2010 Sailing Schedule
Here is the latest Sailing Schedule. We are leaving for the college consortium earlier than in the last schedule.
2010 Sailing Schedule Version 3-2-10
I have also changed the schedule in the previous posts as well.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 7 so far )26 New Volunteers!!!
The first class of Winter Sail Training 2010 will be Saturday, Jan 30th. There are 35 people that will be taking part in the training including 26 people that signed up last Sat. during the Volunteer Orientation. The day was a great success. Between the new volunteers and our regular group that comes down we have around 60 people here. These are the kind of numbers we want to see every weekend from now on. Thank you all who came down. We were able to get a lot of work down very quickly with that kind of workforce and we were on TV.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )New Volunteer Orientation/Winter Sail Training
This Saturday will be the start of this years Winter Sail Training beginning with a new volunteer Orientation. If you or anyone else is interested in joining out volunteer crowd come on down.
This is the advertisement that is going out on other websites and blogs.
If you’re age 16 or over, and interested in preserving history, sailing, or the great outdoors, then the US Brig Niagara, www.flagshipniagara.org, needs you! As the 2010 summer sailing season approaches, Erie residents and anyone from the tri-state area are invited to attend an orientation for new volunteers at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16th, 2010 at the Erie Maritime Museum, 150 East Front St, Erie, PA.
 Our course will focus on the fundamentals of square-rig seamanship and the volunteers will directly apply those skills in fitting-out the ship for sailing in May  |
New volunteers may sign up to join our well-trained volunteer crew to help maintain and learn to sail the ship. Niagara volunteers form an invaluable part of the ship’s sailing crew each summer. They receive sail training during the winter and provide continuity from year to year, which helps whenever new volunteers and trainees join the ship.
“During the dark winter months, Niagara is an upbeat place where volunteers can come to find a special camaraderie with shipmates that stems from their mutual pride in caring for the ship. Niagara is a famous icon of Erie, with a story of great national significance. Her preservation and operation go hand-in-hand with the proper interpretation of her history. Has there ever been a more important time to consider the significance of our history and decide to preserve such a tremendous educational tool as Niagara?” said Captain Wesley Heerssen.
New volunteers are invited to attend a sail training course (at no cost), which includes hands-on training in the museum’s rigging loft, and on the full-scale indoor model of Niagara’s Topgallant mast. The course begins with the orientation on January 16th and continues on alternate Saturdays through April 24th.
While the course is free, the Niagara relies on volunteer service to maintain the ship. Volunteers are invited and encouraged to help sail Niagara in the summer months as their availability permits. “Our course will focus on the fundamentals of square-rig seamanship and the volunteers will directly apply those skills in fitting-out the ship for sailing in May,” said Captain Heerssen.
Sign up for Orientation no later than Thursday, January 14th by calling Julie Wagner in the Erie Maritime Museum office at 814-452-BRIG, extension 222.
Road Trip to Put-in-Bay
Would you be interested in a one-day coach trip to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, to see the island from which Oliver Hazard Perry’s fleet launched the Battle of Lake Erie?
The daytrip would coincide with Niagara’s visit to Put-in-Bay in late May. It would be a unique opportunity to see our ship at that historic location.
We’d depart Erie early in the morning so that we could spend most of the day touring the Perry Memorial area, having lunch, seeing related sights and stopping for dinner on the way home.
The cost would be under $100 per person for members. Round-trip bus service, transportation on the island, tour guides and admission would be included. Lunch and dinner would be the responsibility of participants.
Please indicate your interest by emailing your response by January 17 to: paulette@velocity.net.
We’ll follow up with details if there is sufficient interest. Thanks in advance and Don’t Give Up the Ship!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Collaboration with the Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies
Yesterday was the beginning of a collaboration with BCMS. The shipwright Bob Arlet gave a demonstration to 15 Erie School District high school students on how to steam bend frames for a boat. The t’gallant yards were then shouldered and brought over to the Bayfront Center by the students. The ship’s professional crew will be working with the Erie School District High School students starting tomorrow. Our goal is to dress the yards completely from sanding and varnishing to bending on the sails and all the work will be done by the students. We are all very excited to be working with the Bayfront Center on this project. This is a good opportunity for these students to see another aspect of the maritime world here in Erie. I hope that this is just the first of many collaborations between our organizations to utilise the wonderful waterfront maritime campus that we share.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Christmas Tree Ship 2009
The weather was not cooperating with us this year. The day started off with the wind topping off around 40 knots. It settled down to an easy 20-30 knots by the time the event started. People still came though to see Santa on the ship and enjoy all the fun crafts and activites in the museum. I think it is testament to the people of Erie that you will still come out to an event in that kind of weather. Our volunteers also were there in large numbers to make sure the event went well. We even had one of our volunteers celebrate his 16th birthday with us that night. In case you missed it take a look at these pictures:
I think summer is over…
The last forecast I saw had 2-4 inches of snow in it for the Erie Waterfront. I guess that means that summer is finally over. Luckily, we got the winter cover on before the snow came down.
Pat, Rob and Isaiah have been working to get the rest of the small pieces of the cover put in which hasn’t been too bad so far but as the wind had increased
the temperature has been dropping. Tomorrow there will be snow and they will be outside seizing off the Main Shrouds. We will most likely be working outside for another 2 -3 weeks until eveything is finally ready for winter. So, think warm thoughts for your friends down here on the US Brig Niagara.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )2010 Sailing Schedule
As promised there has been some changes to the schedule and here they are.
2010 Sailing Schedule Version 3-2-10
I have also changed the schedule in the previous posts as well.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )2010 Sailing Schedule
2010 Sailing Schedule Version 3-2-10
So the schedule has been put together as best we can this far in advance. We wanted to get this out there as soon as possible so people start making plans now. There is always a chance that the schedule will change and we will contact anyone who is affected by the change if you have signed up for a particular passage. As soon as we have determined what the TBD(To Be Determined) sections will be I will update the schedule with a new post.
I encourage all of you to sign up to be a trainee for passages soon. This is a big season for us with many great passages to make and thousands of miles to sail on all 5 Great Lakes. We are also going to be a part of the Tall Ships Challenge Race Series with ASTA racing against many other tall ships. With ports stops of Duluth, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, Green Bay and Put in Bay it’s sure to be a fun summer and quite the adventure. Trainees will start joining the ship once we start uprig and will leave once downrig is complete. Let’s fill the ship this summer!
Who wants to go sailing?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 11 so far )The Stbd Main Channel is Back!
The Stbd Main Channel is back on. This project is only possible through the skill, dedication, and hard work of our head shipwright Bob Arlet. Bob does his work in such a way that most people have no idea how difficult of a job he is getting into. There are very few pieces, if any, left on Niagara that Bob has not built or rebuilt in the past 19 years. Next time you are down on the ship, take a look around and I’m sure you’ll be looking at Bob’s work. Next time you see Bob you can thank him.
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Billy Sabatini
wheerssen
