Shipmates,

2012 Plankowners’ Party!!! I hope we see as many of ELISSA’s crew in attendance as possible! This year’s event is shaping up to be a very special one, with ELISSA’s approaching dry-docking and hull work along with the long anticipated TSM pier 21 rebuild beginning at last. As we are all aware, Plankowners’ is our big fundraising event of the year and is an important source of revenue for daysails and in supporting the on-going maintenance needs of the ship. 

It is also a time to show off our ship and the fine people ELISSA calls crew. Not only ELISSA will be on show this Saturday evening, but all of us…her crew will be center stage as well. Ed Green mentions in this week’s newsletter that all working crewmembers are expected to be in ELISSA royal blue shirts and khaki long pants – please no shorts. I want to remind everyone that if you are working during Plankowners’ to refrain from the consumption of alcoholic beverages. If you are not on watch or have paid as a guest, please enjoy the fruits of the vine, but if not - then please remember to show the proper decorum and respect by refraining from hoisting a glass while on duty. With the expectation of pleasant weather, we may set a number of sails and it would be good to have some crew alert and sober to hand canvas.

I want to thank all of you for doing a yeoman’s job with this year’s Plankowners’ Party and Auction. It has been a bit of a challenge with the new venue, but I have not heard any complaining and you all have my gratitude. Next year we will have Plankowners’ with a newly fixed up site and a freshly repaired ship, so let’s make the most of this year’s event – it may be the only time we have Plankowners’ with ELISSA alongside Pier 21! Having ELISSA front and center at Pier 21 will make for a very memorable event. I am very excited about auctioning off a piece of ELISSA’s original hull plating with a section of frame attached. We had the hull plate section grit blasted with sugar to reveal all the detail without removing the surface features of the plate. One can read the date 1877 stamped into the frame piece. We are going to have it in the live auction as the last available hull plate – number 318 out of 318 and it is a work of art a true ship fitter’s sculpture.

In past preambles to the newsletter I have often quoted from Joseph Conrad. In the spirit of mixing things up, much like this year’s Plankowners’, I thought I would close with a quote and request

Here is the quote from My Ship O’ Dreams by Robert Rose:

“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, for somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid.”

…and the request:

for all of you to enjoy our ship and each other with a song in your hearts and a sea story in our souls.

Even a layman can see the fine lines in ELISSA’s hull and they will be on full display along with her crew – a group of incredibly talented people from varied backgrounds all coming together to ensure ELISSA is well loved. What fortunate people we are to have one of the most beautiful things on this planet to play with, a beautiful square-rigger. While I admit there have been some days where I shake my head after a long day of contrary winds, there is NEVER a morning I do not find a smile swayed aloft in my heart every time I see ELISSA glow in the light of a new day’s morning. Like one of the true clipper ships of old, she is a Herald of the Morning. The greatest author and recorder of the Sea, Captain Joseph Conrad, was master of a ship very much like ELISSA, and best summed up his feelings about her and captured our love of ELISSA in a single line:

“It is good to be in a world in which she has her being”

Thank you all for “being” in ELISSA’s world, too, and forgive me for not being able to resist the pull of a fine Conrad quote.

Fair leads,

Jamie

James L. White

Director

Texas Seaport Museum / 1877 Barque ELISSA

Pier 21, Number 8

Galveston, TX 77550

409-763-1877

409-763-3037 FAX

www.tsm-elissa.org

"Of all the living creatures upon land and sea, it is ships alone that cannot be

taken in by barren pretences, that will not put up with bad art from their masters"

(Joseph Conrad ~ Mirror of the Sea).