6 July 2020

We arrived at Pier “G,” at Caddell Dry Dock, at 0700 on Monday morning. The yard crew got us tied up and connected the water and shore power. Then three cars took the majority of the crew home, leaving the yard crew to supervise. At this point, it would be worthwhile to say a few words about these hardy souls who stayed with the ship.

Everyone would agree that the team leader was Ed Zajkowski. Ed had been the key man, working with shipyard Vice President, Joe Eckhardt, for over a year, to develop the work package and plan the overhaul. Loud to the point of belligerent, Ed had an opinion on everything, and kept us constantly entertained.

However, the most important man in the crew was Blair Sandri. Brought in by Ed to cook for us, Blair turned out three squares a day for all of us, for five weeks. A former diner owner of incredible patience and good humor, his daughter referred to the galley as “Blair’s Happy Place.” To make himself even more indispensable, Blair sorted out all of our socket sets in the machine shop.

The third key man in the crew was Gary Sheedy. He spent four weeks restoring the running lights, measuring, and attaching the armored cable, so it would be the correct length for the electrical contractor that attached it to the cable supports on the mast. He was always on hand to help everyone else. His sense of humor added to making the whole experience enjoyable.

Thomas Scian traveled back and forth from Monticello every week to contribute to the effort. He undertook the restoration of the pilothouse as his special project. He was the “go to guy” for all the menial tasks no one was interested in. And his photographs documented the whole project. Thomas gained a lot of experience working with our two RPI Midshipmen, Jack Carbone and Brendan Lutz. The three of them became our eyes, donning safety harnesses at the end of each day, and climbing the mast to report on what work had been done, and what work needed to be done. The rest of us were too old to make the climb.  Brendan developed so much rapport with the yard workers, that they assumed he was the project manager. Both Jack and Brendan were supposed to be assigned to Navy ships for training this summer, but that was canceled due to Covid-19. However, their shipyard experience aboard USS SLATER, and their exposure to the ways of the old Navy vets, probably gave them a more well-rounded experience than they could have gotten anywhere else.

These regulars were joined at various times by Bill Wetterau, George Gollas, George Amandola, Steve Klauck, and Barry Witte. Bill worked on the longwire radio antennas. George Amandola chipped all the portside bitts since these are usually wrapped with mooring lines. Steve did a complete restoration of the mast-mounted bullhorn. George Gollas worked on our IC systems, and Barry continued to monitor the progress of the restoration and mentored the midshipmen through nightly video chats. I can’t thank these guys enough for the good humor they maintained, despite the absolutely oppressive heat, humidity, and long hours. They were an incredible team. Everyone was generally up by 0500. Blair had eggs to order, and everyone was usually fed by 0530. At 0545, Ed and I would head over to the administrative office for our morning meeting with Joe. Joe was always in good humor and the meetings became more a social event for us than a work necessity.