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Photo: Fred Hecklinger carving the nameboard of Pride of Baltimore II.

Friday, October 2, 2020

Fred Hecklinger, 84, passed this week. He was a critical third of the three leaders that formed the International Historic Watercraft Society to design and build the 1812 War Baltimore Clipper Privateer reproduction Pride of Baltimore for the City of Baltimore back in 1976. Melbourne Smith was the society founder and master builder; Tom Gilmer was the naval architect and historian; Fred was the foreman of construction.

One of the younger members of the building team, Peter Boudreau, 20 years old at the time, shared with me this week that Fred filled the role of foreman of the construction, but was often referred to as “Chief Psychologist”.

I think it fair to say Fred continued this psychologist role for Pride of Baltimore all through her sailing life, and even for the second vessel.

On a number of occasions, Fred would be a relief captain for some of the winter-time voyage legs around Florida and northeast Caribbean during the early years of the first Pride. Covering times when the full-time replacement was not available to pick up directly from the departing full-time captain. Relief work as captain can be tricky for all hands. By all accounts, crew morale was kept high and high-functioning through the “way of Fred” as captain.

Fred joined the second vessel’s construction team, led by Pete Boudreau, having become a master builder himself with Lady Maryland recently completed, to carve Pride of Baltimore II’s name into her stern, as he had for the first. Again, always sharing sagely, and sometimes with his wry humor, his extensive encyclopedia of “age of sail” knowledge and experience mixed with his classic yachting and modern ocean racing background.

Residing in Annapolis, Fred would pay a visit aboard Pride of Baltimore II every time she made a port call there. His acute observation skills, developed through his professional sailing life since age 15, generated wonderfully engaging conversations merging his observations and queries about the nature of the second vessel with our own discoveries and solutions. Peppered throughout with compliments for our diligence of care for her while inserting his own solutions derived from his vast experience. Every one of the crew participating always experienced personal pride from Fred’s recognition of their efforts to preserve and contribute to the high standard the ship is admired for.

When not sailing professionally, Fred was a marine surveyor, particularly in demand by those responsible for wood-built vessels.

Fred is known far and wide around the Chesapeake Bay outside of the Pride of Baltimore legacy that was started by the City back during the mid-1970s. In addition to being foreman for the building of the first Pride, Fred filled a key role in the founding of the Eastport Yacht Club. In 1965, Fred helped establish Chesapeake Appreciation Days. He also was involved with a number of museums: the Maryland Center for History and Culture (formerly the Maryland Historical Society), Annapolis Maritime Museum, and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Fred is also a published author of marine subject magazine articles.

I will miss Fred’s wry humor.

Signed,

Jan C. Miles
Senior Captain

Photo: A tradition in recent years, the crew gathered for a quick end-of-season photo. From left to right: Chief Mate Jeff Crosby, Phil Keenan, Joe Byington, Shevawn Innes, David Stolz, Chad Lossing, James Rogers, Blake Lowry, Captain Jan Miles.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Today is the last day of layup work by Pride’s 2020 liveaboard seasonal sailing crew. At the end of this day, when layup preparation is complete, the liveaboard crew will be heading toward futures not clear, except that they know where they will be sleeping ashore.

The process of protecting the ship for this long-term layup is without much mystery. Every winter layup includes covering the ship to protect her from direct sunlight and precipitation. The ship was already in winter layup when the decision for continuing into a long-term layup was forced for the rest of that year of 2018. A never-before layup spanning more than a full calendar year. A lot was learned after that layup about what happens to the ship for any layup that includes summer months.

Passive ventilating, under the well-ventilated design of the sun and rain blocking ship’s cover that we use every winter between active sailing seasons, is not adequate during summer layup months for preventing mold buildup down below nor plank seams opening up more than they do during short winter layups. During the summer, unlike during winter months, the average wind speed is much reduced and the humidity is much increased. While the ship’s cover protects from direct sunlight and precipitation, the low-velocity summer winds are not enough to stir air down below, as do winter winds flowing through the cover over deck openings. The lesson we learned is that it requires artificial wind under the cover and inside the ship to reduce the chance of growing mold down below. So, this time around for this summer layup, there are numerous fans moving air on deck, down below, and even in the bilges.

To reduce plank seam opening through this extended summer layup ahead of the normal winter layup, there will be regular wetting of deck and topside plank seams. Two to three times a week, we think. This will be a significantly time-consuming activity. Likely each wet down will take a couple of hours.

Knowing well in advance the decision to lay up the ship for this pandemic year, extra time was taken to cover Pride’s big lower masts with extra coats of protecting oil, plus a “holding coat” of glossy/reflective varnish. The crew also soaked additional tar on the exposed parts of the wire standing rigging that is covered with tarred marlin. The ten-foot-tall (long) tops of the lower masts, the doublings, as we call them because of the overlap between lower end of topmasts and upper end of lower masts (hence the term doubling), are painted black and apt to get pretty hot from the sun. This leads to the growth of small checks in the painted surface through the increased heat. The black painted areas at the top of the big lower masts have been given “shade” from the sun by a covering system that provides an air space between the shade cover and the black painted mast doublings. The shade is installed in a fashion estimated to be robust for the significant wind speeds that can occur at the height of the doublings.

We also hang a sun-blocking skirt between ship’s cover and the waterline on the starboard side every layup. This became important during the shorter length wintertime layups because of the orientation of the ship. She is moored pointed east. All winter long, her starboard side was receiving daily doses of direct sunlight and we observed seams opening in some parts of her topside planking over the relatively short winter. The skirting reduced the amount of opening to nearly no opening at all. Except for occasions of a full summer layup. A fair amount of compensating caulking and replacement seam compound above the waterline was required before sailing after the first full year of layup. This time round, we hope periodic wetting will be effective at reducing, if not preventing, seams from opening, such as we observed during the last summertime layup.

Last time (in 2018), the long-term layup was due to an unforeseen extreme budget shortfall that not only laid the ship up, but laid off all the senior marine staff and nearly all of the full-time company staff. This time, the layup cause is the global pandemic. With state legislature support for a span of five years that started late 2018 and an active staff since early 2019 raising funds and earning grants, as well as developing direct ship use income, there are funds for keeping the company running through the rest of this year. However, not enough to keep the ship sailing. Thus the staff will be able to continue to make plans for next year’s campaigning of the ship. Meanwhile, the company will also keep key senior marine staff employed for assisting with planning while also caring for and maintaining the ship. Hence this layup will include ship maintenance as well as increased attention to preservation while we all await sailing again next year.

Maintenance that will occur between the bit of sailing done this year and the plan for a full season next year will include a number of unessential desires. Like replacing the galley counter around the galley sink due to the accumulation of water contamination of the end grain of galley counter wood. There will also be some detailed cosmetic care in the galley. This layup will also provide some time that is hard to set aside during winter layups between fully active sailing seasons for making replacement blocks rather than purchasing new. “Shipkeeper” Chief Mate Jeff Crosby’s highly skilled carpentry will be put to use creating jigs for standardizing the making of block-shell pieces that can be assembled into shells of blocks. It will be a relatively simple matter of shifting sheaves and sheave-pins to the newly assembled shells. Leaving future sailing crew to re-strop new blocks when it is time to replace the old shells. (Easy for me to say … eh?)

Meanwhile, I hope all the departing crew and you readers of these logs remain diligent.

Signed,

Jan C. Miles
Senior Captain

Date: Monday, October 30, 2017

Position: Chestertown, Maryland

The last “public access sails” for this weekend’s Sultana Downrigging Weekend maritime event were Sunday afternoon. It was a wonderfully serendipitous weekend between two major rain events associated with Tropical Storm Phillipe rushing northward not far offshore past the mid-Atlantic coast in the north western Atlantic Ocean.

Sunday afternoon’s sail wind strength was lighter than it had been Friday or Saturday and the direction was not as “fair” for sailing river reaches between turn-arounds. So, mostly the strategy was motor away against the soft prevailing breeze and then sail slowly back.

During the sail back, another serendipitous development occurred: the five larger vessel attendees, Kalmar Nyckel, Pride of Baltimore II, Lynx, Lady Maryland, and Sultana ended up grouped together, nearly abreast (meaning as many as three abreast with one close ahead and one close behind). This is a rare event due to the navigational restrictions of the Chester River, but in this instance, our slow and steady sailing pace and the somewhat higher than usual water level, along with a fair and light strength but sailable breeze, enabled a degree of comfort for the vessel masters to sail in very close proximity and not feel navigationally or maneuverable-y crowded. In other words, the five vessels were sailing at nearly the same speed while somewhat abreast within proximity of less than half a boat length. At times for-reaching from a half a boat length behind and passing to about a half a boat length forward as the fair quartering breeze would at first be free and clear and then be shadowed by the vessel to windward being passed to leeward.

For those aboard, it was a rare opportunity to have normal volume conversation across all five vessels which were so close together and moving slow enough so that they made hardly any water noise and were more or less gliding along. The light wind also meant little ambient noise.

This small armada-in-formation eventually and naturally (due to different speeds and sail combinations) spread lengthwise by about one to two boat lengths between each and at just the right moment to permit the masters to organize sail taking-in and docking maneuvers without any radio chatter to clarify other vessels’ masters’ intentions. Each master was keenly observant of where they could best go to get what their needs/desires were and yet not give any cause for another master to misread or feel blocked or crowded. Nearly in coordination, sails were taken-in and reverse direction dockside maneuvers were made. This seemingly choreographed routine became pretty logically feasible considering the fleet had already made at least three sails together during this weekend event and the wind conditions were somewhat more moderate this time around. But still, a demonstration of know-how.

My compliments to all.

Signed,

Captain Jan C. Miles

Date: Monday, October 16, 2017
Position: Portsmouth, Virginia

2017 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race

The results of the 2017 GCBSR are already known. Due to the weather, all competing vessels sailed at their maximum speed for the whole length of the race. There was not much strategizing to do with wind coming from a fair direction; from the start, all vessels were mostly steering directly for the finish line as fast as they could sail. The most strategic decision was how much white-knuckle sailing was acceptable, meaning how much and what kind of sail to set. Aboard Pride of Baltimore II, it was not possible to have her studding-sail up for much of the race. It was set north of Bloody Point, but had to be taken in by the time she reached Poplar Island due to stronger gusts. Around dusk, abeam of Point Lookout in the center of the bay, we struck the main gaff-topsail and the top-gallant due to increasing gust strength. All of these decisions were not due to the overall wind strength, but due to the angle of the wind as it came across Pride. Had the wind direction been more northeast than it was, meaning the ship was experiencing an apparent wind angle of around 100 degrees, we could have kept all the kites up. But with apparent wind angles hovering around 60 to 70 degrees, the ship was unable to stand up to the pressure without risk of burying her lee bulwark. Prudence prevailed and Pride continued down the bay right along with the vanguard group of the racing fleet led by Virginia and followed by the three-vessel group of Summerwind, Woodwind, and Pride.

It was with admiration and enjoyment as I watched Virginia pass Pride by soon after the start and then persist in elongating her lead. She finally led Pride by roughly an hour and eleven minutes over the 118 nautical mile course. Considering there is more than a full century of development in naval architecture knowledge and construction technology between the two vessel types (maybe the most significant being common-thread metal fastenings) it is easy to imagine just how stunned the world must have been with the totally unique Chesapeake Bay watercraft of the War of 1812 and their success as privateers. Since the war, Baltimore Clippers, as the schooners were later nick-named, have been admired for both their beauty and performance, and whose design has been copied and used around the world for transporting high value cargo in high risk circumstances, both legal and illegal.

Lady Maryland was also truly impressive. She is a reproduction of another venerable Chesapeake Bay watercraft known as the Pungy Schooner, developed during the mid-1800s and therefore also advantaged by the easy availability of common-thread fastenings. This advance in technology allowed for a much lighter and as a result, speedy hull form for efficient commercial transport. Shorter than Pride, it stands to reason she would not be quite as fast, but she was a mere two hours and 32 minutes behind Pride. Meanwhile, only three hours and forty-five minutes behind Virginia.

Woodwind is another interesting study for me. She is truly representative of modern construction techniques available these last three to four decades, meaning wood lamination. This technique reduces the weight of construction and permits for an extreme hull shape as compared to bent wood pieces found in traditional wood construction represented by other vessels in Woodwind’s single A-class, like Summerwind. As a seventy-foot schooner, her modern construction permits her to be modernly-shaped under the water, while looking pretty classic to the middle of the 20-century above her waterline. Her underwater shape is akin to a flat bottom canoe with a long and stout two-thirds-waterline-in-length blade/fin attached below. With enough wind from a fair direction, plus quite a bit of gumption from her crew, she can beat the waterline-length rule of thumb for hull speed through water. She stayed ahead of Pride and remained very close to Summerwind and not far from Virginia notwithstanding her significantly shorter waterline. There was a gap of nearly an hour and a half between Pride, the fourth in the vanguard of four vessels (two double-A and two single-A class vessels), and the next finisher: a single-A class vessel.

The surprise for me was being recognized for the Black Dog Trophy during the awards ceremony! I was nearly speechless! Captain Lane Briggs remains a giant in our midst! To be included with those also recognized for being akin to his renowned character is stunning to me. I knew I needed to respond to receiving the trophy and speak to the audience about my feelings of being bestowed such an honor. What to say? How to say it? Completely spontaneously, I thought to share first-hand my experience of Lane’s challenge: a race between the newly christened and launched Pride of Baltimore II and his tugantine, Norfolk Rebel, down the bay for a case of beer. Lane, with his gravelly voice and his off-hand manner of speaking sound and well considered points. It has been almost three decades since that experience and this 2017 GCBSR is number twenty-eight. Congratulations to all for your consistent and persistent organizing of and participating in “The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race!” I believe it may be the largest schooner-only race in the world. But even if it is not the largest schooner race, it has to be the most welcoming and inclusive!

Portsmouth, Virginia, continues to be a most welcoming port. It is a quiet town with a wondrous “old town” residential area. We are holding off our departure, bound for Annapolis, due to fresh northerly winds this Monday. We are getting some ship care done while we wait for the contrary weather to reduce. There are always wants of care for this complex, well-traveled, nearly three-decade-old traditionally constructed wooden vessel. So no time is being wasted.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles Senior Captain

Photo courtesy of The National Sailing Hall of Fame

The National Sailing Hall of Fame, based in Annapolis, and the Sydney Flying Squadron collaborated to put on a regatta for the Hall of Fame’s sandbaggers and the traditional Aussie 18 foot skiffs that the Squadron sails. They shipped three of the skiffs (Alruth, Aberdare, and Australia IV), all reproductions of designs from the 1920’s through 1950, to Annapolis in a shipping container, and assembled them there.

The sandbaggers (Bull and Bear) are replicas of America’s earliest racing craft, which were essentially workboats used for tonging oysters. In a strange manifestation of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand, the designs were refined for more and more speed, spreading more and more canvas, because the first boat back to the docks would fetch the highest prices for their catch. The name arose because they would have to use bags of sand as ballast to keep them upright when not filled with their catch.

I sailed two days on the skiffs, and one on the sandbaggers.

The skiffs are, in a word, insane. They are 18 feet long, but their sparred length is somewhere around 40 feet, because of a 14 foot bowsprit and because the main boom sticks out well beyond the transom. They are typically crewed with around 8 people. The spinnaker pole is in 4 sections, kept inside the boat, and needs to be assembled to its full 25 foot (!) length before setting the spinnaker. There are lee cloths sticking up from the gunwale on each side, and if the leeward one gets forgotten when you tack, you sink. If someone shifts their weight the wrong way, you sink. If both sail trimmers are not completely on their game at all times, you sink. I think it is this constant pressure that has allowed the Aussies to develop their exceedingly creative foul language, a sort of linguistic equivalent of Darwin’s finches. I wound up placing second place on Alruth, in light air, and a race win on Aberdare on day two, in a fresh breeze.

The third day, I sailed as part of the American team in a match race against the Australians in the sandbaggers, which seemed absolutely palatial and stable in comparison to the skiffs. We didn’t quite hold our end up, but we did keep it very close, rounding half the marks either overlapped with or less than a length behind the Aussies.

Saturday was a (much needed, by me) rest day, and Sunday all these boats, plus 20 or so other classic boats and yachts, took place in the Hall of Fame’s Wooden Boat Regatta. I sailed with Tom Price, a great local sailor and a friend of Pride for many years, on his wooden Star boat from 1959. We were able to win our class.

As a result of all this, I am very tired and sore and sunburned, and now I have to go back to work.

Signed,

Captain Jordan Smith