If you could look in on the Jeanie Johnston as she sails to America, you would see a sailing vessel with a live-aboard crew who handle the sails, do the chores and navigate her to her desired destination. That's a standard description of any tall ship and is nothing new.

But the Jeanie Johnston is not a "standard" ship. In addition to her "sailing" life, she has, not one, but two secret lives that will not be fully revealed until she reaches American and Canadian waters.

Her builders are referring to her as a ship of three modes: (1) The standard sailing mode, with a working crew; (2) The museum mode, when all reminders of the 21st Century disappear from her decks and below-deck spaces; and (3) The corporate mode, when she becomes the perfect setting for a power breakfast or a corporate awards banquet.

Shifting from Act I to Act II to Act III and then back again will require logistical programming that few, if any, tall ships have ever had to deal with; and that, in turn, will give the Captain a set of challenges no master of a 19th Century ship ever faced.

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The secret to quick changes is in the "Tween Deck," the main below-deck living area. A long table is permanently installed in the center, and compartments along both sides each contain two crew bunks and a locker. When the crew is aboard, they'll sleep in the bunks and eat at the table.

In museum mode, the bunks and table will be part of an exhibit, with life-size figures of 19th century emigrants, concealed lights and speakers to evoke the atmosphere and sounds of an Atlantic voyage at the time of the Great Famine, when thousands fled from Ireland's shores.

In corporate mode, bunk compartment partitions will be removed, the top bunks will slide down to form seats, and the table will expand to seat 66.

At dock in the US and Canada, the Jeanie Johnston may live all three lives in the course of a single day. "You could have a corporate breakfast in the morning," says shipwright foreman Ciaran O'Regan, "then a museum between 10 am and 4 pm, then a corporate dinner, then change back to the sailing mode late in the evening. When the ship is in the US, she'll be going nonstop."

A new crew will come aboard for each port-to-port leg of the voyage, and that will further complicate things. On a typical sailing between ports, the crew might report aboard at noon, sign in, get basic training, go aloft, learn sail handling, then sleep aboard. The ship departs the next morning, and once out of port, the crew practices tacking and wearing, then the ship sails for the next port, arriving late and lying offshore.

The next morning, the crew makes the switch from sailing mode to museum mode, the ship docks, the crew departs, officials come abaord for formal greetings and a tour of the ship, and by noon the museum is opened to the public.

For the Captain and his officers, all this means a lot of juggling, along with precision timing. Partitions have to be taken down and stowed, then put back in place again for the next act. Life-size "emigrants" must be removed from lockers, placed on benches or bunks, then stowed away again. On deck, the ship's modern rescue boat and life rafts have to be concealed when the ship is in 19th century mode, then redeployed for the 21st century. Crew members have to be signed in, trained and signed out. Liaison must be maintained with shoreside facilities that will follow the ship from port to port to set up and stand watch at a dockside pavilion with historical, genealogical and economics exhibits.

In short, the ship's time in the US and Canada will be long on administrative detail and short on ocean-going adventure. Her time at sea will be quite different.

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When the Jeanie Johnston arrives fresh from her transatlantic voyage, the voyage crew will depart, somewhat reluctantly perhaps, but certain that we have had the best she has to offer-- the beauty and stimulation of pure sail. We will also have had the unique experience of living and working in challenging conditions with a small group of people who will remember one another for the rest of their lives almost as vividly as members of their own families. Of her three lives, the one we will live with her is surely the best.

About the author, Tom Kindre: Tom Kindre, a long time sailor, is a member of Flotilla 16-10, 5NR. A retired magazine editor and public relations executive, Kindre, who is writing a series about his experiences aboard the Jeanie Johnston, has been a flotilla and division publications officer and is currently division public affairs officer.

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