight. That's because while I, perhaps more than most, appreciate the significance of these floating (wait for it) treasures, as I learn more and more about their management the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach gets worse and worse.

Mini-HORNET on the move!

2011-06-16T09:16:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we recieved confirmation of a new exhibition for Mini-HORNET - our promotional 1:12 scale mock-up of the historic sloop of war. She won't be travelling far - in fact she's staying in Norfolk, but I want to bring her back to the Dockyard for some upgrades. What are we going to do? Here's a possible work list (it's not final) -

A not-so-quick rough look at James Biddle

2011-06-16T08:06:00.001-04:00

I've been putting off my much anticipated (or not) brilliant narrative (or not) about the 'six degrees of separation' among Hornet's people and the early American navy. If you're a history nerd like I am, you'll enjoy these. If not, give it some time and I'll go back to talking about steam bending frames for Monomoy No. 3 - set to start within the next few weeks.

At any rate - I think we'll start with Hornet's second most famous commander - James Biddle. Why? Because the letter signed by Biddle that I bought off eBay just arrived and I'm all excited about the fact that I own something that (I think) he touched. Again - if you're not a history nerd, go ahead and tune out.
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The story of HORNET and TWO Peacocks, or, Why not Wasp?

2011-06-15T13:28:00.001-04:00

One of the singular occurrences in the War of 1812 related to USS HORNET (subject of our most recent initiative) is that she is the only US warship to challenge her own sister ship to a ship-to-ship duel - today in 1813. Confusing, I know. Let me explain.

HORNET and her close sister WASP were both built to the same design, by Josiah Fox, as we've covered in previous entries. But in 1805 new ship construction was closely scrutinized - President Jefferson's administration and a Republican dominated Congress had since resolved to focus on a reduction of the Naval establishment in favor of small gunboats for harbor defense. So an an experiment, it was decided to contract HORNET's construction to a private shipyard while WASP was built in a Navy yard by government workers. HORNET came in ahead of schedule and under budget, but once launched it was found that alterations to her rigging were going to be necessary as she had trouble in bad weather. WASP, taking a bit longer, was quickly altered in response to the lessons learned from HORNET, and HORNET was brought in for overhaul.

Reefer man

2011-06-13T07:42:00.002-04:00

This weekend we managed to get some serious work done on Monomoy No. 3. Last week we realized that prior to re-framing, we had to reef all of the seams, i.e. pull out all the old caulking, putty, dirt, sand, crap. And while to the inexperienced bystander this sounds mundane, it's really quite a lot of work to dig all of that out without damaging the soft fir planking. In the first 6 man-hours of work, we managed to reef a total of 15 feet ot the boat's 624 feet of seams. Ouch.

And to make the work just that much worse, all that time weilding the scrapers starts to wear down your hands. After 10 hours of work on Sunday and 5 hours on Saturday, I'm finding that my hands can't grip and hold anything unless it's the same relative size as the scraper - my joints are that sore. Plus, add in the myriad blisters, raw spots and an occasional slice and you have all the reasons you should be wearing gloves while doing this.

Guest bloggers and reefing seams

2011-06-09T09:14:00.002-04:00

Both can be irritating. And for reference, IC1, I don't own a whip - it's a rope end. And I only beat our volunteers because I care.

I should specify here that this is a joke. No, really - I will get nastygrams about this.

Yesterday we realized that we were about to overlook a critical step in our preparations for re-framing Monomoy No. 3 - reefing the seams. Basically, it means pulling out all of the old caulking and putty between the planking that was used to keep it watertight. The problem? Some of that stuff has been in there a while! And that's not what bothers me - actually the newer material is more of a problem. As IC1 pointed out, maintenance was done haphazardly in more recent times (probably at least 20 years ago), using what appears to be a nasty mixture of paint, silicone, bondo - you name it it's in there. And the effect that all of that had was to force the planks farther and farther apart until the sealing effects were all but negated. Armed with scrapers, file ends, screwdrivers and our trusty 5-in-1 tools, we began tackling this in earnest last night. We got approximately 15 feet of the 600+ feet of seams in the boat reefed. Moral of the story - we're in for a long, arduous job. Hang on, I have to go beat a slacker.

A guest blogger.... Or The Story of Dockyard Travails

2011-06-09T08:53:00.001-04:00

This morning's guest blogger is IC1 Caleb Bryan, one of our best volunteers. Take it away, IC1:

Most Monomoy pulling boats are Carvel planked. The strakes (or planks) are attached to the frames and set edge to edge. The seam between is then sealed with cotton or oakum and a putty or pitch. The cotton is driven into the seam between the planks with a caulking iron and mallet and then payed with the pitch or putty. Now the Navy never, never, never ever neglects maintenance on it's boats and ship's, right? Right?!?! Well, in the case of our beloved Monomoy #3, maintenance was done many a time with a plethora of different procedures and materials - some of which were probably purchased at Wal-Mart. Reefing the seams (the process of removing the old caulking material) on #3 has produced an interesting variety: household caulking, paints and other substances used to keep her watertight are brought to light after long hours of painstaking work. Sore fingers, blisters, sweatsoaked clothing, raw mosquitobitten skin are just side effects of this process while the Dockyard Superintendant cracks his whip and shouts orders.

HORNET Updates

2011-06-08T11:19:00.001-04:00

I've been getting quite a few emails regarding the USS HORNET Project, everyone wanting to know what's happening. For those just joining us, this is our project to build the first blue-water replica of a US Navy sailing ship as part of the 1812 bicentennial commemorations - the Sloop of War HORNET (1805-1829). For more information check out our website at http://www.navalheritage.org/.

First, I should say that we are working hard behind the scenes to get our media release ready. We need to put our best foot forward when we start broadcasting, and need to do our due dilligence and then some to ensure that. And in typical NHS fashion, we have saved our biggest surprise for that event. I know I like to say 'stay tuned' but you're probably not going to want to miss that one.

Framing stock is IN!

2011-06-08T07:10:00.001-04:00

And that means we'll be in the shop tonight at 1900, continuing preparations for re-framing Monomoy No. 3. On tonight's work list, we'll be removing the thwart clamps amidships and building the jigs to hold the hot frames in place in the boat.

Yesterday was the first time I'd ever been to a sawmill. Northern Neck Lumber in Warsaw, VA is one of the few mills in the Commonwealth that still mills furniture-grade hardwood, and their management permitted me to pull stock straight off their "green chain" - where the freshly sawn timber comes out of the mill and is categorized and sorted before heading to the kiln. What this means for me is that I can pick the best framing stock right off the line, green as grass, for $1.50 a board foot. Not too shabby - especially when you consider that everyone in Tidewater told me that I'd never find such a thing at any cost.

Death to the hands!

2011-06-06T09:18:00.001-04:00

This weekend we spent a good deal of time getting Monomoy No. 3 ready for re-framing - the process by which we're going to be replacing all of her 107 year old steam bent frames, or 'ribs'. Preparation calls for stripping the boat down to the bare essentials - out with the thwarts, the decking, deckbeams, centerboard trunk and keelsons - until all that is left is the shell of the boat, keel, planking and frames. It is a scary process that entails carefully (or sometimes not) removing old fasteners and gingerly lifting out structural members (or beating them into splinters with a mallet and big nasty chisel). And as we progressed, the shell of the boat gets more and more fragile and flexible. I am very happy to report that as of writing, the boat is happily resting in her tailor-made cradles, almost completely empty. There is a certain zen to sitting amidships and seeing nothing but open space out to the frames in every direction.
On both Saturday and Sunday, the Dockyard resonated with the steady thunk, thunk, thunk of sledges driving out keelbolts, punctuated by the occasional "AHH CRIPES! MOTHER F(*&^*&" as the occasional swing missed or glanced off the bolt and onto fingers. My left thumb still hasn't completely recovered. And now, myself and the other victim walk around with hands looking like we just came out of Fight Club. This morning I even noticed a person staring nervously at my hands. The only thing I could think to say was "you should've seen the other guy".

Progress for No. 3

2011-06-02T07:10:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we managed to get Monomoy No. 3 a little bit closer to the point where we can replace her frames. All of the thwarts were taken out and the hull temporarily stabilized, but we have more work to do before we can actually start ripping out old and steaming in new. This Saturday, we'll be getting together at 9 am to get her the rest of the way. Here's what's on the work list:

Chesapeake Day - Part 2

2011-06-01T08:01:00.000-04:00

In the last entry, we looked at the stereotype of USS Chesapeake as an inferior ship, and pointed out that she wasn't. Unlucky, yes - and Sailors get that, even today. But poorly designed, inferior, no. Chesapeake was pretty standard, possibly very pretty, but about comparable to what the British brought to the fight.

So if the two ships were so similar, what made the difference? Training. It's a simple matter of preparedness that ultimately decided the conflict before it even began. Here's a good example of what Broke and the Shannon were up to for months prior to the fight:

"The weekly routine at sea was for the watch on deck to be exercised at the great guns on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and in the afternoons the first division of the watch was exercised at small arms. Wednesday and Thursday forenoons saw the watch on deck at the carronades, and in the afternoons the second division of the watch at small arms. Friday was reserved for the Midshipmen – great guns in the morning, small arms in the afternoon. Thus each man had one morning at the 18-pounders, one morning at the carronades and two afternoons with musquets in every week.
Saturdays were reserved for washing clothes and scrubbing the berth deck in the afternoon. Sunday, apart from Church service and any necessary evolutions with the sails, was free."

Chesapeake, meanwhile had been trapped in port for more than a year, her crew was generally a mixed bag of experienced sailors and new recruits - including her officers. None of these elements had been afforded a chance to exercise together. I'm not sure if Lawrence ran drills dockside, but it seems from many of the accounts to remind me of Chesapeake's 1807 run-in with HMS Leopard - unprepared, disorganized and thoroughly confused. At any rate, the two ships were near polar opposites in that regard.

So why, then, did Lawrence choose to fight - and he had a choice, he was in port while Shannon beckoned from open water - if he knew himself to be facing a superior foe in a ship that was nowhere near ready? The answer is the bite of hubris.

Earlier in the year, while still commander of Hornet, Lawrence discovered a British warship, the HMS Bonne Citoyenne (why do they so hate the French but love their language?) loading with gold in San Salvador, Brazil. Though Hornet was in company with Constitution at the time, Bainbridge pledged to keep Constitution out of action as Lawrence chided his prospective opponent to come out and fight. When the British commander, Pitt Barnaby Greene, refused on the grounds of responsibility to the gold over his own personal honor, Lawrence claimed a victory and touted his success to the American public - who saw it the same way. Now, Lawrence was under the honor microscope, and with dire consequences.

You have to remember, this was a time when personal honor was paramount in personal and professional life alike. I'm sure - though I have no evidence of it - that Greene took a ribbing from his fellow British officers, even though by all considerations he seems to have done the right thing by his duties. Lawrence played the coward card, and now unless he sailed out to meet Broke in combat, he would more than likely be painted with the stain he had so vigorously applied himself just months before. In the early 19th century navy, this was a no-brainer - he had to go, ready or not.

There is no piece of evidence that shows this resignation more than the maneuver with which Lawrence opened the fight. Broke had Shannon hove to, waiting for Lawrence, and rather than cut to windward and attempt to gain the weather gauge he remained hove to as Chesapeake barreled down on him. With the ships in this position, it would have been a customary offensive maneuver for Lawrence to sail past Shannon, firing into her stern as he passed - a maneuver known as raking. It would have had a devastating effect on his challenger and given him an early upper hand. But instead, Lawrence wore hard and ground to a near stop with his ship alongside of, parallel to and to weather of Shannon before unleashing his first ragged broadside.

From that moment, it was no contest. Shannon battered Chesapeake and eventually boarded her to complete the victory. It was a bloody battle, and Lawrence himself was mortally wounded. Carried from the deck early in the engagement, he gave the command "Tell the men to fire faster and don't give up the ship, fight her 'til she sinks!" And later "burn her." In context, it was quite clear (at least to me) that Lawrence knew he was doomed, but elected to fight on and go out with a bang - and under no circumstances humbly submit to the drubbing, but rather prevent the British taking the prize by destroying the ship. When you really think about it, it was a fanatical act of dedication to the concept of honor in refusing to surrender. It is a sign, I think, of knowing that it was the only way to avoid his tremendous hubris.

James Lawrence was certainly brave, definately had an influence on the early Navy, and absolutely knew how to get the public on his side. But he was also human, and I believe his engagement with Shannon was more akin to a sad, hollow thud at the end of a life and career rather than the triumphant ring of a patriotic soul, as it is so often thought of today. It should be a warning to us as professional Sailors and war fighters - beware of gloating over your advantage, it will bite you. Triumph with honor means a gracious victor.

In the end, Broke did capture Chesapeake, and led her into Halifax under British colors. Taken back to England, she was refitted, her lines and details recorded, and sent back to sea as HMS Chesapeake. In a final dose of irony, very likely intentional, she was sent to blockade Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads - where she had been built.

Ouch. Remember that burn.

In case you're wondering, those are Chesapeake's lines in the image, and they are the same as the background on this page - have been for some time.

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Chesapeake Day, hats off. Part 1

2011-06-01T06:44:00.000-04:00

Today marks the anniversary of the capture of USS Chesapeake by HMS Shannon in 1813. James Lawrence, who had achieved national fame in Hornet for sinking HMS Peacock in a sharp 14 minute fight, also earned promotion to Captain and command of a frigate - Chesapeake. June 1st would become a day of several ironies for Lawrence, in an engagement that isn't so plain as "unlucky ship" versus "crack ship" and a valiant end to a national hero.
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We should all contemplate that event a little more closely, and here's some food for thought- part 1 - Chesapeake, the ship.
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First of all, I will not argue that Chesapeake wasn't an unlucky ship (she very certainly earned that epitaph), but poorly designed she was not. There are accounts (albeit from Hampton Roads area newspapers) that called her the most beautiful of the original six frigates. She was the smallest, but this was not a deficiency, but rather an intentional choice by Fox - who was a highly experienced designer and shipwright. He argued, contrary to Humphries (who is generally credited today with designing the six), that the big frigates would be unwieldy, susceptible to grounding, and targets that the British, whose Navy far outnumbered ours, could easily blockade or hunt down with superior forces. Constitution is the exception here, not the rule (though even she grounded a number of times), but looking at the others, we see he was right.
(referencing service in the War of 1812, only)

United States made one successful cruise and captured HMS Macedonian, but was then blockaded in New London CT for most of the war by a superior British force.

President captured a few ships and did some extended cruising, but never took a significant enemy warship (she captured a schooner, HMS Highflyer). She grounded off Sandy Hook in 1814 causing significant damage, and was captured a short time later by overwhelming forces of the British blockading squadron.

Congress captured some merchant shipping, but again, never met an enemy ship in battle - most that she chased outran her. In late 1813 she was placed in ordinary due to lack of available manpower.

Constellation was trapped in Norfolk for the entire war, blockaded by the British.

Calling Chesapeake a bad frigate is really trying not to admit that the original 'six frigates' program of the early navy didn't have nearly as great an effect on the actual tactical or strategic picture that we think it did.
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In contrast, Fox argued for the construction of smaller ships, particularly smaller frigates and sloops of war. Hornet (designed but not built by Fox) is a gleaming example of the class, and there are few that match her longevity or success, but on the whole these smaller vessels made quite a difference in the War of 1812. The ships could be produced much faster than the large frigates, at significantly reduced expense, and because there were more of them, I would argue that they lent very seriously to the cultivation of a broad and deep base of professional knowledge and experience in the junior officer corps that saw the navy through the next 50+ years. I am getting off topic.
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My point? Don't knock Fox. It's popular, as his fight with Humphries turned very public and resulted in significant slanting of the pros- and cons of the big frigates in Humphries favor in our look at things today. Chesapeake may have been unlucky, but poorly designed, she was not.
Now, for fair comparison, let's look at Chesapeake compared to Shannon.
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Characteristic / Chesapeake / Shannon
Broadside wt. / 542 lbs / 550 lbs
Compliment / 379 / 330
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I could continue, but the main points are there, and the ships were more or less well matched and equal - with a slight advantage in numbers going to Chesapeake. But as we will see later, naval warfare is reliant not on numerical advantage, but training. And the British, as with so many other frigates, had not only prevented our much-touted frigates from getting underway, but prevented them from developing a level of training commensurate with our strategic reliance on them in our prior planning - and even our perception of them today.
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More in Part 2, later today.
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BT
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UPDATE
By the way, to answer some of the comments I am already receiving - it is absolutely true that enemy warships were not the prime objectives in the War of 1812, but rather to disrupt merchant shipping. But the big frigates were vastly expensive, heavily armed and stoutly built - considerations that are totally unwarranted to take on a commerce raiding mission, as demonstrated by the vastly more successful privateers of the war.

After the long weekend

2011-05-31T06:43:00.000-04:00

Suffice it to say that I didn't end up getting a new boat this weekend, and we'll leave it at that.

I did, however, begin work to prepare Monomoy No. 3 for re-framing. That involved stripping out her old deck beams and the remains of her decking, lots of cleaning, and assembly of another tipping beam adjustable cradle to complete her stabilization. If all goes well with preparation of the boat, procuring materials and setup of the various tools, we could be looking at some framing within the next several weeks. I'll be starting a series of clinics in steam bending that are as much for my own edification as they are for everyone else, and once we have our "steam team" assembled, we'll start splitting out the old frames and steaming in the new. Standby for more on that.

The hiatus that began after completion and setup of Mini-HORNET is over, and I'm reinstituting our Wednesday working sessions - every week at 1900, starting tomorrow. Come on out and lend a hand preparing Monomoy No. 3 for framing and beyond, and chat HORNET as we go.

Last night I had a great meeting about the future of NHS Youth Programs at the private home of our youth groups point man, Bill Rogers. When he came to the door, I held up my planner and said, "good evening, sir. My name is Will and I'm here to tell you about the good news. Have you heard of Church of Hornet and the message it sends through the centuries for you?"

The joke is that sometimes, I really do feel like I'm doing that.

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Playing with my dinghy - or - a new start

2011-05-26T07:49:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes, Heather and I are fine. And although my poor Bandit 15 is indeed in miserable shape, I'm making preparations to formally donate her to NHS and add her to a winter work list, possibly expanding our instructional repertiore to include some fiberglass restoration work in the coming winter seasons. She'll need some serious work, but she may yet survive to see another day on the water.

As usually happens in my often seemingly semi-charmed existence, a replacement has been identified. Now I know you're thinking, "Will, this isn't supposed to be your personal blog, talk about HORNET, dammit!" but we all need our diversions and unless you want some insight as to the colors of the ties I have picked out for my next round of meetings, you're SOL - for now at least.

So what is the replacement? A friend and colleague of mine Carl A. found me a great Rhodes 19 for a song online. The problem? It's in Michigan. So, a little road trip this weekend, packing up the tools, and hopefully when I come back I'll have something new to tool around with, maybe even do a little beach cruising with.

More to follow late in the weekend - I'm sure I'll have lots of fun stories about how I loathe old trailers.

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So where does Mini-Hornet go now?

2011-05-24T06:38:00.000-04:00

For the last two weeks, our 1:12 scale mock up of the Sloop of War HORNET, affectionately dubbed 'Mini-HORNET' has been on display at US Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk VA - where it has been much appreciated as the subject of much discussion. The question now is where is it going next? and when?

Good question. For starters, I had better send Jerry back his carronade pattern, first. Jeez, sorry Jerry.

I hadn't really planned out this far, considering the rapture was supposed to have claimed most of my volunteers by now. And when you can't count on top notch support and plenty of it, you shouldn't plan on moving Mini-HORNET - it's a chore and a half. But now, apparently, I have until October - and that I can work with.

In all seriousness, our plans for Mini-HORNET including using her as a backdrop for a webcast that we will be starting to film in the next few weeks, and her present location is very good for that purpose. Until we get that shooting schedule in place, she'll stay right where she is.

After the filming, she'll be moving to a public venue to wait until her fundraising debut. We have some ideas for this, but standby for a facebook poll or something (I don't know what those social media-types do with their time, it's PFM to me).

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What's in a name? Generally vowells and consonants, in some order.

2011-05-23T09:41:00.000-04:00

One of the interesting questions that has come up in recent research is something so mundane it seems to go entirely unnoticed. While leafing through original manuscripts, we see that every handwritten usage of James Lawrence's name seems to be spelled Laurence. And very clearly too. But every printed spelling is made Lawrence. So what's the deal?

Lawrence is listed as the "anglicized spelling of Laurence", which according to most baby name sites (yeah, I'm on those) means "crowned with laurels". Appropriate for ol' Jimmy since he was certainly a front runner in the 1812-era Naval officer corps when it came to fame and popularity. R. Lee Ermey - get bent (about 4:00).

Back on topic.

Newspapers from the time show Lawrence, as does the epitaph on his tombstone, so the error must not have been too egregious or unpalatable to JL or his family. But still, the written name and the man's own signature still belie he spelled it differently.

In the end, its not that big a deal, but taking things down to the letter I'm finding a degree of flexibility in spelling that seems rather unique. Words in common usage I would have expected some variation (and there is) but names, that's a new one to me.

Over the weekend I received a copy of The Weekly Register, April 3 1813 - a small-sized Baltimore newspaper. On that date it ran a several page spread describing HORNET's battle with PEACOCK. Good reading, but fragile pages. It's already starting to break up, I'll have to be quite careful.

One great excerpt:

"A wag proposes to petition the secretary of the navy to direct the commanding officers of our public vessels to use only one-half of their accustomed quantity of powder, that they may take the British ships "alive". The Guerriere, Java and Peacock would have made a pretty addition to the U. States navy, if Hull, Bainbridge and Lawrence had not mauled them so unmercifully."

Awesome.

More research to follow - and I've got hundreds - literally hundreds - of pages of notes that bear discussion.

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Navigating whitewater

2011-05-23T07:29:00.000-04:00

There is something to be said about people who can handle whatever you throw at them - the US Navy breeds these people in droves. After all, the current operational tempo - meaning the pace of operations - is so high that its difficult to find time to maintain, equip and train our ships before sending them out again. But that's the climate we've been operating in for years now, and we're all sort of accustomed to what ADM Harvey calls a 'professional whitewater'.

In fact, in my personal life and in NHS, people are constantly commenting on how busy I am, how many things I'm tackling. Some have said I simply don't know how to relax. But the truth is, I don't really want to. Because in and amongst all of this, I've found a simple enjoyment from doing all that I can with what I have, where I am. People talk about living like it's some sort of bucket list of personal enjoyment experiences. I contend that making your mark on the world starts with a lot of chiseling, and that's what I'm trying to do. And so I think it's safe to say that I've learned to actually enjoy the professional whitewater. Every hard-fought paddle stroke is another chisel mark on the world - and no matter how small, over time, they will make a difference.

Hat tip ADM Harvey, and to everyone else who gets this post - plot your course, keep the screws turning and I'll see you on the other side of the horizon.

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On deaf ears

2011-05-17T09:34:00.000-04:00

One of the unique mission-sets of the completed replica of USS HORNET will be the integration of deaf participants, and possibly programs geared exclusively to the deaf. I say possibly because one of my core beliefs is that everyone benefits from diversity. No, not that kind - not forced or mandated diversity, but the opportunities that present themselves when you allow the natural elements to fall as they may. Case in point, when we open HORNET programming to the public, we are bound to have deaf participants. The entire crew of professionals and participants benefit from having a deaf person onboard, if only because they might not interact with a deaf person on a regular basis, and doing so adds educational value and breaks that communication bubble, if even only a little bit.

I will discuss my policies on diversity in another entry. For now, back on the topic of deaf participants.

I've not known many deaf people myself, but when I met Chelsea Lew, a volunteer financial analyst on our staff, I could instantly recognize that the term "disabled" did not apply. I don't want to use the term "handi-capable" because it's a bit lame. But case in point, Chelsea can speak well, read lips at an astonishing pace, and is brilliant to boot. The thought crossed my mind - what if I had written her off because she was deaf? Aside from being an ass, I would have missed out on harnessing her talents and energy - of which there are plenty.

But as much as Chelsea would undoubtedly love for me to continue ranting about her talents - this isn't about her. Well, not really. Start with the basics - how many deaf people are there in this country?

About 2 to 4 of every 1,000 people in the United States are "functionally deaf," though more than half became deaf relatively late in life; fewer than 1 out of every 1,000 people in the United States became deaf before 18 years of age.

However, if people with a severe hearing impairment are included with those who are deaf, then the number is 4 to 10 times higher. That is, anywhere from 9 to 22 out of every 1,000 people have a severe hearing impairment or are deaf.

That means the chances of the average person interacting with or knowing a deaf person are pretty good. Consequently, the chance of having deaf participants is also pretty high.

Add - impetus!

There is one more great reason that we should make a point of extending HORNET's programming to include the deaf - and you may be amazed to find that it comes from a historical source. In the 19th century, the mark of an efficient crew aboard a US Navy sailing ship is that they executed maneuvers in silence. The idea was that leaders of various groups of sailors could then hear commands, and communicate these to the other Sailors through action or hand-signals, thus preventing a caucophony of shouted commands and calls around the ship. Know your job, know the job of the person next to you, observe their actions, and conduct yours accordingly. The concept is simplicity itself. From Seamanship by Stephen B. Luce:

Officers of every rank are expected, when at quarters, when performing the duties of the ship, or when at their different stations, to preserve silence among the men, and see that the orders from the quarter-deck are executed with celerity, and without noise and confusion.

So if HORNET's crew is trained to that historic standard, why should it not be relatively easy to integrate the deaf into regular programming? Ensure a few of our crewmembers - and possibly all, later on - are fluent in ASL, and there you have it. Teach, explain, demonstrate, do.

More about HORNET's programming plans later on.

NNNN

Meet and greet, wash, rinse, repeat

2011-05-17T08:23:00.000-04:00

Since our soft launch, we have been building partnerships and connections with other 501(c)3 organizations as well as those institutions with critical importance to our mission with the USS HORNET Project. I've been meeting some great people and making great connections, sharing some fun sea stories and good jokes. Eat, sleep, get up and do it again. Each day I wake up and realize that I have no idea where I might end up, who I might meet, and what connections I'll have made by the time I hit the rack that night.

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to sit in on the War of 1812 commemorations working group led by CAPT Pat Burns and his staff at the Naval History and Heritage Command Office of Commemorations. And before you say "oh cool" you need to picture a very full room, a malfunctioning conference call-er widget and death by powerpoint. Yes, it was that exciting. But the key take-away is that since October 2010, CAPT Burns and his team have been networking Navy commands and public institutions getting the preparations made for the War of 1812 bicentennial commemorations - no easy thing when your task is to harness the ever-shrinking body of Navy assets that can be allocated to such events (vice combat deployments) and personal, professional and political networks as vast and complex as a united string of my past girlfriends. Yikes.

When I look at NHS, from the top down to the individual volunteers, I see a united formation fighting an uphill battle with substandard weapons and limited support. I think my job is difficult. And then I meet CAPT Burns and his team riding their backsides raw corralling a nation-wide support base and pushing to collect and conglomerate what may be the most complex, challenging and (for the time being) under-appreciated commemoration schedule in decades. I realize that I am small potatoes, here.

There is a certain hopeless feeling that starts to erode confidence after a few hours. And yet CAPT Burns and his people are still there, in the saddle, pushing onward. They know, as few others can imagine, that all of this grating, grinding, agonizing planning and re-planning will ultimately produce something grand, impressive, and remarkably meaningful. And not only for the historical community and its broad base of armchair supporters, but for our Sailors and Marines, for whom the last ten years have been the epitome of the drawn-out, uphill battle full of far-flung enemies, economic strain, and personal sacrifice.

Realizing that 200 years ago, we faced similar perils and triumphed, against all odds, those Sailors and Marines will look back proudly at their remarkable history. At the same time, the American public will focus on and celebrate the proud heritage that these Sailors and Marines have carried on - with aplomb - and recognize that, contrary to the "kids these days" outlook, our Naval forces remain READY, RESPONSIVE and RELEVANT. Our Sailors and Marines are the heart of that truth, and carry that torch proudly. Let them remember that, and let the public remember that.

Dismount - soapbox.

Hat tip, NHHC Commemorations Office!

NNNN

Spring clearing.

2011-05-16T06:51:00.000-04:00

This weekend I spent some much needed spare time organizing and clearing out the Dockyard. I took some time going through all of our sails, pulling them out and marking those that needed maintenance before sending them back out into service. I shifted the trailers and did my "spring clearing" of the brush and tall grass that had begun to spring up in the back forty. Now, thankfully, we are returning to normalcy after the great scamble over Mini-Hornet.

After months of not having a stitch of free time to get that and several other related projects done, it was odd to have an entire weekend with nothing that NEEDED doing. It was almost surreal. And as a few of my colleagues predicted - I didn't quite know what to do with myself. But of course, my boredom inevtably leads to productivity - I don't sit still very well.

I broke out and set up the Bandit 15, my own personal boat, a 30-year-old racing dinghy that is doing well but approaching its last few seasons. After a quick scrub down, she looked tolerable again and all of her rigging and spars were in good order. Of course, I need to find a new jib - having shredded the leach of the existing sail last year. But with a little bit of searching and an ungodly amount of money for such a small but critical sail, she'll be back out on the water in a few weeks. If you're ever on the waterfront trying to find me, the Bandit flies the NHS pennant, and, well, her hull is bright yellow. Can't miss that, really.

Hopefully by the time I get around to procuring myself a new jib and getting the last of the pollen stains out of the cockpit it'll provide me a great personal diversion, some occasional time away from the continued heavy lifting on the HORNET Project. And who knows, it might actually save my sanity!

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Reactions to HORNET - or - how we know we are on the right track

2011-05-14T08:27:00.000-04:00

I think I've beaten to death all the tales about three years of planning, developing a financially self-sustaining cultural attraction and so forth. If you have questions about that, please read the website first, then email - I'm a little shocked by the number of emails I get that remind me "make sure you put engines in your ship." Um, thanks.

Since our soft launch just over a week ago I've been sort of watching the responses attempting to gauge opinions. We haven't started the full-on media blitz, in fact we've declined interviews in order to prolong the "soft-kill" study and get our ducks in a row for the "hard-kill" barrage to come. What I've seen I can summarize as follows:

(1) once Sailors understand what we're doing - that we're actually building a ship, and how we intend to run our programming - they are excited. VERY excited.

(2) existing sail training professionals are largely skeptical and quietly discussing the program in back rooms. Here in Norfolk, I expected nothing less. Others have engaged, cautiously, to see what we're about - glad to hear from you.

(3) history professionals want to know why we weren't touring a lecture circuit or writing a book. Good ideas, but the immediate effects would have played out on the wrong audience. Don't worry, our groundwork is well in place for both - and they'll come soon enough.

(4) the average person with no vested interest is surprised at our projected price points. Common response "sounds like fun, sign me up!"

Processing responses is a matter of weighing professional demographics (listed above) with appropriate attention to the individual motivations within each category. Once the motivation is factored in, determining relevance is relatively easy - basically asking ourselves "should we care?" The answer for the first and last demographics - US Navy Sailors and the otherwise uninterested general public - is absolutely. That's our market base, our reason for doing this. These are the people we will serve. On the other hand, sail training and history professionals have comparatively little to lend HORNET as a community on the whole - though we certainly have something to give them. And that's not to say we won't need support and assistance from individuals within these categories, but rather to say that a ringing endorsement from those professions as a whole is relatively unimportant compared to the measured impact on our target audiences.

Go back and read that sentence carefully, and make sure you take it all in before emailing.

Special thanks to the special advisement of those people in the aforementioned categories that we've brought onboard so far. Hat tip.

The point is this, we've had some great feedback from the most important people - our target audience - and can definitely say we are on the right track.

Mini-HORNET will be at US Fleet Forces Command until May 20th, after which we'll be breaking it down to hit the road for our fundraising efforts. In the meantime, we've been establishing the partnerships that are going to make this project really take off. In the last week alone, we've finalized plans with several other 501(c)3 organizations, all of which will be made public with our first media release.

Stay tuned!

NNNN

On to Richmond...

2011-05-11T07:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, bad pun there and I'm certainly mixing up my historical message, but it is what it is. Chock it up to just one more thing that history nerds like me smirk at and goes right over everyone else's head. If it's any consolation, I made it a lot faster than Little Mac. On topic.

Yesterday I had a great opportunity to present the USS HORNET Project to the Richmond Council, Navy League of the United States. Special thanks to Dave Vachet, SCPO (ret) for arranging the introductions, and for lunch! And in another proof of 'small world, small Navy' - I ran into the former CMC from USS Carter Hall, John M. Heistand MCPO (ret), whom I had the privelege to serve with for a short period in 2008 - and found out that he was responsible for one of my favorite daily diversions - the CO's daily speech on giving the Sailor of the Day his challenge coin. It went something like this (Master Cheif, feel free to correct me here):

"...and as the Sailor of the Day, they'll recieve the much sought after, difficult to obtain, designed by me, completely indestructible, made from the secret compound unobtanium, the hardest, most precious metal known to man, the formula for which is kept in a peanut butter jar in my safe, the only known cure for the common cold, the key component in the flux capacitor that makes time travel possible... the USS Carter Hall Sailor of the Day Coin."

Or something like that. It used to be much longer, funnier and changed almost daily. You would of had to hear it aboard the ship, echoing through the machinery spaces, after a long day. I don't know why that did it for me, but it did. At any rate, it was great to catch up with a shipmate, albeit a brief one, and share a recent happy memory of life at sea. Great to see you Master Chief!

Resume, FOCUS!

That's a close order drill command - not many people know that.

The meeting went very well, and I could tell by the questions and comments that the idea of the USS HORNET Project resonated with a great many members of the board. I look forward to developing a partnership that allows us each to compliment each other's missions and enhance our effectiveness.

And for those of you who don't know, the Navy League of the United States has been DIRECTLY HELPING SAILORS AND MARINES for many, many years. The Richmond Council is composed of approximately 550 men and women who are interested in promoting the safety, welfare, and future of the maritime forces of the United States. Membership is open to all patriotic Americans not on active military duty. Prior service in the Armed Forces is not a requirement for membership. They currently sponsor USS CARTER HALL, LSD-50 (fighting five-oh!), USS NORMANDY, CG-60 and USCGC Northland. They give 'Deployment Dollars' for morale, welfare and recreation, buy big-screen TVs, send care packages, and just about anything else they can to support our Sailors and Marines on the front lines.

My hat is off to you all, Richmond Council, for the valuable service I PERSONALLY HAVE SEEN that you do. Thank you for your contributions!

Thanks again for taking time out of a very busy board meeting to hear about our project, and I look forward to working with you all over the weeks, months and years to come!

NNNN

Mini- HORNET arrives!

2011-05-10T06:13:00.000-04:00

The giant model we've been working on, Mini-HORNET, is finally presentable. Note I said presentable - she's only about 90% done. Last night we spent about six hours setting her up at US Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk. Here's the run-down, from the sign I posted on the model itself:

Working from copies of original drawings and with materials purchased from local home improvement vendors, this 1:12 scale mock-up of USS HORNET was constructed by Naval Heritage Society volunteers, including several active-duty Sailors from US Fleet Forces Command, over a five month period starting in January 2011. It is built to be disassembled for transport, and weighs only 79 lbs (all-inclusive) – the hull is made of high-density foam and lightweight plaster. Every piece was made by hand, an investment of more than 1,700 man-hours for construction, assembly and finishing. It is still only about 90% complete, but work will continue to add the ship’s boats, anchors and nine additional sails in the coming weeks.

In the process of building “Mini-Hornet”, the volunteers got to know more about the construction of the ship and how it would have been operated. All of the rigging is fully functional and can be used to manipulate the sails just as on the real ship.

And here's another, right next to the model:

The original HORNET and her crew caused
more than 300 enemy casualties
and the complete destruction of two enemy warships.

We have no idea what Mini-HORNET can do.

Please do not touch. Thanks.

You can find plenty of pictures of Mini-HORNET and her construction posted on Facebook. No, you don't need to be a member to view them.

Busy day today - back to work!

NNNN

3D rendering 101 - or - how to lose your mind in 10 minutes

2011-05-09T07:53:00.000-04:00

We've been getting a lot of comments about our 3D renderings of HORNET lately, with many people asking who did those for us. When we set out to produce those graphics back in January, we knew we would need professional help (as if we didn't already). So we took the old CAD drawings I used to analyze the ship waaaaay back in 2009 and passed them on to a really (and I mean this) first rate rendering firm. Just over two months and many, many emails later, we were at a total impass. In their defense, a sailing ship is no easy thing of which to understand the multitude of complexities - even enough to draw one effectively. Sails were floating in mid-air, and the rig was a complex tangle of virtual lines. Masts raked insensibly in every direction. We were getting nowhere fast.

And so in typical SWO/NHS fashion, and with three weeks remaining until showtime, I set to work figuring out what I would need to beef up my old CAD program to create something in the way of what I was looking for. In searching 3d rendering programs, the cheapest start out at around $900 - far more than our budget allowed. We had emergency reserve funds, but I didn't want to tap those unless absolutely necessary, and I was SURE it was what we needed. In the end, I found a program called Blender. This powerful software package is what NASA and other agencies use, and comes with an unbeatable pricetag - FREE. So what's the catch? Well, it has arguably the worst user interface ever devised. The learning curve was steep, but I had to give it a shot.

And so, after a whole week beating my head against a wall, I began to make headway. I actually started with the sails and rigging first, knowing they would pose the biggest obstacle as I had absolutely no idea where to start. I then began work on the hull, deck structures, guns and other details. I didn't make everything, mind you - I cut a good many corners by purchasing ready-made items such as the 3d carronade, 3d ship's wheel (which I edited to match Hornet's) and flags (many of which still aren't done). And night after night, until all hours, I was glued to my computer screen working node by node, edge by edge, face by face until I had produced a presentable 3D model.

Bear in mind, all the while we have four other teams working on sub-projects that I have a hand in - legal working on the project charter, setting up the corporate sub-accounts, filing paperwork with every government agency under the sun, and building Mini-HORNET. I was losing a lot of sleep.

In the end, what did we get? The rendering is halfway decent but not great - there are many points that still elude me about the actual rendering process and setting up 3d environments. But what we did get is a few volunteers who stepped up and began learning the program. Now, I'm looking forward to handing off the project to some more tech-savvy volunteers who will work on producing better renderings and even some animations! But there is a certain feeling of satisfaction - not only in knowing that I met the deadline when everyone said I was crazy (again, I agreed from the get-go), but in that others are picking up the ball and running with it! Charge onward, guys!

NNNN

Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler...

2011-05-09T07:26:00.000-04:00

This weekend we put the finishing touches - well, for the time being anyway - on Mini-HORNET in preparation for moving her to US Fleet Forces Command later today. As usual, we're pushing hard to meet a deadline, and calling in every ounce of support we can muster. Today, that means asking our base of support at USFFC to stay after work to help unpack and set her up. Yeah... I'm going to need you to come in on Sunday... too.

Deduct two points if you don't know what movie that's from. Deduct TEN points if you also work at USFF. If you actually thought I was asking you to come in on Saturday, don't cry, call me and I'll come give you a hug. Back on topic.

While a handful of volunteers from USFF have been instrumental in building Mini-HORNET and getting it ready, most of our support base have only heard 'sea stories' about just how big it is. I think we're really going to knock their socks off when they see it. And for those members of the general public who aren't able to get on base to see our little masterpiece, be patient - she'll undoubtedly make the rounds this year as we start ramping up the USS HORNET Project.

NNNN

Off and running!

2011-05-06T06:41:00.000-04:00

Over the past several weeks we've been engaged in a mad dash to make a few of the aspects of the HORNET Project presentable to the public. Many of our volunteers worked long hours at the Dockyard to get our materials ready for launch, including the three primary projects: the 3D renderings, our website (yes, it too was built at our Dockyard -in the office), and Mini-Hornet - which we have decided to stop calling a model because at 1:12 scale it is just too damned huge (16' long, 12' tall)! In the end, our 'soft launch' went very well, and our mission at the moment is to get the word out, grassroots style.

So where do we go from here? Well, we're bending sails on Mini-Hornet this weekend, and we'll be taking her over to US Fleet Forces Command on Naval Security Annex Norfolk for display. As of Monday evening she'll be set up in their atrium until the end of the week, when she might be headed down to Town Point Park for the 10th annual Norfolk Beer Festival. We'll have to wait and see if they give us space.

A few people have asked, "where's the media?" Good question. We're working on that one, but like our soft launch, there are a great many things going into the media release, including our first big partnership - that will be announced at that time. For now, we'll keep the press on social media and personal connections until you're all sick of us asking if you've heard about it!

I'll probably be in and out of the Dockyard after that, engaged in a long string of meetings raising funds for the project. In my absence, we'll get some guest bloggers in here and mix things up a bit!

Rolling out to the shop - if you're in the area, stop on by and lend a hand! PS- Jerry, your carronade pattern will be on its way back to you later today - thanks a million!

NNNN

Announcing the USS HORNET Project!

2011-05-05T07:14:00.000-04:00

Our new site is uploaded, and with it the announcement of our newest and most ambitious project - construction of a full-scale replica of the US Sloop of War HORNET, one of the most successful ships of the War of 1812.

In honor of the occasion, I've published a few back-dated blog articles from the period of our radio silence. They explain in a little more detail the thought process behind all of this, and how we prepared for today - our first public announcement.

I'm going to take a bit of a breather to let everyone go explore the new website at http://www.navalheritage.org/ and read about the project. Feel free to come back and email me or post your questions, and I'll do my best to get back to you asap.

NNNN

Thoughts on the night before

2011-05-04T20:59:00.000-04:00

Well, here we go. It's down to hours now until news of our little project goes public, and we've combed through as much as we can to get prepared. Here's where we stand:

- the website is up and running and seems to be doing well. Here's hoping for no major coding glitches tonight or foul-ups in our opening weeks.

- the 3D renderings, a feature of the website, are presentable and not looking too shabby if I say so myself. They aren't complete, mind you, and my three weeks of experience in working with the programs - and 3D rendering in general - can only do so much. All in all, I think they came out well. Sometime soon, though, I'd like to get in and animate a few of Hornet's sea battles - and because they were so short in duration (she took Peacock in 14 minutes and Penguin in 22), they'll very likely be animated in real time! But I digress.

- Mini-Hornet is looking fantastic. All of her spars are completed and assembled, all of the standing rigging is in place and necessary running rigging on to boot. She is so much more impressive than the pictures show - you really have to see her in person. We hope to provide plenty of opportunities as she makes the rounds of various public venues.

- Hornet T-shirts and postage stamps are in - albeit in small quantity - as we progress with our merchandising plan. That's right, postage stamps (!). Maybe I'm a geek because that excites me. Or maybe it's far more than that. On topic - special thanks to Joe Sturiale for stepping out of his element a bit to help with those. Great work!

There is a great deal more getting set up right now, and so much more to unveil after the unveiling, but I think everyone will be sufficiently amazed to see what we have so far. After many weeks of working tirelessly - working a real job then coming home to put in ungodly long hours working on this, I am so relieved to see it all coming together. Granted, the really hard work is still to come, but I think we'll start seeing more help, more contributions and some really great movement soon.

Well, back to work. I'm on my eighth pot of coffee today, but who's counting?

Haven't worked like this since I was at sea - and it sure feels great!

NNNN

Sweet sweet planning pain

2011-04-26T07:41:00.000-04:00

Okay, we're at T-8 days to soft launch, and there's no going back on the announcement now. True, it's just a facebook post that not many people will pay attention to, but we need to draw the line somewhere. So where do we stand?

- The 3D rendering glitch that caused me to have to delete the whole hull has been fixed - in fact I figured out how to reduce the number of faces that were created when I exported the Delftship file (ship/boat design software) into Blender (the 3D rendering program). This simplifies things greatly, and I'm swimming along nicely. Getting faster every day - and I plan to take this evening away from the shop to really get things moving on deck details etc.

- The website is coming along, and we're in the final development stages. We've all been swinging by http://www.firetree.org/ - that's FireTree Productions, the brainchild of our Multi-Media Assistant Alex Lutz's creative efforts. She posts the draft websites there for review, and we're cranking out the revisions and tweaks and trying to polish the site as best we can before the release. Of course, that's going to be an ongoing thing.

- Mini-Hornet, our name for the 1:12 scale model, is also coming along nicely. Knocked together the main- and mizzen-tops yesterday, trimmed the masts to height and put shoes in the bottom of the hull to prevent 'bottom blow-out' with all the weight pushing down on the foam. We decided last night that we're going to save time but spend money to buy dowels for shaping rather than plane down the spars from square stock as we've been doing - getting the octagon right just takes for bloody ever. And what's the worst effect? The heels of the masts won't be square - chock that one up to nobody will notice, and besides, it's not museum quality, it's a visual aid for crying out loud. Bill Rodgers and his wife Noemi have been hard at work cranking out the sails - which are made from four (!) queen sized bedsheets. Apparently its quite a little mountain of cloth. The foremast is rigged with shrouds, forestay, and fore preventer stay, although we're going to have to go back and replace the line on the forestay - I used bungee and should have used nylon. As a sort of armchair model maker I fully realize how absurd all this sounds, but have to admit that even I'm impressed with the product.

- Vic Keranen, our Historical Director, is coming out to the Dockyard on Wednesday night and staying through Saturday to lend a hand, and I hope to knock out casting the carronades, getting the lower deadeyes and chainplates on all of the channels, and rigging the main and mizzen. Then we'll strip everything down, pull the masts out, move the hull into the Lofting Bay to finish up work there while the masts are laid out in the Framing Bay to be assembled and rigged. Final rigging will need to take place in a gym or something - we can't have this thing outside in any wind at all or the huge sail area will blow it right over (the hull is foam and plaster, afterall).

- In the midst of all this, I was supposed to drive up to NY again to take care of family business, but I really need to put off that visit and get more done around here. Rest when we're done, I suppose.

- I should give a shout out to the NHS staff in other areas. DC Crew - Joe Sturiale, our Finance Director (in real life a VP at Wells Fargo Commercial Real Estate), who has been working long hours on business end pieces and Joey Fuller of Kutak Rock who has been combing through the legal side of things. Down in Florida and in Maryland, Melbourne Smith, Hal Whitacre and the rest of the design team are cranking out the submissions to the USCG for conditional approval of Hornet's design. In New York City, Janet Bartucci and her network of strategic communications gurus are turning and burning making up that end of our plan. In Maryland, Jerry Todd cranked out a pattern for mini-Hornet's carronade barrels, a great help and time saver for the Dockyard crew.

We are ALL busy. Someday I'll look back at this and smile that we were ever able to pull this - even just this announcement - together in such a short period of time. But that's what you get when you have great people! Rock on, guys.

NNNN

So that's it!

2011-04-25T08:29:00.000-04:00

We've been rolling on this for months now, and the strain of preparation is wearing most of us down pretty hard. Thankfully, in true Navy fashion, we've muscled through and charged onward. The grandeur, excitement and sheer shock value of the project helps.

Back in January I presented a new project to the Board of Directors at our annual meeting. And although every member of the Board attending that day had been well aware of what I was working on (I'd been developing it for three years by that point) I don't think they were really prepared for what I brought to the table. Yeah, I wanted to build a tall ship. Sure, it seemed a little impractical. But when I laid out a fairly detailed business plan, marketing figures, tourism statistics, life-cycle costs - everything right down to insurance premiums - I think everyone was a bit shocked. Could we actually do this?

My answer was a very confident YES.

Because in those three years that I spent sailing on various ships, picking the brains of the various operators, talking to world-class naval architects, historians, artists, insurers, regulatory authorities - all while taking copious notes - I was attempting to develop a solution to the problems that plague most sail training programs - mostly lack of funding. The solution couldn't be a better fundraising plan - fundraising is fickle and will let you down when you most depend on it, like poor Olympia. No, I had to get into the guts of the system, find out what makes it tick, and discover a way to make the program actually support itself.

The answers, as I began to find, were directly related to the vessels not being dimensionally suited to their intended missions. And after dozens of spreadsheets analyzing hundreds of pages of gathered data, I found several "golden ratios" hidden in the statistics. The problems? That none of the vessels I analyzed met these ratios. Whether it was operating season, personnel capacity, USCG limitations or any other of the myriad categories of data points, none really fit into the 'zone'.

So what then? I had to prove the system could work, so I made up an imaginary ship and began plugging in the data collected from other programs to make a business plan. The models I used to determine cost structure etc were taken from the standard analysis models for hotels, museums, parking garages and restaurants - all mashed together to create a model of how a sailing school vessel could relate as a business. After all, the business of what an SSV does isn't as common nor relatively simple as any of those companies - I needed to mash them together to make what I needed. Enlisting the help of some executive level help whose occupation was to analyze the profit potential of major corporations, we put the model to the test.

It worked. I remember an evening in 2009 sitting around in the home office surrounded by books, papers, printouts and charts thinking - whoa. It was somewhere in there that we realized that while we couldn't use this data to help other programs, we could certainly create one. And I started the plan.

In following months, I went on a research spree to find the ideal ship. It had to have historical and operational interest, an ingrained market that represented a large segment of the population, and the right dimensions. Of nine ships that made the final cut, none could compare to Hornet. And from that point onward, we kept falling into information that made her more attractive and appropriate.

Her rich history began unfolding, her design began leaping off the pages as preliminary plans were drawn. Since January, a team of volunteers including Sea Cadets and active duty Sailors have been building a 1:12 scale model in the NHS Dockyard - an impressive sight at more than 16 feet long and 12 feet tall. The business plan was refined, polished and perfected, and we grew more and more sure of what we had, and what we could do.

Today is significant because we just posted the date of our soft-launch - the website, this blog and our facebook page will all be updated to include the Hornet Project. We've been putting this day off again and again - knowing that we needed to make a grand entrance in order to make the project real to the public. Additionally, we had to ensure that the project wouldn't flop - setting our supporters up for failure. I don't believe in wasting people's time, effort and excitement.

I think we will have what we need. Our multi-media assistant Alex has been chruning out iteration after iteration of the new website, and we're finally down to polishing. Setup and testing is another story, and we're definately going to be running down to the wire on this one. Since taking on the 3D rendering myself several weeks ago, I've had to balance every free moment of my time to 1) learn how to do it, and 2) build a decent product that we can add to the website. As of last night, I had to scrap the hull I had and start again. Luckily the whole rig and sails are done, plus most of the deck detail. Modelling the big shapes is the easy part - relatively. We're still cutting it really close here, and I know it.

But that's it - the gauntlet has been thrown down, it's go time, and FINALLY we're going to get the word out there on a large scale about this thing.

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She's doing it!

2011-04-13T21:21:00.000-04:00

Just look at the NHS website! That's it - its all done. Our multi-media person has totally deleted our website. No warning - just, there it is. At least there's still a link to this blog!

I told you - wait and see, she's going to destroy the whole thing. Ha!

Actually, in all seriousness, our website is down as we enter the terminal phase of our super secret missile flight - please return your seatbacks and tray tables to their full upright and locked position. In the first week of May - and there is some fine jockeying going on with dates - we're going to be unveiling our master plan - our most ambitious project yet - which includes a new website. I'm sure some people have figured out what we're up to, but for the rest who are still in the dark, your patience is worth the wait, I assure you.

I need to get back to work, so as Depeche Mode said - enjoy the silence - for a bit, anyway.

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Refusing to be afraid or reliquish responsibility

2011-04-07T07:16:00.000-04:00

Last night we had the Dockyard crew out until about 2200 - working in the framing bay, chasing the Dockyard dog when he got out, eating pizza. And I think a good time was had by all, we certainly got a lot of work done. But it was last night, as everyone is standing around during the break having pizza and a cold beer (everyone was of age), when I realized how to vocalize one of the key components of NHS.

The Navy - and the military in general - has its fair share (maybe more so) of alcohol related incidents. Regulation, oversight and procedure steps in more and more, and soon we're trying to micromanage simple things like having a beer after a tough job. Not a kegger, not getting plastered - a beer. I had two, I wasn't driving. But the point is that I think there's a good deal of fear out there on the part of seniors to open that door - after all, with a high number of incidents, there is a good chance it'll come back to bite you, and you'll be spending time in court with your sailor.

But at NHS, we've put another principle to work - trust and teamwork. We've been very lucky so far about the quality of sailors and civilians that come out to support us. But between the retirees, career sailors, younger sailors, and everyday average Joes, there has melded a sort of collective that - I would bet - hails from our past. If you're old enough to drink, feel free. Judge the timing, make good decisions, and enjoy it. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a sport, don't rush. And if you slip up and make a bad decision, your shipmates are there to keep you in line.

Perfect example - last night. Pizza arrived, and everyone had soft drinks of some kind. The beer fridge opened, and one of our First Class Petty Officers said to the opener "stop, wait." Then looked to me "Sir, are we going to be doing much cutting or using power tools after the break?" My answer, negative. "We still have a couple of hours of sanding and touch up left, right?" My answer, affirmative. He turned back to the guy opening the door. "Grab me one, and go get that book you wanted me to look at." I watched as while we enjoyed the pizza, and some enjoyed a cold beer, everyone enjoyed some laughs and conversation.

Simple? Yes.

My point is this - if we write out alcohol from events entirely, then we are missing a golden opportunity to teach responsible alcohol consumption by example. Supervised, yes, to some degree, but I'm finding out that trust is a powerful motivator. And when someone feels that they represent something greater than themselves, that they are following in the footsteps of people they respect (in the last example, the FCPO) they are less likely to do stupid things.

It could be that we have a $hi+ hot team. The quality of our volunteers really does make a tremendous difference.

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Return of the Monomoys

2011-04-06T08:54:00.000-04:00

Tonight is another working session at the Dockyard - we'll be doing some work on the model, getting the hull ready for paint, but also breaking out gear for Monomoy No. 1 and preparing her for the - da da dada daaaa - first sail of the season. That's right, this Saturday we'll be launching the Monomoy at Naval Station Norfolk and taking her out for the first sail of the season! In the process, we'll be breaking in new crewmembers for Conquer the Chesapeake 2011 and getting our laundry list of repair and improvement items polished off. Anyone interested in participating get in touch soonest and I'll provide more information.

The covers on Monomoys No. 2 and 3 are both off - one in a horrible state of tatters and splinters, the other worn to near unserviceability. New covers will be going together and be ready for setup the week after next - so standby for that operation.

And on that score, someone asked recently - "you've already told us its okay if the boats get wet, so what's the big deal?" Well, simply put, water isn't the only enemy of wooden boats. In their current state, the bigger threat is actually the sun - which can cause the wood to check and crack and do serious damage. We need to get them out of the sun - hence the covers. Its okay to leave them exposed for a few weeks, and doing so gives us a great opportunity to clear out the area. But leaving them that way for too long is a recipe for disaster.

Amidst everything else that is going on, we're going to be working out the details for a quick restoration of Monomoy No. 3. Some time ago, we determined that she was by far the better preserved of our two 1904 vintage Monomoys, and in the interest of getting one of those behemoths out of the Dockyard, we'll be putting all of our eggs into one basket to get her restoration cranked out and completed. She'll need a complete recaulking and some refastening, plus a lot of scraping, painting, and fabricating all new masts, spars and oars. More to look forward to this summer!

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Everything that can, and will, go wrong - or - its all about the Irishmen

2011-04-04T10:01:00.000-04:00

This weekend the Dockyard was humming with activity - or screaming as the case may be - as one thing after another after another began going wrong. But what started out as an exercise in not screaming like a three year old in frustration ended as a great lesson in how adversity makes people better, tougher, and more ready for the next challenge.

First, on Friday night, we had a hacker attack and lost our primary comupters. Earlier in the week, we lost one to a rogue beer tsunami. Luckily, everything was backed up, but I lost notes, our web people lost drafts and all of our carefully balanced technological ballet fell flatter than Natalie Portman's actual dancing in Black Swan. Fun times were decidedly NOT had by all.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, while work progressed in the Framing Bay and in the office, a series of nasty squalls hit the Dockyard and took out the cover on the No. 3 Monomoy. I was told that it was quite a sight - almost biblical - the way the frame shattered, lines parted and tarp disintegrated into tatters. But alas, I was neck deep in computer issues and didn't even hear it. All else was well, but now we also had issues digging a Monomoy out from under a wrecked cover.

Saturday evening, we recieved word that a donor was coming down to the Dockyard. Greaaaat. Here's how your hard-earned well-donated dollars are working - computers that are fried, boats hidden under wreckage, and of course wet, crappy weather. Come on over! As if I had anything that I could possibly say to stop them that didn't make us seem like bumbling idiots.

But in the process of getting to know our dear friend Murphy - whose endless stream of probable improbability laws I have always known to govern my life - I also got to know his dear cousin Mulligan. Now, the latter I've been casual friends with since I took up golf - invoking his good graces on nearly every outing, at every hole - who am I kidding? at every stroke. This time, as hurricane Murphy devastated our operations, we wept and prayed to his cousin - the patron saint of do-overs.

On Saturday, around mid-day, our multi-media coordinator Alex arrived and began plotting the solution to our computer woes. Until this incident we had worked from laptops, so we could take our efforts mobile on the drop of a hat. Except the hat never dropped, and those computers stayed glued to the worktable in the office. Using a spare 52" LCD TV and some reconditioned towers, we were soon up and rolling with five times the computing power and a kick-ass joint control desktop display. Yes, that's right - we just had those laying around. Actually, we're master scroungers - we have to be to operate on our shoestring budget - and a special thanks to Kenny and the staff at Best Buy for your help in finding us the best scratch-and-dent deals and second-hand donations in the area.

Meanwhile, the volunteers in the Dockyard - thoroughly pissed off at the collapse of the cover - went hardcore into DC (damage control) mode and used the ol' time-tested boarding axes to clear away the wreckage. Haven't seen that angry working spirit evoked since Monomoy No.1's first mast exploded during testing. But in about 15 minutes the cover had been cleared away, new lumber was being laid out for making up the new framework and the requisition for the new cover was on my now very Gucci desk. Fantastic.

And of course, our donor arrived just in time to see our media assistant and volunteers hard at work, recovering from the pain, and was so impressed that he gave us more money! I know you don't want your name up here, sir (for fear of divorce, I think) - but THANK YOU just the same!

I don't ever expect that we should meet every setback like we did this weekend, but whatever the next one happens to be, WE'RE READY FOR IT!

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