Danish double-ender project in Gloucester, MA

[Matt Billey]

Jim,

What overall length do you need for your mast?

MB

[PeterSibley]

Yes, the mast is glued up out of 5 laminates.

Oops , I didn't look carefully enough at the bottom, just at the photo of grain further up .

[Jim Ledger]

Jim,

What overall length do you need for your mast?

MB

Thirty-six feet, eight and a half inch diameter.


If you happen across any more in your travels.


Jim

[StevenBauer]

Nice score on the mast, Matt. And nice progress on the boat. I guess I haven't checked in here in a while. I'd love to see her "in person" sometime.



Steven

[Matt Billey]

Jim,

I'll keep my eyes peeled for any stray masts of that description that need a good home



Steven,

Any time you want to get yourself down here, you are more than welcome to take a look at the old girl.

[Jim Ledger]

Jim,

I'll keep my eyes peeled for any stray masts of that description that need a good home

Ah, thanks, Matt...and if you should just happen across an Edson steering gear for a transom hung rudder, I'm looking for one of those as well.

BTW, I'll be in Boston the end of next May. I'd love to get away for an hour and have a look at your boat

Jim

[Matt Billey]

Moving my new mast over to my shed. Check out the ingenious cart and trailer tongue. Also, here are a couple gudgeon and pintle patterns I'm making. Anyone know of a good bronze casting shop nearby the Northshore area?

MB

[Jim Ledger]

Mystic River foundry in Mystic Connecticut will do you a good job.


Jim

[Rob Hazard]

Matt, you might look at the Hubon St. Foundry in Salem, just over the bridge from Beverly. I think their main work is aluminum, but they do bronze as well.

Rob

[Matt Billey]

I just got back from a really wonderful trip to Denmark. I was fortunate enough to travel to several nice spots where old boatie things are still happening. Stops were made at the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum, Hobro Ship Yard, Middelfart wooden boat association, Aarhus boat club on the waterfront and then finally, for the last week of the trip I went to Bornholm Island. There are still quite a few old wooden work boats still being used on the island. And there is a pretty substantial interest among hobbyists and wooden boat associations. Here are some pictures.

The knarr, "Otar", at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.



On the Aarhus waterfront, the 1937 Bornholm boat, "Marie Nielsen," frozen in ice. For the first week of the trip, it was remarkably cold, for Denmark standards, being in the low 20's.





The one cylinder Hundested engine.


In the town of Ronne, a wooden boat association is having built a copy of the first decked-over fishing boat built on Bornholm. It dates from 1867. There were two nice young guys working away on the deck planks when I stopped by. The foreman is Rafaello Bartollini. He was very gracious and spent at least a couple of hours showing me around the yard. There is a large collection of Bornholm built boats. One in particular was very interesting and significant. From the Nielsen book, "Wooden Boat Designs", there are drawings and photographs of the stern-boat, "Odin". Well, this very same boat is in the collection. She has some interesting construction details, like the neat bilge pump and trough system underneath one of the thwarts, and the short planking butt-blocks with the grain of the wood running perpendicular to the grain of the planks.





The stern-boat, "Odin"








On the waterfront in the small town of Listed, there is a man who runs a really great Fishery Museum. He has also been the Habour Chief for many many years. I met him down by the harbor and once I told him I was building a copy of "Haabet", he said, "Come with me. I have a model of "Haabet." I was flabergasted.

[sailboy3]

Way cool! Thanks for the photos.

[Portland]

I love that Marie Nielsen !.
Rob J.

[Matt Billey]

A few more pics from Denmark, February 2012.........

This is another shot of the model of registration number "SE 174", "Haabet" of Listed. The oval steering-well can be seen, as well as the rounded stem profile.



After a little bit of research at the historical archive library in Ronne, I discovered that this is the sight where Hans Peter Hansen had his boatbuilding shop in Svaneke. Over the course of 50 or so years, he built more than 300 small boats, half and full decked sail boats and motor fishing boats. This is the very spot where "Haabet" of Listed was built. When a boat was completed and to be launched, they would drag it on cradles on its starboard side with horses. The large tree in the foreground was used as a deadman to drag boats around in the yard and also to help them on their way to the water. The trip to the slipway was about 1/8 mile. I took that walk from building site to slipway and bottled some of the sea water from Svaneke harbor. I will use it to christen "Jette" of Gloucester.



a couple of square-sterned clinker-built boats in the town of Gudhjem on Bornholm. Apparently, each town on Bornholm has their own twist, when it comes to construction details. This town is know for sharp, straighter and steeply forward-raking stems. As a contrast, the boats from Svaneke, the next town south of Gudhjem, are known for having rounded stems. These are called the round-bowed type; rundstaevnede.



Small double-enders were as common fishing dories in Gloucester. This one was seen on the island called Hjarno.



A typical feature on Bornholm boats; the "rakke", staved barrel that does the job of gaff jaws. I didn't confirm this with anyone, but I think these rakke allows someone to quickly scandalize the rig, if the wind suddenly picks up by slacking the peak halyard until the gaff is parallel to the mast.



head-on view of the copy of the first decked boat built on Bornholm Island in 1867, being built now on the waterfront in the town of Ronne.

[Matt Billey]

I've been working hard on my mast. I'm essentially done with the re-shaping process. The section below deck will remain 8-sided. In the photo, you can see the start of my rakke, minus metal hardware.

[rogue]

Looking great! A trip to Denmark!! I'm jealous! I'll have to wait untill the boys are through college, but I sure have enjoyed this thread and your pictures...thanks!

[Peerie Maa]

Interesting, Rakke is Old Norse and Shetland for the parrel on a square sail, made of rams horn or a bent branch or root.

[Matt Billey]

I've been busy working on a couple different items lately. I found a good used bronze deck iron on eBay and made the leveling block to fit it to the cabin top. Also, I've been rendering lamb fat to make tallow. Today I'm using the tallow to make an old-timey bedding compound I read about in Claude Worth's book "Yacht Cruising." It's a pretty simple mixture. I can't wait to see how it performs. He used it as a bedding when he canvassed the deck of his boat "Foam", a really interesting plumb-stem cutter. I recommend the book to anyone interested in early yacht design.

The mixture is as follows;

10 pounds tallow
10 pounds rosin
2 gallons linseed oil

melted together

I'm cutting that recipe in half, as my cabin-top is only small in surface area.

[Sailor]

Cool, I don't think I'd be able to save up 5lbs of lamb fat.

[Matt Billey]

I laid the canvas today.


bedding compound



cabin top with a thick layer of the compound



canvas stretched and tacked



canvas soaked with water for shrinkage and further tightening

[P.L.Lenihan]

I'm so glad the weather is warming up down your way Matt and that the days will be nice and long. Love following along this thread.Just a shame we don't have scratch-n-sniff technology yet for our monitors!


Cheers!

Peter

[Matt Billey]

Well, I'm afraid the first attempt at laying the canvas didn't go as hoped. It turns out the rosin/tallow/linseed bedding compound was a little too runny and I laid on a little too much of it. I was able to put the first coat of paint on it, but because so much of the stuff was oozing up through the canvas, the paint never dried properly. So, I bit the bullet and tore the canvas off, scraped the excess goop off and laid a second piece of canvas down. This time it seems to have worked fine. The first coat of paint has dried well and I've been able to move on to bolting down the companionway slider runners. Here are some pics.

The second piece of canvas with Kirby's Green #3 and the companionway slider runners



The freshly oiled mast and the rough glue-up which will become the gaff

[PeterSibley]

Kirby's Green #3 is a great colour !

[Matt Billey]

A few recent pics here showing some progress on the companionway hatch and drop board keepers. Also, the seacock and raw water strainer are in place and ready to be plumbed to the engine. Next up is the exhaust and water-pump plumbing and finalizing the fuel tank design. In the Sabb manual, they don't seem to talk much about mufflers. I wasn't planning on using one, at least at first. Any thoughts?

[m2c1Iw]

Can't comment on mufflers Matt but wanted to say how much I've been enjoying your build, tis a great thing and it's nice to see pics of the progress that include saw dust and tools.

[Sailor]

Definitely trustworthy.

[Slacko]

The need for a muffler depends on the installation.
If you are running a dry stack it will probably need one.
If you are running a raw water cooled exhaust, it depends on where the manifold sits in relation to the waterline. The requirements get tricky if it is below water level.
I just fitted one to my yacht after 40 years of not having a waterlock just to cut the noise levels, but because the mainfold is above the waterline it didn't need one to protect the engine from water ingress. I do also have a valve I can close when it is not in use though as well.

[PeterSibley]

Matt, a little more on the bedding compound if I may ? I've never seen rosin for sale (except that used for violin bows) and wouldn't know where to buy it .Was it expensive ? Does the bedding stiffen up eventually ?

[Pete E]

Matt I have been following this thread and enjoying it. It is quite a project. I am familiar with two types of mufflers on boats or ships. The first I don't think you would like. The kind that goes straight up more or less. The second kind that I worked on was on a small ferry boat about fifty feet long. The pipe came from the engine up and to the side of the engine room and then down and out the bottom of the ferry. The exhaust pipe on the side of the engine room as it came down above the water line was surrounded by another larger diameter pipe which had the cooling water from the engine going into it. Both the exhaust and the water exited down out the bottom of the ferry. Both parts the exhaust pipe and muffler were made out of stainless.

I don't have any pictures or diagrams but that was over thirty years ago. I am sure some thing similar but smaller would work. You don't happen to know any steamfitters or pipe fitters they could fix you up. If you were closer I would turn on my welder. I even got some pieces of stainless somewhere. From watching this thread I know you will come up with a good solution.

[Matt Billey]

Exhaust is hooked up and complete. I delivered the rudder fitting patterns to the foundry last week. I should see the castings in a few weeks. I ended up finding Mystic Valley Foundry in Somerville, MA. They're going to pour my stuff along with a batch of fittings for the guys at Gannon and Benjamin on Martha's Vineyard. It'll be manganese bronze.

Tonight I fit the trim pieces and upper stiffening ribs to the companionway slider. Here are a couple pics. Soon, the rails and hatch cover will get some pant.

The other big news is that I've found myself a local mooring. Up until now, I haven't known quite where I was going to put the boat after launching. She'll be on the Manchester side of Magnolia Harbor, just a few miles from my place. The location isn't ideal, as the harbor faces the open ocean, but I figure, as long as I get myself an extra big mooring block and tackle, she'll be alright.

[Capt Zatarra]

Are you putting any heat shielding around the exhaust. A hot exhaust pipe can really burn someone. Wana see my scars?
Capt. Z.

[Matt Billey]

After I finalize the remote controls for the clutch and propeller pitch, I'll finish the box surrounding the engine. No one should be able to reach it in normal conditions. The rubber exhaust hose runs well under the floor boards, so that won't be a big issue. I will probably provide for some protection in the steering well area. The exhaust hose runs right through that area.

Sorry to hear about your scars. How did you get them?

MB

[Capt Zatarra]

The exhaust pipe on my motor ran up and then over to one side of the engine compartment, to get to the fan belts I had to ease around past the exhaust pipe without touching it. One day, one of the fan belts broke, while out in open water. While negotiating my way around the hot motor (a very small space) the boat rocked and I was pitched forward against the exhaust pipe, I raised my forearm in front of my face and took the impact on my forearm, it sizzled like beacon, now it is just a light spot about the size of a quarter, that doesn't tan as well as the rest of my arm. Another time I touched my leg to it while getting down into the engine room, that one burned the pattern that was on the pipe on my leg, it looked like I had been branded by a crazed art deco cowboy. After that I always would wet down a heavy cloth and drape it over the exhaust pipe before going near it. Capt. Z.

[Matt Billey]

Hi folks,

Some recent pics....

rudder fittings at the foundry. the funny curved one in the middle is the under-deck control cable arm for the pitch control. has anyone heard of a company that makes a control cable with a 9 inch throw? any ideas on where to look?



this will be the position for the pitch and governor handles. don't mind that erroneous second hole in the deck. I have that problem solved already. more photos later.



had a heck of a time drilling the hole in the gudgeon. does anyone happen to know the proper cutting oil to use with manganese bronze?



the finished gaff, waiting for bronze fittings from the foundry



I decided to take my half-models out of the closet and hang them at my shed.

[shade of knucklehead]

Sharp bit and some wd-40. I also like to lightly touch the edge of the drill bit to the grinder so that it won't grab. Its hard to explain, but if you hold the drill bit in line with the grinding wheel, and just kiss the cutting edge to the side of the wheel it will change the angle between the flute and the cutting edge. It makes it less likely to grab. Maybe I can snap a pic today.

[Duncan Gibbs]

I just love this thread!

[Matt Billey]

Progress on the 25 foot lady has been a little slow in the last month. (There's a new lady, of the two-legged variety, on the scene. It's all okay, though. She likes boats!)



Still waiting for the next batch of castings from Mystic Valley Foundry, but I've been able to get a few other things done.
Rudder ready for fittings, with first coat of Kirby's red bottom paint.


Stove pipe hole cut and ready to accept leveling block and deck iron.


Deck iron leveling block in place.


New stove pipe collar from Shipmate Stove Company fit and fastened, along with the new 4" stainless steel pipe. Holes drilled through granite slab for bolts.

[J.Madison]

Two shipmates in one post! Good on you. I've been thinking about getting some hardware cast- was it difficult or are foundries used to these kind of small orders?

[Matt Billey]

Hi J. Madison,

Yes, she's sold on the idea of waffles for breakfast, cooked on the Shipmate. Anybody know where I can find an old cast iron waffle maker?

To answer your question regarding foundries, I found that Mystic Valley, while involved with large production industrial castings, they also like to do small orders, too. They've done lots of work for Gannon and Benjamin, on Martha's Vineyard, MA, among others. And a lot of artists use them for their sculpture work. I heard there's a good foundry up in the Port Townsend area. You may want to track him down. I highly recommend Mystic Valley, but they're all the way over here on the east coast. I think it's good to be able to develop a little relationship with your foundry, meet them in person, find out what they're requirements are, if you are making your own patterns.

[Matt Billey]

Just got some more bronze castings from Mystic Valley Foundry today. The four identical ones are going to be pivot arms in the linkage which will control the variable prop. I've decided not to spend any time in grinding and polishing these up. I figure I'll paint them with linseed oil. The sooner they turn green, the better.

[Matt Billey]

Hanging the rudder.

[Matt Billey]

After a period of working on my old peapod, getting her in the water, I'm back working on Jette. Lately, I've been building the linkage which controls the variable-pitch prop. Also, tonight I made a rudimentary companionway ladder (pictures soon).


This shot shows the under-deck control arm back at the steering well. The rod goes forward under the starboard side of the deck.



At this point, a couple feet ahead of the steering well, the linkage drops several inches so that it can pass under the cockpit seat. The axle is one of the old 3/4" bronze keel-bolts that I removed when I decided to install an engine in the boat.



This is the forward end of the cockpit portion of the linkage. Note the lower purpleheart socket-bearing and the upper bracing and bearing-cap made from an old chunk of angelique I had laying around. The axle is the other keel bolt I removed when I fit the engine.



This is where the linkage meets the engine. The rod end is made from two pieces of cocobolo. I had to re-bend the clutch handle lever so that would pass underneath the linkage. Even though this whole apparatus is pretty simple, it's still rewarding to see that it functions properly.

[Duncan Gibbs]

Beautiful work Matt!

[heimlaga]

Wow..... I am deeply impressed by this project of yours. From my Scandinavian point of wiew it all looks like a very good boat.

[Matt Billey]

Hi there again, Heimlaga. Thanks very much for your kind words.

Okay, I wanted to tell you about something my new "shipmate" scored not too long ago. You may remember from recent posts that she is sold on the idea of waffles on board. Well, she managed to find a sweet little cast iron waffle maker, perfect for using on top of my wood-fired "shipmate". Does anyone have any experience with one of these?

[St.J]

Matt,
I've been lurking on this thread for a while and am really impressed by the work you're doing.
I love the change in tone and subject matter over the last few posts. From hard-core, trunnel-pounding traditional boatbuilding to waffles!
Great stuff.
St.John

[MiddleAgesMan]

I was reading about that cast iron waffle maker last week. What's that called? Synchronicity?

You have to season the thing just like a cast iron skillet. Some do it on the stove, some prefer an oven. Some manage it in a single step while others say you have to do it three or four times. The consensus seems to be that your first waffle will stick regardless but it gets better with each use.

Nice boat project! I'm not sure how I missed this until now.

One more thing--the first time you use the waffle iron don't do what one poster said she did. On her first attempt at waffling she poured batter into both sides!

[stephenlneal]

This is one sexy thread!

Amen to that!

Question: I've been assuming that the references to linseed oil mean boiled?

Also am fascinated by the use of trunnels. Your tool uses the method that violin makers use to make and fit tuning pegs. They have all kinds of versions but basically a sideways mounted scraper in front of an adjustable hole called a "peg shaper".
Stephen

[Matt Billey]

Hi Stephen,

Most of the time, I've been using raw linseed oil. Occasionally, when I haven't been able to find it, I'll buy boiled. The raw doesn't dry as fast, and therefore soaks into the grain farther.

Are you a violin maker? I'd like to see one of your peg makers..... pics?

[stephenlneal]

Matt, I just finished another go-round with "Skiffs and Schooners" in which Capt. Pete talks a lot about linseed oil and I never knew whether it was boiled or not.

I'm a guitar maker but also do restoration and sometimes have an instrument with pegs. I'll try to figure out the photo thing here and get you some pics.

[ingaben]

Great looking boat, Hopefully will see you out sailing some day when I make it back to Cape Ann on my little double-ender.

And your new shipmates name isn't by chance Kara is it? If so I went to high school with her, say hi.

Ben Wedlock