green BOATS

Work Underway on TO N FRO

2012-01-22T05:48:00.001-08:00

I've been away from WoW working on a CAD model of Olympia. That has been exciting and fun, learning a new computer gadget and program to accomplish the task. Meanwhile back on the ranch...

Fritz has sent me these pix and captions for what has been going on for TO N FRO this week.

Bow - Stem supported by superstructure, Rotted Keel is removed.
Vertical 4x4 post supports Knee/Stem

Long dark board on floor is old Keel. Old Keel is dried out and punky.

Jeff chiseling out a diagonal joint for new Keel.

Dark spot on Keel is leaching stain from old iron bolts

Old Keel laying on new white oak Keel.

Steam bent white oak boomerang for new ribs

Painted rib member with yellow bedding compound squeezing out.

Boomerangs and ribs screwed into place. These new ribs will provide a solid area to screw the planks into.

Richardson Boat Co. used galvanized nails to fasten everything! Replaced all exposed nails under motor with bronze screws. Old nails slid out as easily as if they were slid in between book pages.

People have been driving into rocks. This part of the plank and other areas will need to be replaced.

Progress on TO N FRO

2012-01-22T05:40:00.001-08:00

Jan. 3, 2012. These pix, were sent by Fritz of work accomplished the Richardson 28. This boat has been used on the lake for years and years. She is in the boatshop for an overhall.

The white boards are the new ribs and flooring. All the new wood gets a coat of white primer.

Starboard bow gets new copper screws. The original fasteners were galvanized nails.

Interior bow, white vertical boards are the new ribs.

New floors in bow painted white.

View from cockpit looking into cabin

Whaleboat Frames

2012-01-17T18:21:00.001-08:00

Installing frames in the whaleboat. These must be notched and beveled to match the planking.

Olympia

2012-01-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

Building a virtual model of Olympia from a plastic model. It was scanned (over 60 individual pix) using a NextEngine 3D scanner at NextFAB Studio. The next step is to reassemble the pix into a complete 3D model.

Rock Harbor in January

2012-01-14T15:37:00.000-08:00

Rock Harbor at Sunset

Pleasant Bay Boat & Spar

2012-01-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Visited my friend Suzanne at her shop this week. Saw the new catboat leaving for FL. Have some pix, but have to figure out how to get them off my new phone.

Oldest B-Cat?

2011-12-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

More pictures of VIM. Lots of nice details.

VIM

2011-12-25T02:55:00.001-08:00

Thought I had lost these pix, but here they are . Came across VIM at DeRouville's boatyard his summer. She's over 100 years old, very similar to SILENT MAID in details and layout.

Frames

2011-12-18T04:04:00.001-08:00

Bruce has started fitting frames to the cradle boat. This boat has such a nice volume, she is a true vessel.

Lighted Boat Parade

2011-12-17T17:46:00.000-08:00

A little snow, cool lights. for more, check WOW.

New Floors

2011-12-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

The Richardson has some new floors. They were carved carefully to match the existing planking. Look at the starboard frames to see the new scarfed joins. Sitkaflex was used as an adhesive since epoxy is not good on oak. Jeff's tiny perch in the bow. Motor well is being carefully scraped by Fritz. The engine has been removed to accommodate this task.

ShantyBoat

2011-12-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Tom, here is my dream boat. Just need a place to put it. I suspect a mooring at the Dragon might be too rough. This boat by Harry Bryant is nicely thought out. I got a chance to visit when she was at the WoodenBoat show in Mystic last summer. Loved the wood stove and the windows and geraniums.

Cradle

2011-12-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Wish you could see this in person. The photos do not do justice to the the volume. Very sweet. Oak sheerstrake.

Homeport for To N' Fro

2011-12-15T17:33:00.001-08:00

Fritz sent me these pics of TO N' FRO to share. She's a lovely boat in the shop, but much nicer here in her element at home. She is a well loved boat.

Baby Boat

2011-12-14T02:20:00.000-08:00

Bruce is building this little cradle for a new grandchild to come. It is a lovely little thing, oak keel & inwales.

Richardson Progress

2011-12-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

After opening the garboard, Jeff pointed out that 16 of the forward frames were rotted. Since we have the miracle goop (epoxy) frame ends are being scarfed in using a ceiling clamp improvised by JHaroldLLC. The owner of this lovely vessel, Fritz Dietel, has been coming by to work on her also. A curtain was hung around the hull to keep in the moisture supplied by a humidifier. Since it has gotten colder, the heat is on in the shop. Nice for people, not so for wooden boats.

Boatshop Buddies

2011-12-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

Staff and Thursday volunteers working on the Richardson, Seaman's skiff and the whaleboat.

Both Ends

2011-12-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Work on the whaleboat has slowed since the Richardson 28 arrived. Both sides have 6 planks and the upper edge has been chamfered to fit the lap plank.

See the WorkshopontheWater blog for more about the Richardson.

Cradle

2011-12-03T10:25:00.001-08:00

Bruce is working on a cradle for his grandkid (on the way). Love the little lap clamps made using drywall screws and wedges.

Planking Continues

2011-11-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

Sixth planks go on both sides. The top edge of this gets beveled for the next plank, the first lapstrake one. Compare her shape to the model in the case on deck.

Wumping

2011-11-13T04:01:00.000-08:00

I am not sure of the origin of "wumping or womping." It appears on the Mystic Seaport video about building a whaleboat. The idea is to pre-bend the plank into a cupped shape to match the curve on each mold where it lies when hung. In carvel building, the inside of the plank is carved out to match the mold curves, but whaleboats were built cheap, out of thinner stock. The process involves spiling and planing the plank to fit; steaming it until soft and then clamping it between curved molds until cool and dry. The next day the plank is removed from the clamps and hung by clench nailing it to battens above and below.
The steam for this bag system is generated by the shops metal "gas" can system over a propane burner hooked up to a plastic bag slid over the plank and tied off at the end. Gloves are needed as the plank is very hot coming out of the bag.

Clench Nailing

2011-11-11T17:20:00.001-08:00

Got to try my hand at clench nailing on the whaleboat yesterday. I have been wanting to do this for a long time. Everyone said your anvil wrist will ache afterwards because of the pounding. Here is the skinny. We drill the holes through the plank and batten, and place the nail oval perpendicular to the grain. Back it with the iron next to the hole and tap the nail thru from the plank side until it just clears the batten. Move the iron over the nail. Hold it at an angle so the nail starts to turn back into the batten. Tap it home flush with the plank surface.

The picture from the batten side shows the point sides bent back against the batten.

5th Plank Gets Wumped

2011-11-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Planking is moving along on the whaleboat. The planks are wider now and must be pre-curved to match the bend in the molds.

Wooden Boat Fest at ISM

2011-10-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Racing Acats at SPYC

2011-10-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Back to Work

2011-09-26T03:37:00.001-07:00

Sailing is almost over. MASCF and the Wooden Boats Fest still to come. Welcome to Bruce, the new WoW manager! The V-hull and comet are on the reserve list while progress is being made on the Sea Bright skiff and whaleboats. Adding a steel compression strap to the steambending jig has reduced failures to almost none. Charles riveting in a new frame. Randy & Newt fitting a scarf in the 2nd whaleboat plank.

Grace

2011-09-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

There is a certain grace in losing races. Unaccustomed for sure. SPY was moving well and LOTUS, MARY ANN beat us too at the last puff. TAMWOCK tried some unconventional tacks that paid off for her crew. RAVEN looked beautiful. Last race for the museum crew this year, see you in '12.
Thanks to Peter Chance, TORCH ended her bay racing season 2nd overall and 1st in the A-cat worlds!

Acats at the Middleton Cup

2011-09-08T18:17:00.001-07:00

Scandalized

2011-09-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sailing URCHIN in Pleasant Bay Breeze picked up. rowed out and sailed back with her sail shortened. Looks a little messy, but we cruised inshore so fast we were there before you knew it.

Sun finally came out.

Down Bay Sail

2011-09-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

SILENT MAID takes her time sailing down to Seaside Park with a full compliment. Beautiful cool weather and good conversation.

pix coming

Good Night Irene

2011-08-28T03:33:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Irene has turned out to be a non event so far. Prolonged rain, but no high winds, so far. The Burlington river weather buoy recorded only one gust over forty with mostly 20 kt winds. No where near hurricane. I do expect lot of trash coming down river, the high tide was 10' two over the normal eight so there should be some clean up at the Red Dragon. The trench I cut, draining our back yard, has so far prevented the back porch from flooding. I figured it was easier to plant grass seed than clean up mud and wet from another house flood.

Marion Day

2011-08-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

The tuck-up Marion is beautiful as ever. She remained stubbornly upright. Did have to bail periodically. Had a slow sail on Lake Union, Millville. Talked about shantyboats with Tom. Would like to build one to take to St. Mikes. Shantyboat that is.

ELF Again

2011-08-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a great shot of ELF from Jenny Buck. Thanks!

ELF and VAPOR

2011-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Photo from the pasts Sunday Asbury Park Press. The Squan TriSail is a ocean race. This was Sunday's light air.

Slow Sailing

2011-08-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

Light breeze meant slow sailing for the ELF crew. It did give us lots of chances to try out different sail combinations though. The TriSail Race Series are on the ocean in front of Bay Head and Mantoloking beaches.

Capt. Pete - Oarman

2011-07-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

Pete & I worked on the oar project for the rowing program. Getting closer. A lot of ash shavings went into the can while the oar form is emerging from the boards.

Whaleboat Joint

2011-07-27T03:29:00.000-07:00

The stem attached to the keel with rivets.

The Callahan Cup

2011-07-23T20:38:00.001-07:00

TORCH & SILENT MAID were out together with the a-cats for the Callahan cup on Friday afternoon. The breeze was flaky, shifting around a bit and giving the course setters coniptions before settling down. Racing was slow but steady in the light air. It was the first time together for our skipper and crew. John Brady, John S'bach, Peter, Christian, Chuck, Nick, and I brought TORCH around the course for a second place in the regatta. Ok for a green crew. ps since I am crew, these are all between the races shots. I got in trouble for trying to shoot the action during the races. There were some great moments at the starts and marks, but they are committed to memory rather that electrons.

OLYMPIA

2011-07-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

A visit to the cruiser OLYMPIA in 100 degree weather gave me a real feeling of thankfulness to the Navy guys that ran the iron ship. 40 officers and 400 men, most of whom shoveled coal, ash, and fed the boilers, kept her moving. We were sweating without doing any work. Can't imagine the environment crowed, hot, and not very much ventilation. The modern Navy is a lot more human friendly.

OLYMPIA is a real time capsule of life for her time; social, technological, economics, everything. Amazing ship still at Penn's Landing in Philly.

TSCA oarmaking

2011-07-21T08:27:00.001-07:00

Three members worked on cutting, thinning, layout and shaping 4pair of oars. Leather suppliers identified for buttons and leathers. Status in order from most to least complete.
1 pr painted, ready for leathers
1 pr. being shaped and refined (this is the GF planed pair)
1 pr marked and thinned, began planing to remove more stock by blades.
1 pr cut out and thinned

Ed is laying out pattern for cutting last pair.

Unstable Weather

2011-07-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

Sailed or rather tried to, yesterday. Left Quanset Pond via ash breeze to Pleasant Bay. Set sail and wind dropped to zero and backed with black sky. Dropped the mast, hauled the rudder & centerboard and rowed back to the pond.

This day was great. Had favorable wind to and from the pond, but couldn't make it to the outer beach. Even though URCHIN will sail in four inches of water, three and a half is just to thin to pull her three hundred pounds across. We reached a low tide beach in the marsh behind Little Sipson before running out of water. Lovely day on a very crowded beach.

The last pic is Mom's garden. Love the lavender and so do the bumbles.

New Sail

2011-06-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Picked up the new sail for FISH STIX today and started rigging her with Jake. He is a quick study and was very excited to be doing more marlinspike stuff. Great whipping. JSB is working hard on completing the comet and Doc on the oars. Pete, John and George worked on the garvey, new bottom paint. Jeff popped the ladybug into the river. Newt is Newt.

The last pick here is one of Jake putting epoxy on our experimental mast hoops. We were out of green oak for bending new ones and looking around the shop I found some cardboard tubes and some carbon fiber. I filament wound the tubes, Jake epoxied them, painted them, and voila we had some impromptu mast hoops. They seem to be holding up so far.

Block and Back

2011-06-26T17:29:00.001-07:00

The week started out with no wind, then too much wind and rain, storms, then a nice sail out to block island, the skipper verifying our marks, putzing around with the dink, renting bikes, SUN, drinks at the Oar.

Good company . Fog.

Ferry, New London and sun again.

Thank you MB & ACT II!

W Races in Barnegat

2011-06-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

This was a beautiful day sailing on a beautiful boat, SILENT MAID. We were going to the Wanamaker cup races, but a venue change kept us in the upper bay out of Mantoloking. TORCH took three firsts, we could just see the a-cats on the other side of the bridge.

Whaleboat Work

2011-06-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

The molds are hanging out of the way in this picture, Jake is spacing guides on the bending trap for the frames (it was his last day as an intern), the last image is a bending jig for the stem & stern of the whaleboat.

The whaleboat molds and traps have been completed and one set was sent up to Rocking the Boat. The kids at RtB are going to build a whaleboat this summer. The Philly seaport provided the molds so both boats will be the same. The whale boats will be given to Mystic Seaport to outfit the MORGAN, a whaleship that is being restored now.

Cape Cod Memorial Day

2011-05-31T04:52:00.000-07:00

The beginning of no-left-turn season has arrived along with the pine pollen fog. The cool mornings invite cocoa on the porch, while the hot sunny afternoons beckon a read on the beach. Along the railtrail the scents of dry oak leaves mingle with iodine tinged salt air. The town triangle is bedecked with tricolors of stripes and stars. No place like it on earth. Nauset water claims to be 54 degrees, but my toe says its more like 48. No sailing this week since the arm is still enshrined in a cast. Maybe next time.

Shop Notes

2011-05-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

gaffs and a hinge for YELLOW JACKETs mast

SILENT MAID is Commissioned 2011

2011-05-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

Young visitor testing the forward bunk.
SILENT MAIDs battle flag.

Party on the dock.

Her interior has new paint & cushions.

She has a new folding carbon fiber sink in the head.

New two speed steering gear in the lazarette.

SLILENT MAID is back in the water at Beaton's. Tommy's crew

did a beautiful job shining her up and there are lots of improvements too. She has a new OCAM screens for racing, a revised waterline, new head mechanics and interior, all new cushions and towels. She also has new steering gear set in a carbon fiber housing.
Henry has re-rigged her with new lines and covered hoops, lots of shiny bronze. The engine can now be zipped in and out - out in a half hour according to the yard. She is lighter and looks faster.

Check out the new sink. Lots of love, patience and prodding went into that baby. Old pump, but a new design modeled in SolidWorks from the old cast iron one and then fabricated in carbonfiber and MAS epoxy by the Byars. Installed by Beaton's.

Whaleboat Mold Assembly

2011-05-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Yellow Jacket has a gold leaf bee.
Gina on whaleboat molds.

New CEO for the Seaport

2011-05-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Best man for the job. Has 30 years experience. Can walk in the other persons shoes. Very creative. Thoughtful skipper. Fair winds and smooth sailing.

Etcetera

2011-04-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

Whaleboat molds are in progress. Gina was assembling and true-ing them.

I finished painting Yellow Jackets logo on her transom.

John came in to sand Chimay's fairing. It was Rose's last day.

We all miss Brady. I am sure he misses us too in his own way.

Jeff and Bobby were looking at solutions to the folding mast problem.

AJ Meerwald was messing around with their forestays and bobstay, Made for interesting commentary in the shop. George sanded and epoxied. Newt was off.

Making Templates

2011-04-28T03:59:00.002-07:00

Made templates for the whaleboat molds. These show the keel notch and rabbet angles for the garbed plank.

Put the outline around Yellow Jacket.

Faired Chimay.

Autism Speaks Rower Neil Calore

2011-04-28T03:59:00.001-07:00

Neil built this boat and is rowing from Baltimore to NY. He got a salute from Olympia, an escort from the Fireboat and speeches from the Autism Awareness folks. Good group.

Chip Repair

2011-04-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Spent most of the day cleaning up a repair, chiseling a scarf joint and making a dutchman. One side was epoxied and one side boat life-d. STICKY. Newt came up with a clamping method using the boat itself.
Began a logo for YELLOW JACKET. Made a stencil for the background.

John was priming CHIMAY for paint and found two screw holes, so he plugged those. We taped off the water line. Spars were scraped and sanded for carbon fiber.

Chimay Spring

2011-04-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Finally back at the seaport after princess camp. The entire tenor of the place has changed overnight but the boats are the focus.

CHIMAY has come along way since I saw her last. The deck is done and John is figuring out the coaming angles. She awaiting paint from Petitt and a mast or two. Trying to decide whether to carbon fiber the existing mast with a sleeve and or by a multi-stayed arrangement second-hand. Or build a new one. Still she is close to completion and the breeze is up. The bay is calling.

Caught Carolyn praying to the varnish gods or doing penance to the sandpaper pantheon. The bit of mahogany is from the small Elco in the background, BEAR CUB by name.

BuyBoat

2011-04-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Crockett is going in the water this May!

Model Whaleboat

2011-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

There is a beautiful model whaleboat in the boatshop at the Seaport museum. I will put up photos soon.

I bought a model whaleboat on ebay. Will put it together some day, but not now. No time. It is a copy of the Lagota half scale whaleboats at the Whaling Museum in New Bedford. They are the little green ones above the Azorean whaleboat in the foreground.

New Bedford Whaleboat

2011-03-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

This boat is in the collection at the New Bedford whaling museum. It was used in service, but the builder is unknown. It will be a good resource for us when we build the new one for the MORGAN.

mast step

loggerhead

centerboard case

Whaleboat Images

2011-03-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

These images are details of artworks and graphics on the walls at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Whaleboats in Watercolors

2011-03-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Details from seamen's sketches. I photographed these at the New Bedford Whaling museum.

New Bedford

2011-03-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Visited New Bedford's National Park and Whaling Museum. They have a couple Azorean Whaleboats that they raced last Sept. 2010. Click here for their webpage.

Tom, there were many designs for harpoons.

Offsets

2011-03-18T15:00:00.001-07:00

The table of offsets has all the measurement information for distances along each labeled line. For a great post about measuring an existing boat to produce plans, check out Russ Manheimerspost about measuring SJOGIN.

Reading Plans

2011-03-16T21:22:00.001-07:00

The plans for the Whaleboat have a table

of offsets in the corner. The offsets are read in feet-inches- and eighths of inches. These coordinates specify points on given lines. They are the given locations where a long flexible batten may be bent along to make a fair line.

The lines on the plans are drawn in three axes, or planes intersecting each other at right angles for the most part. (the diagonals make a fourth set of planes, not at right angles.)

In this view the station profiles are shown, the waterlines are the horizontal lines spaced about 6" apart, the vertical lines are buttock lines. The diagonals radiate downward from the center.

In these last two images, (not whaleboats, but good illustrations from a book called, Ships of

the Pharaohs, by Bjorn Landstrom,) you can visualize where the lines come from and how they relate to a three dimensional hull. The lofter uses geometry and battens to create full size drawings from the numbers in the table of offsets and the lines on the plans.

Plans

2011-03-15T20:45:00.001-07:00

The plans for the whaleboats being built at Workshop on the Water and Rocking the Boat are available from Mystic Seaport. These drawings were done by R.C Allyn in 1973. They are the lines from a Beetle Whaleboat. Beetle built about 50 boats a year between 1834 and 1854. A set of lines like this gives all the information a builder needs to produce a boat with the given shape.

Stoves

2011-03-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

Check out the Bio Diesel stove.

http://www.marinestove.com/herringinfo.htm

With the winter being so cold and snowy here I have been looking at stoves and cooking for small cruisers. Have been collecting camp stoves for a while and recently bought a kelly kettle. The house is heated with a Jotul, which keeps us cosy. SILENT MAID has a wonderful diesel Wallace stove which doubles as a cabin heater. It needs a battery system in addition to the fuel system. I was hoping to keep things more simple.

Whaleboats

2011-03-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

The beginning of a new boat means drawing the shapes full size from a set of offsets (feet-inches-eighths) that determine points. Battens bent to meet these points are adjusted for fair curves.

My friend Tom Armstrong, has set up a new blog to document the building of the whaleboats by the seaport's Workshop on the Water. http://whaleboats.blogspot.com/

High Tide

2011-01-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

This was a strange day. I came home from school and the porch had water on it. No, the hose wasn't leaking. I opened the door, stepped over the threshold and the water went over my sneaker tops. Good thing I don't wear high tops. It was just like getting off SILENT MAID in Chestertown last year at high tide. At first, it was intereting and then the realization of magnitude of the disater hit me. I walked into the kitchen and waterfalls were cascading down from the light fixtures and each corner of the skylight. What to do? I braved the waterfall and found the shut-off. I waded through house to see. It was so cool and unrealistic at the same time. There is not supposed to be this much water inside your house. The ebb had begun, but every room but the northeast bedroom had standing water. Called Pete, he came home and got some friends over with water vacs. I cried really hard and then got busy cutting up carpet. The floor is concrete so once the carpet was out, the concrete vacuumed and dried pretty quick. Lots of books in the trash. Going to try and save a few by inducucing freezer burn in the fridge.

Lofting

2011-01-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

Began lofting the Whaleboat on Thursday. 4 sheets of luan were screwed to the floor and painted white. A baseline was snapped on and penciled in. 9 stations were set up from the baseline with 3-4-5 triangles and the 4 waterlines were marked out.

JS"bach and the CHIMAY team hung the last two planks and trimmed them with a slick. Jeff & Gina were working on MISLEADING LADY.

WHALEBOAT begun

2011-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

Tues night, Mike & I laid out and cut the rest of the ash oar blanks. Andy had cut a set earlier. We are making them with a rib down the center and not spoons. I had already made the template earlier. The are heavy. ooh, way heavy. I hope it is because the wood is a bit wet. Couldn't find the small power plane, so we ended the night with work on chocks and cleats. Marking and drilling holes.

We bent another set of planks for gaff jaws and I glued up the last set and put in another group to soak. When I walked in the shop, late afternoon, SILENT MAID, the original, had been shifted over four feet to make way for the lofting of the whaleboat. This is very exciting.

Nauset Winter

2011-01-17T16:51:00.000-08:00

More Snow Less Boats

2011-01-14T13:33:00.001-08:00

Nite Snow

2011-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Stayed a bit later to enjoy the quiet after a busy day. Pete worked on the sink for SILENT MAID. I glued up a pre-bent gaff jaw and bent another soaked set of staves. Highlight was to layout a pattern for three pair of ash oars for the museum's in water sharpies and tuckups. Snow kept the TSCA attendance down, but was very pretty.

WorkDay

2011-01-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Thursdays are always busy at the shop. Newt, Gina, Andy and Jeff were working on SILENT MAIDs cradle, John S'B and Charles hung another plank on the Comet. (She may be painted blue like the trappist beer bottles) They also did a bit of rot chasing. John B received the new V-drive for MISLEADING LADY.

WorkNite

2011-01-07T07:08:00.000-08:00

Mike and Paul came in to help out and we got another gaff jaw lamination glued up, a gaff jaw pre-bent on a new form, FISH STIX spars marked for rigging, Paul started making blanks for new 4" cleats. He and Mike sanded the tuckup spars and I gave them another coat of varnish. The crew was severely reduced by illness.

New Tent for FISH STIX

2011-01-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

Hers blew away in the last big windstorm.

Timber

2011-01-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the support beam for Silent Maids keel being fitted by John and Andy.

The comet is getting more bottom planks.

Famous Writer

2011-01-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

Kent Mountford was at the boatshop today mugging for my camera while shooting images for his book about SILENT MAID.

He writes in Bay

Quanset Pond and Nauset

2011-01-02T21:13:00.001-08:00

Dawn and foggy on day two of the new year.

Brig

2010-12-31T14:49:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-31T06:16:00.001-08:00

Quanset pond in the morning.

Prints

2010-12-24T19:17:00.000-08:00

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.

Beaton's Boatyard and SILENT MAID

2010-12-18T02:52:00.000-08:00

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

Kids Visit the Old Silent Maid

2010-12-18T02:46:00.001-08:00

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.

Chocks

2010-12-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

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.

Work on Silent Maid is Ending Soon

2010-12-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

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.

Comet Not a Rocket

2010-12-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

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.

COMET keel

2010-12-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

Coming along.

TSCA Tuesday

2010-12-07T11:25:00.001-08:00

Christmas Party at the Cafe Gallery

Sanding and Printing

2010-12-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

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.

two masts

2010-12-02T18:47:00.001-08:00

sanded and sealed

Pouring Rain

2010-12-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Art Show

2010-11-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

1622 Chestnut Street, Phila

Art Institute Faculty Show

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.

More Conservation Work on Old Silent Maid

2010-11-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

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.

Keeping Up

2010-11-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

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

Rail and Case

2010-11-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Sandbaggers

2010-11-25T04:53:00.001-08:00

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!

End of Season

2010-11-24T04:28:00.000-08:00

Quanset Pond and Pleasant Bay

Cape Fall

2010-11-23T03:29:00.000-08:00

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.

Nice Going

2010-11-18T21:20:00.000-08:00

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.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

2010-11-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

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.