The Citizen, 2004-11-04, Page 10Man signs up
Out to sea
Londesborough's Sam Dougherty signed on to
sail the seas as a volunteer on the Bounty, a
replica ship of the original, used in the 1962
movie starring Marlon Brando. (Photo submitted)
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There's something good in
every one of these cans.
Every aluminum and steel can that
gets recycled is put to good use.
Empty aluminum beverage cans are
turned into brand new cans - often
back on store shelves within 60 days.
Steel cans are turned back into food
containers, too, but they can also
become parts of automobiles, bridges
or even new houses.
Aluminum and steel cans can be
recycled over and over, infinitely.
Making new products from recycled
material uses much less energy than
making them from raw materials.
And the more cans you recycle, the
more money your municipality raises
to finance its recycling program.
We're half way there.
Right now, about 50% of all cans in
Ontario get recycled. The ones that
don't are wasted, ending in landfill
sites rather than being put to valuable
use. Let's all put more into our Blue
Box, and get more out of it.
Can we put more aluminum and
steel cans into the Blue Box? Can
we divert needless waste from landfill
sites? Can we save more energy?
Can we put every empty can to
good use?
The answer is simple. Yes, we can.
Space provided through the Canadian Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association
and their members as part of Stewardship Ontario's Blue Box Program in co-operation with Waste Diversion Ontario.
The development of this ad is funded by Alcan and Dofasco.
PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2004.
to sail on Bounty
Perhaps someone in your
household is a Sponge Bob
fan'?. If you happened to watch
Bob's latest release, Square
Pants, did you notice the
Londesborough native in the
background? Maybe you
didn't recognize him in
costume.
A good many of us have
visited the tall ships when they
were in a port close to us.
Goderich, Port Stanley or
Sarnia, and wondered about
the lure of the sea. Visiting the
Bounty while it was docked in
Sarnia during the summer of
2003. Sam Dougherty acted on
the invitation of the ship to
Come Sail With Us —
www.tallshipbounty.org The
timing seemed to be right for
him to try something new and
he signed on as a volunteer.
To put this story in
perspective here are a few
facts about this particular tall
ship. We all know about the
travels of Captain Bligh on the
original Bounty of 1788
ending in mutiny after 10
months when the sailors
caught sight of the Tahitian
girls.
MGM commissioned the
building of a replica ship to
film the 1962 movie, Mutiny
on the Bounty, starring Marlon
Brando and Trevor Howard.
Although built from the
original plans, this ship was
one third larger to
accommodate the filming
crew, 119 ft. high, 120 ft. long
and 32 ft. wide. This HMS
Bounty was built in the
shipyards of Lunenburg, Nova
Scotia. It weighs 420 tons, has
an oak hull and fir decks and
has a hull speed of 13 knots.
Producers of the movie
intended to burn the ship at the
end of filming crew according
to history of the .original.
Mutiny of a different sort took
place. The actors refused to
complete filming until an
agreement was reached to save
the ship.
But, what to do with the ship
when filming was complete?
For roughly 30 years the ship
was docked in St. Petersburg,
Florida and was a popular
tourist attraction. However,
maintenance was neglected
and when the ship was bought
in the 1990s it actually sank
before the new owner, Fall
River Chamber Foundation,
could start restoration.
The ship was towed to its
new home port of Greenport,
New York • for refitting. Also
Bounty has revisited
Lunenberg a number of times
recently for new planking.
Plans for the ship included
sailing with the other tall ships
when schedules meshed and as
a hands-on sail training
program. Because of its larger
size, it has been used for
filming a number of times.
So, back to the beginning.
Scenes from Sponge Bob's
movie were shot on the ship
and the crew was also used as
extras.
In the last few months, the
ship was the set for shoots of
Barn of MTV fame and The
Naked Cowboy. Negotiations
are ongoing for the shooting of
a sequel to Pirates of the
Caribbean. Wow, the
experience of sailing on a tall
ship and being a part of
movies, too!
The ship regularly carries a
permanent crew of four, a
captain and three mates. Also
on board are persons in the sail
training program. The number
varies from a dozen to more
than two dozen at a time.
These men and women of all
ages are mostly Americans
with some Canadians. They
must commit for a period of
three to six months at a time.
Because the Bounty is a
working vessel volunteers are
important to keep the vessel
shipshape. And that is what
Sam Dougherty is, a volunteer
doing what Sam does at home
in Londesborough working at
odd jobs and repair while
learning about ship life and
sailing on the job.
Volunteers can sign on for
shorter periods of time and
some commit only days in port
in Greenport and Florida.
Volunteer hours are logged
and rewarded with days of
sailing. Days of sailing are
also logged and eventually, if
one wishes and enough hours
are recorded, a person can get
an Able Seaman's Tall Ship
Certificate. The training one
receives on the Bounty is
highly regarded and it is easy
then to get work on any other
tall ship.
During January and
February Sam spent six weeks
aboard the Bounty in Florida
where among other tasks he
helped to remove all of the
ship's identification before
Sponge Bob's crew arrived
and then assisted in putting it
all back on at the end of
filming. He rejoined the ship
in June in Plymouth, Mass. to
ready the ship for and start its
summer tour.
The ship started its 18-day
journey in the Atlantic Ocean
when they were 100 miles out
to sea and experienced six to
10-foot seas. He reports any
ship has to make adjustments
to travel up the St. Lawrence
River because it is dangerous.
The Bounty made stops in
Ogdensburg and Montreal
before entering the Great
Lakes System. Sam jumped
ship at the end of the locks in
Lake Erie.
The Bounty has been docked
in Chicago for the last two
months and rigged out by the
city for Halloween tours.
Sam reports that life on
board ship is very spare as
your personal space is your
bunk. One takes along only the
bare necessities. However
whether in port or at sea, there
is always much to do.
At sea each person has to do
watch. Every watch includes
some steering, bow watching,
boat checks evetty hour and
cleaning. Sunset and sunrises
at sea have been a daily treat.
And there is always something
Thanksgiving was the
theme for the devotional time
at the October meeting of the
Londesborough UCW
conducted by Marg Wright,
Bernice Norman, Brenda
Konarski, Joan Howatt and
Joan Goodall.
Readings, stories and
hymns reminded the ladies
that this harvest season is
reason to stop and consider
anew the wonderful gifts of
God. The service spoke of
each day being a treasure
from God that each person
should quietly appreciate.
Psalm 100 spoke of the
goodness of God to His
people and the glorious
colours of fall are this
new to learn. To furl the
mainsail takes eight people
and there are 172 lines of
rigging to be put in their
proper place so one can find
them ready in a hurry or in the
dark.
' And Sam is planning to go
back. He says he enjoys the
challenge of the life, the
sailing, the people and the
chance to do something very
difficult.
We may hear more of the
happenings of the Bounty.
season's reminder of God's
love.
Adding a bit of humour to
the service was a reading
lauding what is great about
aging and being thankful for
the wisdom that comes with
age.
During the business part of
the evening, many little
follow-up details were
attended to from the fashion
show, the renovations in the
basement and caterings past
and future. A water cooler has
been installed in the pantry off
the kitchen to accommodate
upcoming functions.
Barb Jewitt and Helen Dale
have agreed to be the church
archivists and everyone is
FROM LONDESBORO
encouraged to contribute
items to this church history
record. Initial plans were
made for the Christmas
potluck meeting on Dec. 6. A
Christmas fundraiser was
given the go ahead — the
group will sell caramel corn in
decorated cans.
At the recommendation of
the executive, the group will
give donations to Clinton
hospital, Seaforth hospital,
Camp MeneSetung, United
Church Resource Centre in
Mitchell, the Adult Day
Centre, the London Hospital
Visitation Program and
Londesborough United
Church.
Continued on page 11
Thanksgiving UCW theme