Friday, December 31, 2010

Brig

My favorite man dressed to race in the Carnival Caper race in Chatham's First Night. He wanted to be a barkentine, but with only two masts it got abbreviated to a brig. Happy New Year!

Ice on the Eelgrass

Quanset pond in the morning.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Prints





The 3D prints of SILENT MAID from Shapeways came today, a bit late for Christmas giving, but that was my error in uploading the model. Peter did a beautiful job creating the file in SolidWorks from the original hull drawings. One of the little models made it to the tree, sailing among the boughs.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Beaton's Boatyard and SILENT MAID

Post on SILENT MAIDs facebook page. Her hull is sanded clean of varnish and stain.

Kids Visit the Old Silent Maid


snow day. Friends stopped by the shop to see old SILENT MAID before she leaves. Curiosity raised its head about, "How did we live on the boat?" Here is a short video that shows the replica motoring back up the Chesapeake toward the canal.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Chocks


Paul & I worked on chocks tonight, planning out all the steps involved and making some fixtures.
First, we made decisions about numbers, sizes, shapes and systems. Then, he cut & selected the oak according to grain pattern. Paul created new patterns while I made a fixture for routing. The steps involved are; roughing the strips to size, marking and drilling the pin holes for the curved router cut. cutting the groove, (that's as far as we got tonite, will finish next week.) Cleaning out the router cut, drilling pilot holes, cutting the curve for the back, shaping the top with a bandsaw cut, reassembly, shaping the sides with a bandsaw cut, making a holding fixture and rounding the edges, finishing with sanding and varnish. Lot of steps for a small production run of twenty.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Work on Silent Maid is Ending Soon


More Varnish, more paint, less tape. Soon she will be ready for her cradle fitting and then a move to the warehouse until her new berth inside the museum is ready.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Comet Not a Rocket




The Comet is getting new inner keel, bottom planking outer keel. The bottom of a comet is not a simple curve so planks must be spilled to fit. There is a lot of fussy work here.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

COMET keel



Coming along.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

TSCA Tuesday

Christmas Party at the Cafe Gallery

Friday, December 3, 2010

Sanding and Printing



Sent a bunch of items to Shapeways to get them printed in different media. Some areas too thin, have to revise CAD model. Sanded the masts and gave them a last coat of sealer. Ready for varnish next.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

two masts


sanded and sealed

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Art Show


1622 Chestnut Street, Phila
Photo of ELF during her sea trials with the new topsail rig and a slice of one of her spars. Next to a great Martone painting of Utah.

Monday, November 29, 2010

More Conservation Work on Old Silent Maid


The crew is using a water level to place the boot stripe around SlLENT MAIDs hull and the TSCA guys are working on the last couple spars.


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Keeping Up




and keeping warm. Nothing like a woodstove to keep you hopping. Bring in more wood, toast the other side.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Rail and Case


Newt reinstalled the grab rails on Old Silent Maid. They look very tiny compared to the brass pipe rails on the Replica Silent Maid, especially when you think about the ton or more of human ballast hanging off the side.
Jackie & I worked on the comet, stabilizing the new frames and then removing the inner keel. It had to come off in pieces because it was glued to the centerboard case with Resorcinol and the case was rabbeted. Chisel work.


Thursday, November 25, 2010

Sandbaggers

These images are photographs of photographs from the collection of John Brady at Workshop on the Water. John and his crew built BEAR in the mid '90s. Here you see her with the full rig, before it was cut down to a more sustainable and manageable size. This is some sail power!

Happy Thanksgiving!







Wednesday, November 24, 2010

End of Season


Quanset Pond and Pleasant Bay


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Cape Fall

Cold and crisp. First frost up here. Crunchy grass. Warmed up the next day enough to go for a long walk on the beach. We were looking for the wreck that had been uncovered by the overwash at Pochet a few days earlier, but it had already been covered again. Nice log walk and gam. Lunch and Macintosh pie afterward. Fall and winter colors here are amazing. Too cold for sailing.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Nice Going




Paul, Paul, Ed, and Mike, and me. Worked on spars tonite, One sanded and sealed, another on the lathe, and the last one (still in staves, counted and spliced.) Not too much sawdust on account of fresh paint on Maid. Sheerstrake dutchman in and puttied. One little anomaly, a knothole plug that was the wrong grain direction and nailed in. A little piece of revisionist history gone.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sunshine on a Rainy Day




Painted old Silent Maid's deck & housetop with Jeff & Dave today. It was pouring outside in Philly, but we poured the sunshine on the canvas. It was really yellow. Jeff tried to tone it down by adding white. Very scientific. Meanwhile, Hartly & Bob reattached the brass rub rails, Doc was fixing stuff, Newt & Rick were varnishing more Maid parts, and Joe and Jamaica were fixing the Comet. Full house today. Took lots of pictures on the shop camera. Left it in the shop. Brady received the annual TSCA calendar from Andy. Great shots of the messabout & St. Mikes. I am in one, but you had to be there to know. The sail hides all the occupants. Gotta go grade math.