Off to the Wooden Boat show in Mystic

We're going to the wooden boat show in Mystic this weekend. There are plenty of experts at the show that will answer a long list of questions that we have in the areas of rigging, epoxy/fabric, hardware, diesel, navigation, steering systems, vessel documentation, sails and on and on. We'll meeting Kevin in Charlestown to look at a few more hardware pieces (from his unfortunate misadventure with his ketch). The show also holds small seminars including bronze casting and wood steam bending that we will attend. We'll also pay a visit to our favorite consignment store in Wickford ( Wickford Marine Consignment).

Nice image of the original

Here is an image of Slocum's Spray leaving Sidney Harbor. Should we paint our hull white? The idea of leaving her natural frightens us due to the amount of effort needed to maintain all of that varnish. We have plenty of time to ponder the idea.

More on the Rudder

Howard has prepared the rudder stock and internal foil support for welding and assembly. The stock ( rod) is 1.25" 316 stainless and the supports are .25" 316 stainless. All will be embedded in epoxy and sandwiched within the locust foil seen on the left.

Bronze Cleaning

One of the many projects ( as you have seen in previous posts) has been to collect and prepare old bronze fittings and hardware. We learned that muriatic acid and water ( 1-3) cleans much of the old corrosion from bronze. There are two schools of thought on bronze. Patina vs. bright. We like patina but much of the corrosion isn't pretty. Also, we need to get a good look at all of the old rigging parts so we can identify any stress cracks. In the picture you see chain plates and travelers from the 1930 Alden ketch that went aground in RI. Much more polishing will be necessary but it is high quality bronze and will look great when completed.

Cold Molding the Hull

Now that the hull is on it's side, finishing the hull will not be difficult. Cold molding is basically like making plywood in the shape of a boat. Thin layers of veneer are coated in epoxy and stapled onto the hull. Veneer layers are placed roughly perpendicular to each other. With three guys working it takes about 4 hours to cover a 6x6 area. We esimate about 40 hours of work for the three man crew per side. We've completed about half of the first layer on the first side. Not hard labor but tedious----and sticky. Much of the art of using epoxy is keeping everything in the work area clean. Tools left sticky on the bench
may be there until you cut them off with a recipricating saw. Another complication of epoxy is that you need 48 hours of temperature above 55 degrees for the curing process. Summer is short in upstate NY and we both have sailboats on Lake Champlain that we enjoy. We may have to consider extending our building season by enclosing the barn.

Around the World- In Swedish

I found this interesting version of Slocum's book printed in Swedish. Thanks to Dick and Libby of Tarwathie for correcting me. Visit their very interesting crusing blog www.dickandlibby.blogspot.com

Heeling on the "hard"

I'm not sure what the exact angle of heel is but this would be exciting if we were in the water.

The Spray has landed

She landed without an issue. It's the one time in your life when "boring" is good.

Close up- Olavi monitors the bend

A close up shows the rig a little better.
Each station has been positioned under a bulkhead.

The rolling rig

4 stations, 3- 8000 lb winches, 1 2000 chain falls, lowering 4 4x6 inch beams.

The picture shows the winches between 2x8 upright pairs through bolted at the tops and bottoms. Quarter inch steel brackets hold the stations to the concrete floor. Each station is supported by laterals to the barn and ground. The beams are lowered between the 2x8's. We think the boat weighs no more than 20,000 lbs. Simple logic says that we'll be carrying more as it tips and should not carry more than half of it's total weight.

Easy does it

Very smooth. No creaking, groaning,

or other sounds a wooden boat makes when it complains. She seams solid. the 4-4x6's at times showed 5-6 inch bends but otherwise the lwering was quite uneventful.

Tipping Point

It's amazing how far we had to push her over before she fully committed

to the roll. We needed about 5 more degrees before she allowed gravity to do the rest. We had a full crew, one person for each station (4) and two more for the peripheral duties of checking, jacking, and adjusting timbers.

Rolling the Boat!

We've decided to roll the boat on it's side to have better access to the bottom. Now that its warming up, we'll be able to do the epoxy work on the bottom. We have to epoxy two layers of thin wood veneer under the water line. Epoxy resin requires 2-3 days of curing with temps above 55 degrees. We are rigging 4 stations that will have winches that will lower beams that the boat is resting on. Hard to explain--more pics and video to follow. We're guessing that we're carrying about half of the roughly 10,000 Ibs. Wish us lots of luck. Stay tuned!

More Hardware

We discovered that an unfortunate wooden boat owner in Charlestown RI lost his 45' Classic 1930 Alden Schooner after it broke free from it's mooring and suffered a fatal landing on the rocks. A trip out to meet the the owner lead to the purchase of many vintage parts that will help with the project. We've discovered that this beautiful bowsprit ( 12" overall length) with many vintage bronze fittings, will fit the boat with a little "encouragement". Thanks to Kevin from Charlestown RI. The sprit will extend from the bow of the spray by approximately 6 feet. Show in the photo, the inner stay has a special fitting that allows the quick release
of the inner stay. Kevin also sold us heavy duty bronze chainplates, travelers, turnbuckles, stanchion bases and 400 ft of stainless steel rigging wire. We are close to having everything we need to rig the boat.

The Rudder

Uncle Howard has been working on the rudder. Here tauno is dry fitting in place. Sections of foil were cut from locust that had been cut on the farm, rough cut down the road at a saw mill, and dried over the winter. Locust is extremely hard and considered to be one of the most rot resistant of all wood species. The hardware ( rudder post, bearings, stuffing box) were all salvaged from a RI
consignment shop during one of our winter trips.

We're still here!

Over the winter we learned much about vintage boat rigging and collected many need parts for the project. EbAY helped us by finding this classic ship's wheel originally produced from the famous Rosebank Ironworks in Edinburgh Scotland. (No longer in business) We'll be building a binnacle unless we can find one on one of our travels.