Spirit of South Carolina
Encyclopedia
Spirit of South Carolina is a "tall ship
Tall ship
A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall Ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or festival....
" built and homeported in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. She is owned and operated by the South Carolina Maritime Foundation, a non-profit organization.
The Spirit of South Carolina is a licensed Sail Training
Sail training
From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea , sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on and off the water....
Vessel, providing experiential education
Experiential education
Experiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning...
programs for the youth of South Carolina. Interdisciplinary programs focus on math, science, history and literature of South Carolina, and our relationship to the water.
Academic focuses include, but are not limited to, Marine Biology
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
, Maritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged...
, Oceanography
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
, History, Literature, Meteorology
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
and Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
.In addition to educational duties, The Spirit of South Carolina serves as an ambassador of the people of South Carolina.
Frances Elizabeth: Inspiration for Spirit of South Carolina
The Spirit of South Carolina is a pilot schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
reminiscent of the Frances Elizabeth, a vessel that was originally built by the Samuel J. Pregnall & Bros. Shipyard in Charleston, SC in 1879 and served pilots in the city’s harbor for 25 years.
The pilot schooner Frances Elizabeth was of a design very similar to the yacht America, first winner of the America's Cup in 1851. The America was designed according to the specifications of the fastest pilot boat in New York harbor. Pilot boats had to be very fast because the first pilot to reach an incoming ship got the job of bringing the vessel in the harbor, and thus was the only vessel to receive the pilot's fee. Pilot boats had to be seaworthy and able to withstand almost any weather. The pilot schooners serving major shipping ports such as Charleston were exposed to the rigors of the open ocean.
The Frances Elizabeth was licensed as a pilot schooner in 1879 and sank in 1912 in the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. She had been outfitted with gasoline engines.
A gasoline leak in the bilge resulted in a fire and explosion that destroyed the vessel.
Plans for the Frances Elizabeth were found at the Smithsonian Institution within that organization’s extensive collection. Those original plans have been modified and redesigned by Peter Boudreau and Andrew Davis, proprietors of the preeminent tall ship design firm TriCoastal Marine. TriCoastal Marine has been involved with several notable vessels including the Amistad, Spirit of Massachusetts, Lady Maryland, Pride of Baltimore II, Schooner Virginia, and the USS Constellation.
Building Spirit of South Carolina
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Master Shipwright Mark Bayne directed the construction of Spirit of South Carolina. The construction crew consisted of skilled paid shipwrights and volunteers. She is built of several types of woods traditionally used in shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
, including: Live Oak
Live Oak
Live Oak may refer to:*The live oak, any of several types of oak trees that have evergreen foliage.Localities in the United States:* Live Oak, Santa Cruz County, California, a Census-designated place...
, Angelique, Longleaf Pine
Longleaf Pine
Pinus palustris, commonly known as the Longleaf Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida....
, Sapele
Sapele
Sapele , also known as Sapelli or Aboudikro, is a large tree, Entandrophragma cylindricum, up to 45 m high and native to tropical Africa. The leaves are deciduous in the dry season, alternately arranged, pinnate, with 5-9 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet about 10 cm long...
, Purpleheart
Purpleheart
Peltogyne, known as Purpleheart, is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical regions of Central and South America, where they occur in tropical rainforests....
, and Douglas Fir. Every element of the vessel was constructed on site, including both masts and all necessary rigging
Rigging
Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
. For safety, she is equipped with two Cummins Diesel engines and carries electronic communications and navigational equipment.
The Sailing School Vessel Spirit of South Carolina is United States Coast Guard certified and operates as a Sailing School Vessel (SSV) under Title 46, Subchapter R of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
The keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
was laid June 16, 2001. The Whiskey Plank (last plank to be installed) was fitted on July 15, 2006.