The Ship’s Log

Official Blog of the Flagship Niagara League

Don’t Give Up Your Ship

by Pip | August 11, 2020 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

We're about a week into our "Don't Give Up Your Ship" campaign -- launched with the announcement that Niagara wouldn't be sailing in 2020 -- and frankly the outpouring of support has been amazing. To date, we've had over 400 backers, and the tally increases daily. ...

The Sixty Game Season

by Pip | July 9, 2020 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

The Fourth of July has come and gone, and still there is no baseball in our country. There are plans afoot for a truncated sixty-game season, but even that will be an odd spectacle, without fans in the stands. I'm not generally one for sports -- but baseball isn't a...

The More Things Change

by Alethea | August 7, 2018 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

So much has changed here at the Erie Maritime Museum in the last few months that I'm not sure where to start. Our first ever Tall Ship Summer Camp is winding down (only one full week left! How is it August already?) and the schooner Lettie G. Howard is making the most...

Departures and Arrivals

by Alethea | February 8, 2018 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

In mid-January, the Chief Mate left for a six-week stint on another ship. He'll spend part of his time being very cold in Lunenburg, and the rest of it being very warm in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, we'll be toiling away back in Erie, spending part of our time being very...

Winter Break

by Alethea | December 20, 2017 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

1. Chad insisted that I get a picture of the "bumblebee stay" that's currently strung up down in the rig shop. Admittedly, it does look very two-toned and stylish: 2. The rig shop and wood shop will be closed from Saturday, December 24 through Tuesday, January 2....

The Last Lodging Knee

by Alethea | December 15, 2017 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

The whole winter crew (except for Amy, our resident Luke Skywalker superfan) has seen the latest Star Wars movie, so we're being scrupulously careful not to let any spoilers infiltrate the workplace. Instead, we're pouring our energy into recoating the lower shrouds...

‘Twas the Week Before Christmas (Tree Ship)

by Alethea | December 5, 2017 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

Captain Sabatini's favorite Niagara event is coming up this Saturday. The plaza is decorated, the shrouds are lit, and our Christmas tree is on its way up to the fighting top. In between bouts of festive cheer, the rig shop crew has been working on the lower shrouds:...

Thanksgiving

by Alethea | November 22, 2017 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

Before we break for the holiday weekend, a quick survey on what the winter maintenance crew is thankful for: Chad: "Working here." Amy: "Power tools, and hand tools, and--" Alethea: "The slide hammer. Our welder. Everything we use for pulling fasteners." Brent: "Pat...

Getting the Band Back Together

by Alethea | November 11, 2017 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

I interviewed Amy last year around this time, and since she’s just come back to work at Niagara after a season away, it seemed like a good time to once again (lovingly) harass her with questions. So, without further ado: Where have you been since you left Niagara? I...

Boathouse Niagara

by Alethea | October 25, 2017 | Ship's Log | 0 Comments

A few dozen rafters, a couple hundred feet of PVC pipe, an ocean of very old canvas, and roughly one million lashing lines later, the winter cover is (mostly) up. There's still some fussing to do, but as of this afternoon, Niagara looks like her winter self. Once the...

Pouring Pitch

by Alethea | Mar 17, 2017 | Ship's Log

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The crew is celebrating with a traditional dinner (shoutout to Pip for taking on the daunting task of cooking enough corned beef and cabbage rolls for a bunch of sailors), but before that, we have the usual laundry list of work: more serving...

Pre-Spring Cleaning

by Alethea | Mar 11, 2017 | Ship's Log

The starboard aft waterway timber is back in place. Yesterday, Team Carpentry broke out the epoxy and lag bolts to turn three shaped and scarfed pieces of Douglas Fir into one very big piece of waterway timber. It's a more complicated version of what we did to make...

All Decked Out

by Alethea | Mar 9, 2017 | Ship's Log

Niagara has a foredeck again! We installed our shutter plank (the last plank to be fastened in place; also affectionately called the whiskey plank) this afternoon. It's a little weird to have a deck again. Now we actually have to open the forepeak hatch to do our brig...

The Gang’s All Here

by Alethea | Mar 2, 2017 | Ship's Log

Niagara's carpentry A-team is officially here! The usual suspects (Adam, Alethea, Amy) and the visiting shipwrights (Andrew, Andros, Aaron) spent the week so far working on the starboard waterway timber, the fore fighting top crosstrees, and the foremast itself. The...

Reinforcements

by Alethea | Feb 25, 2017 | Ship's Log

Team Carpentry got a new member this week! Drew, a shipwright who's worked with Niagara for years, arrived from Seattle to help us rebuild the waterway timber and wrap up some other winter projects. As of today, we're still in the "making splinters and breaking...

Putting It Together, Taking It Apart

by Alethea | Feb 21, 2017 | Ship's Log

We're still cleaning up from Wintertime at the Maritime, but it doesn't feel very wintery out—the temperature rocketed into the sixties today. We took advantage of the warm weather to do some work on the bowsprit, which has been waiting patiently on the plaza since we...

To the Rig Shop, with Love

by Alethea | Feb 16, 2017 | Ship's Log

Out on the plaza, preparations for Wintertime at the Maritime are underway, and I've heard rumors floating around about building some specialized equipment for ice bowling. In the woodshop, Team Carpentry has been making blanks to replace some of the pinrails on the...

Wintertime at the Maritime

by Alethea | Feb 11, 2017 | Ship's Log

Next week will be a busy one at the museum. This coming Friday, February 17th, is our fourth annual Wintertime at the Maritime, and Saturday the 18th is our next sail training day. So stop by on Friday for ice bowling, hot drinks, and a funky hat competition, and then...

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