Sending Up and Tensioning Down: Uprig Begins

Port Manatee and St. Petersburg, FL

Friday, November 18, 2022

It’s been a busy few days aboard Denis Sullivan since our last update. Our stellar uprig crew is hard at work putting the Sullivan back together, and she’s finally looking like a schooner again!

The team started on Friday by returning to Port Manatee to step the lower masts using the port’s cranes.

Once the lowers were in place, the crew returned the Sullivan to St. Petersburg to continue the uprig there.

The crew got to work “setting up” the rig, or tensioning things down from aloft down to deck. On Saturday, they started setting up the lower masts.

They also “sent up” the main topmast using a heel rope rigged through the bottom or “heel” of the topmast.

Most recently, the crew sent up and crossed the fore yard, which will allow us to set Denis Sullivan’s signature raffee. As of today, all of her spars are in place and she is looking more and more like the proud Great Lakes schooner she is!