1 00:00:00,110 --> 00:00:03,230 - To all who shall see these presents, greetings. 2 00:00:03,230 --> 00:00:06,110 I'm Boatswain Mate First-class Cory Van Beveren, 3 00:00:06,110 --> 00:00:08,660 and welcome to the USS Constitution. 4 00:00:08,660 --> 00:00:10,300 Just a little bit about myself. 5 00:00:10,300 --> 00:00:13,060 I am coming up on eight years on the Navy, 6 00:00:13,060 --> 00:00:15,870 spent five years on the USS Iwo Jima, 7 00:00:15,870 --> 00:00:18,947 and my second command was Old Ironsides. 8 00:00:18,947 --> 00:00:21,030 Now what's special about Old Ironsides is 9 00:00:21,030 --> 00:00:23,130 that for the last 2.5 years, 10 00:00:23,130 --> 00:00:27,240 I have been spending it by being the ship's Sailing Master. 11 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,010 It's my job to train our crew 12 00:00:29,010 --> 00:00:32,720 on 18th century sail and line handling techniques 13 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,240 that we still use to this very day. 14 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,140 Now you maybe wondering boats, 15 00:00:37,140 --> 00:00:39,170 what is this directly behind me? 16 00:00:39,170 --> 00:00:41,970 And I'll tell you, this is one of our yards. 17 00:00:41,970 --> 00:00:44,640 A yard is what holds our sails, 18 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,113 and if you look towards the ship, 19 00:00:49,510 --> 00:00:51,610 she should have a lot of 'em, but unfortunately, 20 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:53,900 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 21 00:00:53,900 --> 00:00:56,510 we weren't able to uprig the ship. 22 00:00:56,510 --> 00:00:57,820 So I'm gonna do my very best 23 00:00:57,820 --> 00:01:00,620 to give you the best presentation I can. 24 00:01:00,620 --> 00:01:04,870 Now back during the War of 1812, 25 00:01:04,870 --> 00:01:09,870 the peak of her sailing career, she had 46 to 48 sails, 26 00:01:10,010 --> 00:01:13,690 encompassing 44,000 square feet worth of canvas, 27 00:01:13,690 --> 00:01:16,290 roughly around 15 knots. 28 00:01:16,290 --> 00:01:18,930 Now she's a three-masted frigate. 29 00:01:18,930 --> 00:01:22,580 Three masts being at the very forepart of the ship. 30 00:01:22,580 --> 00:01:24,540 We have her four masts. 31 00:01:24,540 --> 00:01:29,180 Mid ships, we have the main masts, all the way back aft, 32 00:01:29,180 --> 00:01:31,333 we would have the mizzen masts. 33 00:01:32,398 --> 00:01:34,630 Now climbing onboard USS Constitution 34 00:01:34,630 --> 00:01:36,500 is still done to this very day, 35 00:01:36,500 --> 00:01:38,800 and we are a very unique command, 36 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:40,340 more unique than anything 37 00:01:40,340 --> 00:01:43,100 in the United States Navy and the Armed Services. 38 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:46,830 We still free climb up the shrouds, 39 00:01:46,830 --> 00:01:48,550 or what the crew, back in the day, 40 00:01:48,550 --> 00:01:50,410 would have used to climb the ship. 41 00:01:50,410 --> 00:01:52,430 She has two types of rigging. 42 00:01:52,430 --> 00:01:53,480 If you look, 43 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,250 she has these Manila and white lines, 44 00:01:56,250 --> 00:01:58,570 and then everything else is black. 45 00:01:58,570 --> 00:02:02,620 Anything that's Manila or white is used as running rigging. 46 00:02:02,620 --> 00:02:04,840 It's used to set a sail from the deck 47 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:06,870 or to move the sail from the deck. 48 00:02:06,870 --> 00:02:09,810 Anything that's black is called standing rigging, 49 00:02:09,810 --> 00:02:12,910 and it's used to support the structure of the ship, 50 00:02:12,910 --> 00:02:14,990 and that's what we'll be climbing today. 51 00:02:14,990 --> 00:02:18,650 So first things first, once you don your harness, 52 00:02:18,650 --> 00:02:20,340 and you do a safety brief, 53 00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:22,980 you have to make sure you get a buddy check. 54 00:02:22,980 --> 00:02:26,190 Buddy checks are just our double checks, our triple checks, 55 00:02:26,190 --> 00:02:28,090 making sure that you're safe to climb. 56 00:02:40,580 --> 00:02:43,670 Now with that, we don't wear any watches or rings. 57 00:02:43,670 --> 00:02:45,690 There's no loose articles or clothing. 58 00:02:45,690 --> 00:02:48,770 Anything in your pockets has to get gone, 59 00:02:48,770 --> 00:02:53,260 and, even if it's Velcroed, buttoned, zipped, Chapstick, 60 00:02:53,260 --> 00:02:55,320 once you're climbing and falls out of your pocket, 61 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:56,910 it could injure somebody down on deck, 62 00:02:56,910 --> 00:02:58,360 so we make sure it's gone. 63 00:02:58,360 --> 00:02:59,840 We wanna make sure that you're comfortable 64 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,150 with the evolution. 65 00:03:01,150 --> 00:03:05,260 Not everybody's comfortable climbing 60 feet in the air. 66 00:03:05,260 --> 00:03:07,200 We wanna make sure that you're properly hydrated, 67 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,150 well-rested, you've eaten, 68 00:03:09,150 --> 00:03:11,240 and you actually wanna participate. 69 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,120 We will never force any sailor or guest to climb. 70 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,270 Today, we'll be climbing the main mast. 71 00:03:18,270 --> 00:03:22,080 It's one of our tallest masts at 172 feet. 72 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,000 Before you lay aloft, 73 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,910 you have to request permission from the man in charge, 74 00:03:26,910 --> 00:03:31,060 and that's usually the Sail Master or the Mast Captain. 75 00:03:31,060 --> 00:03:32,030 To do that, 76 00:03:32,030 --> 00:03:33,530 you have to request permission 77 00:03:34,581 --> 00:03:35,950 to actually lay above the deck. 78 00:03:35,950 --> 00:03:37,903 Laying on, for main shroud. 79 00:03:39,660 --> 00:03:42,210 Once you get that repeat back, you're good to go, 80 00:03:42,210 --> 00:03:43,503 and you start to climb. 81 00:03:44,392 --> 00:03:47,225 (energetic music) 82 00:03:55,150 --> 00:03:56,240 Now, like I said, 83 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,940 you're free climbing the whole entire time. 84 00:03:58,940 --> 00:04:01,440 Should you stop for whatever reason, 85 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,390 that is when you use your harness to clip in. 86 00:04:04,390 --> 00:04:05,970 You would take off your lobster claw, 87 00:04:05,970 --> 00:04:10,000 or your safety lanyard, wrap it around the shroud, 88 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,860 or this thick, vertical black line, 89 00:04:12,860 --> 00:04:14,970 and then back onto itself, 90 00:04:14,970 --> 00:04:17,540 and now you are clipped in, you're safe. 91 00:04:17,540 --> 00:04:21,080 We always like to say, you want three points of contact, 92 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,770 being your hands are on the shrouds, 93 00:04:23,770 --> 00:04:26,503 and you're staggering your feet on the ratlines. 94 00:04:27,350 --> 00:04:29,760 The ratlines are these thin horizontal lines 95 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,620 that run across that allow us to climb. 96 00:04:32,620 --> 00:04:36,715 Now we never want both feet on the same ratline, 97 00:04:36,715 --> 00:04:39,520 and you never want to hold onto the ratlines as well. 98 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,030 It's just a precautionary measure, 99 00:04:41,030 --> 00:04:43,530 in case that ratline was to give away, 100 00:04:43,530 --> 00:04:45,570 you at least have some support. 101 00:04:45,570 --> 00:04:48,280 So traditionally, the ship is uprigged, 102 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:51,200 where everything is put on the ship during spring. 103 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,260 Unfortunately again, because of COVID-19, 104 00:04:53,260 --> 00:04:55,030 we aren't able to do so, 105 00:04:55,030 --> 00:04:57,800 but here's the next best thing that I can show you, 106 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,210 so you can understand just what we're talking about. 107 00:05:01,210 --> 00:05:03,570 This right here is one of our yards. 108 00:05:03,570 --> 00:05:04,940 It's our main yard. 109 00:05:04,940 --> 00:05:06,230 Back in 1812, 110 00:05:06,230 --> 00:05:11,100 it took 56 people to furl this sail or to bring it back up. 111 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:15,510 But to do so, you would first have to go onto the yard. 112 00:05:15,510 --> 00:05:18,560 If you see this thin line right here, 113 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,220 it's known as the foot rope. 114 00:05:20,220 --> 00:05:23,550 It will require immense amount of communication 115 00:05:23,550 --> 00:05:26,320 and teamwork to actually do so. 116 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,372 Once you step on this foot rope, 117 00:05:28,372 --> 00:05:31,690 you are set there until you have to come off. 118 00:05:31,690 --> 00:05:34,427 Now, traditionally, we communicate by saying, 119 00:05:34,427 --> 00:05:36,670 "Laying on foot rope," 120 00:05:36,670 --> 00:05:39,357 and then everybody who's already on that foot rope will say, 121 00:05:39,357 --> 00:05:41,870 "Laying on foot rope, aye," or repeat back, 122 00:05:41,870 --> 00:05:44,700 letting them know additional weights and stress 123 00:05:44,700 --> 00:05:46,120 is going on that foot rope, 124 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:51,120 as it sways or just gently lowers with more people on it. 125 00:05:52,540 --> 00:05:54,230 Once you're to your spot, 126 00:05:54,230 --> 00:05:57,330 then you begin the process of furling that sail. 127 00:05:57,330 --> 00:06:00,840 Now it's about an inch and a half in circumference, 128 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:02,750 and if you ever dead lifted anything, 129 00:06:02,750 --> 00:06:06,140 the sail itself, or the one we would be lifting, 130 00:06:06,140 --> 00:06:08,480 is about 2,000 pounds. 131 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,210 Now, imagine you're doing that, 90 feet in the air, 132 00:06:11,210 --> 00:06:14,463 with 20 additional sailors side-by-side. 133 00:06:15,630 --> 00:06:18,540 Now you will be clipped in like I am currently. 134 00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:19,960 Now there will be D-rings 135 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,500 that will be along the length of the yard 136 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:24,130 that you'll be able to clip into. 137 00:06:24,130 --> 00:06:28,150 And while on the yard, you are clipped in 100% of the time. 138 00:06:28,150 --> 00:06:30,930 There is no point where you will be unclipped. 139 00:06:30,930 --> 00:06:31,810 Should you fall, 140 00:06:31,810 --> 00:06:34,030 we have certain fall recovery methods 141 00:06:34,030 --> 00:06:37,340 that, while in port, can actually rescue you. 142 00:06:37,340 --> 00:06:41,460 We have our friends from NHHC, their crane. 143 00:06:41,460 --> 00:06:43,090 We have Boston Fire Department, 144 00:06:43,090 --> 00:06:45,330 and we have recovery methods ourselves 145 00:06:45,330 --> 00:06:47,350 that we train our crew on. 146 00:06:47,350 --> 00:06:48,183 Again, ladies and gentleman, 147 00:06:48,183 --> 00:06:50,920 my name was Boatswain Mate First Class Cory Van Beveren, 148 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:52,383 and it's been my absolute pleasure 149 00:06:52,383 --> 00:06:55,730 to do this demonstration on what we do on sailing, 150 00:06:55,730 --> 00:06:56,900 the Spark Notes version. 151 00:06:56,900 --> 00:06:58,640 It is again my pleasure 152 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:03,640 to instill at least 223 years of heritage of sailing 153 00:07:03,750 --> 00:07:04,583 into you guys, 154 00:07:04,583 --> 00:07:05,553 so thank you once more.