One might think that the cooler months of the year are the quiet time of the year on this Liberty Ship, and in some ways it IS a bit less chaotic. But in reality, once the last cruise of the season is over, our work season begins. This is the time of year when projects get finished, others get started and many, many others remain ongoing. Every Wednesday and Saturday is a work day and there are always projects to be done. We keep a small book where the Captain puts a list of ongoing one day 'jobs', for anyone who is looking, but the Engineers are always working, and the Bosun always has a list of things for the deckhands to work on. The electricians are constantly working on improvement projects , and the office staff are steadily opening mails, answering emails and phone calls and doing a million and one other things. There is never enough time or help to do all the things that need to be done on this historic museum ship.
Currently we are in week 2 of prepping the ship for painting. Baltimore's own, Ocean Painting, LLC is doing the work (for more specific info check out our July blog) and started on the stacks and have completed much of the bridge and are working their way down to the main deck. It's an impressive sight to see as well as being as noisy as you can imagine. This is a large endeavor thanks to donations by many friends of the BROWN. This has not been done to this extent in about 30 years and is a great way to level the playing field, so that our weekly crews can maintain them, instead of always trying to play catch-up against the elements and the rust.
On Tuesday 10/20 we had a Photography instructor from Johns Hopkins University bring 8 photography students to shoot the BROWN. Many had no idea of the history of the ship, or what they were going to see, but after 3 hours on the ship with cameras and tripods they all left with huge smiles and said they were excited to look at the shots they captured. It wont surprise you to hear that we love showing off the work of photographers. New and returning visitors to the ship are exciting and we can all see the ship through different eyes and understandings. A couple of shots from today, but there will most likely be a future blog showcasing their work.
On Wednesday, 10/21 we are participating in Portfest 2015 and will be having some visitors to the ship. As usual, we also have some upcoming Scout groups, other groups using this 72 year old ship as a training venue, meetings and planned visits. We've been getting some interest by groups wanting to use the ship for different functions, which is pretty exciting. Once the painting of the ship is done, we will have another blog to show our readers how wonderful our gal looks.
Stay in touch, keep reading the blog and feel free to ask questions. We also have some exciting news to share with you next week. {hint...if you look around the website, we've hidden a clue. If you don't find it, we will let the cat out of the bag next Wednesday.}
Until then...
Project Liberty Ship, Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit, all volunteer organization engaged in the preservation and operation of the historic ship JOHN W. BROWN as a living memorial museum. Gifts to Project Liberty Ship are tax deductible.
