First Days Aboard Denis Sullivan
Brunswick, GA
November 6, 2023
Ship’s Log written by 2024 AmeriCorps Deckhand Educator Sarah Margolis
Ahoy! I’m writing to you from a post-lunch muster (meeting with the captain and crew) on the afternoon of our third day aboard the Denis Sullivan. It’s been a jam-packed few days filled with excitement, curiosity, and a LOT of information.
On the first of November, the new crew flew into Brunswick, GA where the boat is currently docked to undergo repairs and preparation for our transit south to St. Croix. We have 8 Deckhand / Educators this season and I was quite nervous to meet my new shipmates and begin this adventure with World Ocean School. Some of the old crew are currently aboard, and have been extremely welcoming and helpful in transitioning to life on the Denis Sullivan. The majority of the new crew have some sort of sailing experience, while a handful have experience sailing on Tall Ships. (Apparently sailing a small boat and tall ship are very different). While I have no sailing experience whatsoever, I have found my more seasoned shipmates happy to help and explain as I traverse the steep learning curve of ship anatomy, vocabulary, and culture.
The first few days have been centered around safety, organizational and hierarchal roles, and community building. After learning about emergency procedures and equipment aboard the vessel, we began to learn the basics of day-to-day operations. For example, we learned that all of the colors (flags) go up at 8am each morning and are taken down at sunset. The courtesy flag (the flag of the state or country being visited) is not taken down. The ensign (flag to identify the ship’s home nation) will go up first, and the other will follow.
Today we learned about safe sail handling. We put up (hauled) and took down the outer jib, one of the Denis Sullivan’s four headsails. We then went out on the head rig in front of the ship to furl (fold and tie down) the sail.
I’m looking forward to learning more! Thanks for following along!
