Grace Christian graduate spends a year as a crew member on a tall ship
Drone video of the tall ship Denis Sullivan
Drone video of the Denis Sullivan, Discovery World’s tall ship, leaving port.
Mike De Sisti and James B. Nelson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
HARRISONBURG — It was 2014. Ashley Showalter had just completed a demanding teaching degree when she realized almost instantly that teaching was not what she wanted to do. She panicked because she wasn’t sure what she really wanted to do.
The inspiration came from an unusual source, a film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. On the DVD there was a special about the tall ship used in the film. She had no idea that these old wooden ships – big, rigged sailing ships – still existed.
In her panic about what to do with her life, Showalter decided the answer to her problems was the sea. She would run away and become not a pirate, but a crew member on a tall ship. The only problem with this idea was that Showalter had struggled with anxiety up to that point in her life. What if she had a panic attack on the ship?
The dream remained on hold for ten years. During that time, she worked as a behavior analyst and cared for her clients in their homes – a demanding job. During that decade, she also found medication that helped her control her anxiety.
Showalter, who grew up in Stuarts Draft and attended Grace Christian School in Staunton, loved her job, but COVID made it extremely difficult, making it difficult to provide effective services while protecting herself and clients. She was suffering from burnout and needed a break.
“Somehow that dream came back to me,” Showalter said.
She googled “old ships near me” and found a Boston-based program called World Ocean School. She committed to spending a year as part of the crew of the Denis Sullivan, a tall ship built in 2000 and based in Milwaukee for 20 years. The ship is a replica of a 19th-century schooner built on the Great Lakes. In 2022, it was acquired by World Ocean School and relocated to Boston.
The Deckhand Educator AmeriCorps Program spends half the year in the Virgin Islands teaching students from underserved communities the mechanics of sailing and leadership skills, and the other half of the year is spent in Boston doing the same thing.
Showalter and her other crew members flew to Florida to meet the ship and joined the old crew on the way to St. Croix. There were six people who got a crash course in sailing a tall ship. That was in November 2022.
Sailing with the Denis Sullivan
The Denis Sullivan is a 137-foot-long, three-masted sailing schooner. The total of 10 sails cover 4,597 square feet. The ship weighs 99 tons and the hull is made of white oak.
One of the more unique parts of the ship is the raffee, a triangular topsail. That’s a trademark of schooners on the Great Lakes, Showalter explained. One of the crew’s communal exercises was to have the first officer give them a stick-and-poke tattoo of the sail.
One of the reasons Showalter embarked on this adventure, aside from the idea of getting away from it all, was to honor her late grandfather, Stanley Hostetter, who loved the ocean and boats. He would have thought it was really cool, she said. For her nightgown on the ship, Showalter wore one of her grandfather’s shirts, which featured a print of the South Atlantic coast.
It all seemed like a great idea until she came on board.
“That week, traveling from Florida to St. Croix, was the worst week of my life,” said Showalter. “I just thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into?'”
Showalter was 31 at the time, making her the oldest crew member. The rest of the crew were in their early to mid-20s. She had lived alone for several years, so life on a ship was hard to adjust to. She no longer had control over her day. She was told when to get up, eat, work and sleep. There was no privacy. She missed her three cats. She was homesick. She was seasick.
She was ready to leave as soon as the ship arrived in St. Croix. One thing stopped her – she didn’t want to return home a failure. She told herself she would spend a week in St. Croix and see if things got better.
That was the case. Initially only to a limited extent. The beauty of the Virgin Islands helped.
However, the work did not become any easier.
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Working on a tall ship
Her job also had an educational aspect: she introduced the young people to the ship. The students were on board and learned the physics of sailing. The crew taught the children about the quality of sea water. They worked on leadership skills and teamwork.
In the Virgin Islands, these lessons were usually taught in daily programs Tuesday through Friday. In Boston, it was more of a residential program, with students living on the ship for a week or two, getting a crash course in what Showalter had learned when she came aboard.
Her favorite part of the education program was working with students from the Boston Newcomers Academy, a school for English learners ages 15 to 18 who are just entering the American school system and have limited English skills or gaps in their formal education. These students spent two weeks on the ship, sailing from Boston into New York Harbor. On July 4, they anchored next to the Statue of Liberty. That, she said, was a highlight of the year on board.
“They came from all over the world,” Showalter said. “It was so, so cool to see them and us coming together to achieve the common goal of surviving on this ship.”
In addition to that part of the job, Showalter and the rest of the crew had to maintain the ship. If something broke, they fixed it. They painted. They caulked. They sewed the sails. They cleaned the ship every day. Cleaning the soles and hulls was part of their daily duties – they washed the bottom of the ship and the toilets on board. They helped with navigation.
Showalter struggled to learn everything that needed to be done on a ship, which was frustrating for someone who had been a good student in school.
“I always felt like I was lagging behind and not doing my part,” she said.
Twice during the experience she felt her fear returning. She sat down and thought that she had to deal with it because there was no way out. She was stuck on the ship.
“That was the difference,” she said. “Normally I would fight my fear and fear it, but I was able to say, ‘Of course I understand why I’m afraid. Who wouldn’t be afraid? What I’m doing is a big deal.'”
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Findings
After six months on St. Croix, the ship sailed to Boston for six months. Then they sailed back to St. Croix with a new crew who learned to take the helm for the next year. They finished their time on the ship in December 2023.
This experience taught her, as a 30-year-old, to live fearlessly and take risks. She is now more open to travel. She wants to see the world.
“It just makes you a more dynamic person,” she said. “And it gives you insight and compassion for other people’s lifestyles and the environments they come from. I’ve met so many cool people in St. Croix and Boston and even on the ship who are completely different from me. It’s good to have those experiences.”
Showalter is now back in the area, working as a park ranger at the Grand Caverns in Grottoes and living in Harrisonburg. But the experiences on the ship will stay with her. Perhaps most of all, she gained confidence. She also learned how to use several tools that she now uses to maintain her home. Last Christmas, she asked for a jigsaw. She learned teamwork. And after being away for a year, she also developed a new appreciation for the Shenandoah Valley.
“It’s not for everyone,” Showalter said of the ship. “It was hardly anything for me. I still can’t believe sometimes that I did it.”
It was probably the hardest thing she had ever done, but she would do it again – perhaps even surprising herself.
“I don’t need to do this again,” Showalter said with a laugh. “But I would consider going back and helping with the program. I would be quite willing to help them for a month or so.”
— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips are always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and on Instagram @hitepatrick.. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com
