Tonight at Inland Seas: Life Aboard a 19th Century Schooner



Inland Seas Fit Out - Day 2

Today we removed to old stern bearing and fitted the new bearing.  We also put a second coat of anti-fouling on half the bottom and painted the waterline stripe.  I continued work on deck chasing rust spots (rust never sleeps).  A good day with lots accomplished.  Tomorrow we hope to refit the rudder and continue painting.  Thanks to Bob Hagerman, Allen Wolfe, Jan Hale and Ben Hale for great work today.

The old stern bearing (18 years and 5,000 hours of service)

Capt. Ben Hale cutting the old bearing into sections to allow removal.

Bob Hagerman cleaning up the shaft prior to reinstallation.

Reinstalling the shaft into the new bearing.

Done! 

Capt. Wolfe rolling on the 2nd coat of anti-fouling.

Lookinggood!

Capt. Jan Hale taping the waterline prior to painting.

Tomorrow:  Reinstall the rudder, paint the rub rail, prep deck houses for painting.  ---Capt. Tom K.

Building the Schooner Inland Seas Program to be Repeated Dec. 29

Here is another teaser photograph from my presentation to be given on Thursday December 29 at 3pm at the Inland Seas Education Center...

Homeward Bound in the Atlantic, June 7, 1994. Rick Steenersen at the helm.

Inland Seas' Winter Cover Installed

The crew put in a long day on Friday, November 4th.  We got the winter cover on and the plastic heat shrunk around the sides.  Monday we will return to finish shrinking the top portion of the cover.  This can be done from the inside.  Then we will be ready for the icy blasts of winter.

Larry and Allen rigging the strapping that will hold the lower edge of the cover.

Bob and Jan rolling our the plastic sheet that will form the cover.

Putting heat-shrink tape around the masts.

One side of the cover has been secured.  The other (stbd) side is being secured along the centerline with a wooden batten.

Port side of cover in place.  The aft section was later covered with an athwart piece of plastic sheet.

Inside view with cover in place, prior to heat shrinking.

The Cover is secured for the weekend.  Monday we will finish up the heat shrining from inside.

Inland Seas at Great Lakes Maritime Academy

Inland Seas will be at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City until Tuesday morning.
The vessel in the foreground is GLMA's R/V Northwestern

To see a video of the recent sunken barge found by the R/V Northwestern, click here.

Maintenance Day on Inland Seas

There is always work to do aboard the schooner.  This week the crew will be painting, upgrading some safety equipment, and doing the monthly full rig inspection.  The photo shows Allen Wolfe aloft doing the rig inspection on the main mast. 

A Snowy Day At Suttons Bay

The topmasts are up and we are ready to reave the running rigging.  However there needs to be a bit of melting first. 

Ponder the ways of April...the record high temperature is 86 degrees F, the record low is 3 degrees F.  We are 30 degrees above the record low.  So maybe this is not so bad. 

Inland Seas Back Home In Sutton Bay



Underway through skim ice



Arriving back home. We took the cover frame off in the afternoon.

Yesterday we brought the schooner back to her home port in Suttons Bay.  It is sure nice to see her at the dock again.  -Capt. Tom

Maritime Festival Planned for Escanaba on July 6, 2011

A new Maritime Festival will take place in Escanaba this summer, featuring Inland Seas and Madeline.
Read about it in the Escanaba Daily Press.

Early Spring Work on the Schooner

Allen making up a new quarter lift.

The snow covers the ground, and Suttons Bay is locked in ice, but work on the ship continued all winter.  Volunteer crew members Allen Wolfe, Bob Hagerman and Dale Whalen have been busy with refinishing brightwork and science gear, splicing new lines, and repairing the steering wheel (Dale crafted a new handle to replace one that was damaged).  Next week Capt. Remy and other volunteers will return and spring outfitting will begin in earnest.

Allen & Bob continue with splicing.

Dale stands beside the wheel with his new ash handle installed.

Inland Seas Covered for the Winter

This past week Inland Seas received her winter cover.  The crew, led by Capt. Champt, put on the shrink wrap cover during a break in the windy fall weather.  The frame was installed before we left our home dock in Suttons Bay.  Thanks also to crew members Bob and Allen. 

Inland Seas at Center Pointe with cover frame installed

Cover in place. 

Thanks to Center Pointe and Harbor West 25 LLC for providing our winter berth!  -Capt. Tom 

More from the Michigan Schooner Festival

Sunday at the Michigan Schooner Festival

Early Morning Calm. From the left: Madeline, Appledore V, Inalnd Seas, Dennis Sullivan

Capt. Tom giving the pre-trip Safety Briefing

Sailing dory on West Grand Traverse Bay

Returning to Clinch Park on our final sail of the Festival. Appledore V is dockside in the photo.

Schooner Festival - Sept. 11, 2009

Dennis Sullivan missed the Parade of Sail, but made a fine sight on Saturday
The littlest schooner?

Arcturus, MHA's H-28

Madeline

Conditions were perfect for the first Michigan Schooner Festival in Grand Traverse Bay.

-Capt. Tom

September 10, 2009 - Donor Sail and Appledore V

"Come and get it"...Greg is ready to serve.

ISEA held a dinner sail for its donors (Captain Circle and above) on the evening of Sept. 10. We had 25 guests and a fine dinner prepared by Inland Seas' chef Greg Hatfield. It was a wonderfully warm evening filled with good friends and good conversation.

After we arrived back at out dock, the schooner Appledore V from Bay City came alongside to spend the night. She will join Inland Seas tomorrow for the Traverse City Schooner Festival (along with Dennis Sullivan, Welcome, Madeline and others).

Appledore V rafted off alongside Inland Seas. Capt. David Leanza is standing with the flag.

Spring Schoolship Aboard Manitou

2009 Schoolship Memories
Aboard the Two Masted Gaff Rig Schooner Manitou
by ISEA Lead Instructor & Board Member Sally Somsel

Lead Scientist - Dr. Bill once again led the opening day activities on Manitou as the first students crossed the deck of the tallship. The opening day otter trawl launch was the only dry net launch for the season. It came back up after the ten minute time period with fish, new old Chara and no slime. Fishing was good this year and then the goby moved in. The big catch of the year was the huge glob of quagga mussels weighing over 250 pounds.

The secchi disks hit bottom that first day out at 20 meters & our water temperature was in the low to mid 30’s. While anchored, we determined that the VanDorn bottle line was coming up short & was missing 25 feet. After much discussion between the leads & double checking the measurements - we finally convinced the office we needed a longer line. It arrived at some point in the season, & then we broke the VanDorn bottle, luckily Dr. Bill reached into his towel sack & pulled out a VanDorn for us to use. The water temperature in a month had only warmed up 10 or 15 degrees depending upon which thermometer you were using. It is still not warm enough for the quagga and zebra mussels to have sex yet.

The weather was mostly – “not snowing”. But there was the morning when we arrived and found that the deck was pure ice. As we moved across the bay we ended up being the “Grand Traverse Bay Ice Breaker.”

Captain Dave has a GREAT crew this year. The crew is experienced, helpful & dedicated to the upkeep of Manitou & to the ISEA program. The schooner looks spectacular! The Manitou is really in ship shape condition this season, & we can’t say we have ever seen all the brass so polished & bright this early in the spring. There is either a paint elf onboard Manitou this year, or we Leads have been more careful this spring & are not gouging the PONAR dredge into the nicely painted rail. The crew is taking greater care in bringing the otter boards back on the deck. The crew was pleasant & jovial: Jovial can be translated into: cheerful, jolly, good-humored, fun-loving, full of beans, happy, buoyant – just take your pick

It was a very cold spring; hats, mittens, gloves, & winter coats were the garb of fashion. Captain Cheyenne didn’t dress in 7 layers this year, but she was bundled up. There were a few days when the students showed up in T-shirts and shorts dressed for a pleasant sail in August, even though the temperature was fifty and the wind chill thirty below. After dressing them in yellow jackets and we got their brains warmed up, we had a few students where the “light” kicked “on” and maybe a future sailor or scientist was inspired that day.

While the 80,000 Schoolship student walked across the deck of Inland Seas this spring, that number wouldn’t have been reached without the use of the “floating classrooms” Malabar, Westwind and the magnificent Manitou and their Captains & crew. Even though Inland Seas got a cake, Captain Dave got Birthday Donuts and a rousing chorus of that traditional sea shanty - HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

Brendan and Cheyenne get the Seamanship Instructor Award this year. It was a cold “rainy” day on Monday and I have never seen such big smiles back there at the wheel. The students and the crew/instructors were having a great learning experience. Cook Tina kept the galley warm & toasty and her hot coffee saved the life of many an instructor this spring. Tina’s grub was reputed to be spectacular. Glen and Caleb’s Facebook pages should have been filled with “Friend requests” from many of the eighth grade girls that sailed with us. Delvon came to the Tallship Manitou from the Highlander Sea. (You know that boat that has these deep pockets for all sorts of maintenance projects--). D is currently sailing on a schooner that counts its nickels & dimes & after all these years the Captain finds that he has to spend some cash for the replacement of the rotted out wood plank on the docking platform. Sometimes accidents happen, & Captain Matt & Crew operated under very stressful conditions regarding a head door accident, but they got us back to the dock in record time & the crew handled the situation magnificently. THANK YOU by the way. Sally was busy with teacher #2 who faints at the site of blood & a missing plankton instructor who she thought had a head emergency and he thought he had the break Sally found him sipping a cup of coffee and eating a cookie he got from Tina.

Very noticeable was the line thrower and catchers this year --Wendy and Laura have the biggest smiles in the world that light up even the darkest and dreariest days. OH - Captain Dave, we will be taking our trawl net with us when we leave, but we are leaving Kara (chara) behind on the deck.

WHAT A GREAT TALLSHIP, WHAT A GREAT CREW, WHAT A GREAT SPRING SCHOOLSHIP on the Schooner Manitou. Have A GREAT SUMMER. Thank you all for sharing your days with us and for your hard work and dedication to the ISEA program.
Christine Jerry Len Pete Sally Dr. Bill 0

Inland Seas' Rescue Boat Gets A Makeover

ISEA's inflatable rescue boat got a thorough cleaning, painting and upgrading this winter. The boat was cleaned and polished, the "Inland Seas" name added to the sides, a floor board replaced, a bow pudding added, more reflective tape added, and the gas tank and air pump replaced. This work was done by Capt. Remy Champt, Allen Wolfe, Bob Hagerman, Tom Kastle and Tom Kelly. -TK

Extent of ice cover on Suttons Bay, April 6, 2009.

Final Preparations for Spring Schoolship

This week has been busy with final details aboard ship and in the office to get ready for the 89 classes coming for spring Schoolship Programs aboard Inland Seas and Manitou. Today Remy and Allen made final modifications to the new benthos washing screen, fitted new bridles to the new trawls, and changed the thermostats on the John Deere diesel engine, among other things.

The office has been buzzing also, with Kim, Christine, and Phyllis, assisted by Sally Somsel, putting all the pieces together to make the program happen. Tomorrow we begin our 20th season with Suttons Bay 8th graders.

This evening Tom K. gave a presentation on the Schoolship to 60 University of Michigan faculty and local guests at Black Star Farms.

-Tom Kelly

Topmasts Raised

Inland Seas' topmasts are both in place, so she looks a proper "tall ship". The main topmast was stepped on Thursday, with the crew headed by Allen Wolfe, and the fore top went up today under the direction of Capt. Remy Champt. The photo shows Jan and Allen aloft intalling the topmast shrouds and stays. Next comes installing the blocks, booms, running rigging and sails.

- Tom Kelly

Inland Seas Arrives at Suttons Bay

Two days after ice out...

ISEA's schooner Inland Seas arrived at her home port of Suttons Bay on Monday April 7 after a pleasant motor cruise from her winter berth in Traverse City. The crew enjoyed being underway again, especially with sunshine and a following breeze to make things comfortable on deck. The water temperature was only 37.5 degrees F, so we were glad we had no spray to contend with. Crew for this passage consisted of Tom Kelly, Master; Remy Champt, Mate; Allen Wolfe, 2nd Mate; Jan Hale and Bob Hagerman, Deckhands. Of the five aboard, four were licenced captains!







Just after our arrival in Suttons Bay the wind came up from the SW and blew a near gale. The crew, joined by Tom Kastle, worked all afternoon removing the winter cover frame.

-Capt. Tom Kelly