Rebuilding my 50' schooner in Nicaragua

[Capt Zatarra]

My last post of progress pictures was may 17th. Back at post 427. So here is an up date. The king blank wood did not arrive till yesterday, and it was on not the full order. But the covering board wood arrived, 30 inches wide by 2 inches thick by 12 feet long. Six of these planks, they will have to be milled down to inch and a half thick. And the grown knees are still AWOL. In the mean time I have installed the short beams on the butter fly hatch. They look like this from below.
And here is the view from above the waist looking forward. For those who have not read all the post or are new, the stringers that you see in the picture will be removed eventually and a ceiling will be installed.

I laid down on the temporary work deck to look up through the new butterfly hatch hole to get a feel for what it will looks like, I really like it.
It is the hot time of the year, so I have been starting to work on the schooner by six in the morning. By nine o'clock in the morning it is H.O.T. hot. Also I have a new helper, an English gentleman/sailor, who sailed in to here a few months ago and took a shine to my project and joined the crew. He is in several of the pictures. So last month the two nicaraguans who have been working for me, decided to take a few weeks off, and sort of forgot to mention that they were not coming to work! And then, when they came back, they wanted a pay raise. I think that the idea was to show how much I needed them, only it backfired on them because the two of us still working were getting as much done as the four of us were doing before their walk out. So for now it is just myself and the Englishman on the job. Monday we finish bolting all the short deck beams on the butterfly hatch and start on the carlins for the main hatch. This one is a little tricky as it makes a open corner that will be something of a Chinese puzzle box to construct. Also I have made a few slight changes to the pilot house which will make it possible to put a head next to the aft cabin as per the wishes of SWMBO. Which makes the carlins on the quarter deck in the wrong place and so will have to be redone. I'll post the pics as we figure it out. Capt. Z.

[Capt Zatarra]

So here is where we left off last week. The last beam on the quarter deck is the one that has to go because the carlins are to be moved to a new location.

The beam has relaxed, over time, from the curve that it was origonally cut too. I was not too worried about it because I will be installing the bulkhead next to it and I was going to jack it up to it's proper height and then bolt it to the bulkhead. Now, I didn't need to worry about it as I will just remove it and cut two new short beams for the entrance to the saloon that had the correct curve. Two pillars were cut to support the short beams, and a floor was installed just for them to be bolted to. These pillars will be behind the bulkhead.

Where the carlins meet the main deck beam I used a standard type slot joint cut into the top of the beam an inch and a half tapering down to nothing (at the bottom edge). The other end is a mortise and tenon joint into the upright pillar. This end will eventually have a hanging knee under it to help support it's weight and ensure it does not back out when the ship is worked at sea. The cross piece, in between the uprights, is the height of the pilot house floor, it is also joined with a mortise and tenon joint on both sides, as well as mortise and tenon on the top of the uprights into the underside of the short beams.

I had hoped to have both carlins in this week. But the time it took for the pillars and the short beams and the other parts took way more time then I expected. It doesn't matter how many mortise I chisel out, they still take longer to do then I think they should. Plus non boat building stuff really got ugly this week and stole almost two days of work. So I only got the second carlin cut out but not the mortise in the upright or the slot in the deck beam.

One more view just because everyone wants more pictures. So that's where I am at the moment, what do you think? Capt. Z.

[Sailor]

MMMMM boat joinery. Sweet pics Captn. Keep 'em coming.

[oceangroover]

I think she looks great Z. Thanks for keeping us hungry lurkers well fed. We need our Capt. Z fix almost as bad as we need coffee in the morning.

Onward to victory and a wet bottom, regards to ya Z from Groover

[Capt Zatarra]

I could use a little help here. I just cut out the main mast partner, out of a single piece of braziallian cherry. I will post pictures tomorrow. Now I was going to put two bolts running fore and aft, one on each side of the mast (like in Pardey's 'Classic Boat Construction') but then I read in Chapelle's 'Boatbuilding' that I should fasten the mast partner to the beams with spikes, and then run the bolts athort ship, one before the mast and one aft the mast. So the first puts compression holding two beams tight to the partner, while the second runs across the grain protecting the m. partner from splitting. On my project there is a short beam that will be let in to the m. partner the same as if it were a carlin. Would this not give the same protection as athort ship bolts? And do I need bolts at all? Since I will be installing a king plank that the ribs will be let in to it 1/2 inch. This will keep the deck beams from spreading apart. If I don't have to put in the bolts it will save having to make a 30 inch long drill bit and the hassle of drilling the long deep hole in the partner and the corisponding holes in the beams. Please I could use some insight here. Capt. Z.

[SV Papillon]

Not saying this is right... I used two blocks one below the cabin top grain athwart and one above grain fore aft. The lower one if put in during the building of the cabin top would have been let in to the beams some as it is now it is not. The whole thing is through bolted top to bottom with 3/8th bolts 4 ea. foremast is about the same it just all happens under the deck vs sandwiching it like the main

Jake

[Capt Zatarra]

Thanks for the reply Jake. I like the idea of two layers with the grain crosswise to each other. I am trying to figure out how to work that idea in to what I am doing now. I thought I would get a few more responses then I got???? No one on the WBF has an opinion? Is it something I said? Anyway while I ponder this, I will show all of y'all what I have done so far. This is the fore and main partners shown with the piece they were cut from.

The black plastic is to show the size of the mast.
The next step was to cut the hole in the partners. If you have been following along on this thread with me, you will remember that the mast rakes back at a 15 degree angle. So I have to cut an octagon that tapers 15 degrees. I had considered cutting the piece in half, cut out the two halves of the hole and then glue the pieces back together, but, I really wanted the piece without any glue joints. So here is what I came up with. I cut a guide block at the needed 15 degrees. Then clamped it to the partner where I had glued a drawing of the octagon.

Using the guide block I drilled each corner of the octagon, making sure I always drill each hole in the same direction. Here is the view from above.

Then I chiseled out around the edge using the drill hole as my guide to maintain the correct angle for each side.

At this point I ran out of memory on my camera. So here is what you cannot see. I flipped the partner over and scribed a line from each drill hole and then cut the line with a straight edge and a knife. This allows me to chisel a clean edge with no chip out. I chiseled out 3/4 of an inch and then flipped the wood back over and chiseled out around the edge till the middle fell out and then cleaned up the inner faces. I will get some more pictures now that I have cleared the cameras memory. More to come. Capt. Z.

[SV Papillon]

Hi capt Z, looks like what you have going will work as a reference I'm laying in the fore cabin looking at the fore mast partners, the king plank is about 20" plus minus wide, I am too lazy to get a tape, at the partners it is the same dim block with grain fore aft but the width goes out to 3 x the mast diameter. Them the lower block has the grain athwart and has 5 3/8 bolts per side the lower block is also rebated from the deck beams by about 1/8. If you are going to be letting in stub beams to this block I would make the top one thick enough to accommodate the bottom block and bolting are to tie everything together and eliminate the athwart loading of parallel grain on the top block, keep it from splitting in the skinny part at the mast.

Hope that makes sense

Jake

[Capt Zatarra]

Hi capt Z, looks like what you have going will work as a reference I'm laying in the fore cabin looking at the fore mast partners, the king plank is about 20" plus minus wide, I am too lazy to get a tape, at the partners it is the same dim block with grain fore aft but the width goes out to 3 x the mast diameter. Them the lower block has the grain athwart and has 5 3/8 bolts per side the lower block is also rebated from the deck beams by about 1/8. If you are going to be letting in stub beams to this block I would make the top one thick enough to accommodate the bottom block and bolting are to tie everything together and eliminate the athwart loading of parallel grain on the top block, keep it from splitting in the skinny part at the mast.

Hope that makes sense

Jake

Jake I have to admit I am a little confused. Is the king plank bolted to the partners? How thick are your partners? Is your king plank rebated to the deck beams? I plan to rebate my king blank 1/2 inch. This will make the king plank stand 1/2 inch higher then the deck planks. (good for a foot hold on a slipping deck) The combined thickness of my king plank and partners is five inches, how does that compare to your setup? I plan to put an additional two inch layer on the king plank that is only a few inches wide, that the mast boot would tie to to keep water out. But if I were to make it five or six inches wide and run the grain athwart ship, then I could run all the bolts through all three layers for a total of seven inches, is that overkill? It is certainly more then what was there before. Although before there was a plywood deck, and I do not know how to compare side loading on plywood to side loading on a laid deck. (before, one inch plywood deck, 3/8 teak overlay, 3 inch thick mast partners). I apologize for being a little thick, but I really appreciate the feed back, outside of this forum there is no one here (Nicaragua) who I can talk to about sailboats much less wooden sailboats and even less about building one. Thanks again for your patiences and contribution. Capt. Z.

[SV Papillon]

My bad I was confusing king plank with blocking, on my boat aft and fore there is blocking on centerline let into the beams, from the bowsprit to fwd cabin carlin and stern to cockpit carlin. It is about 1 1/2 thick by 20 wide let in about 3/4 on the top of the beams. On the foremast the deck is laid over this right to the mast. I don't really like this arrangement as it can let water in being flush with deck. I think as long as you have at least two blocks with there grain opposed and one is let into the beams fore and aft you should be good. You could thru bolt the upper block and king plank to the deck beams as well. 7" does not sound to thick to me. Also you should let in some substantial horizontal knees on the forward outboard side of the fwd beam and aft outboard side of the aft beam. Take a look at Lucky Lukes thread on the vn schooner it has some nice pics also the one on the pilot schooner from bc I think he has some good pics as well. I would say there is a pretty big difference in the loads and distr with a ply deck and a laid deck.

Hope that makes sense

Jake

[Capt Zatarra]

My bad I was confusing king plank with blocking, on my boat aft and fore there is blocking on centerline let into the beams, from the bowsprit to fwd cabin carlin and stern to cockpit carlin. It is about 1 1/2 thick by 20 wide let in about 3/4 on the top of the beams. On the foremast the deck is laid over this right to the mast. I don't really like this arrangement as it can let water in being flush with deck. I think as long as you have at least two blocks with there grain opposed and one is let into the beams fore and aft you should be good. You could thru bolt the upper block and king plank to the deck beams as well. 7" does not sound to thick to me. Also you should let in some substantial horizontal knees on the forward outboard side of the fwd beam and aft outboard side of the aft beam. Take a look at Lucky Lukes thread on the vn schooner it has some nice pics also the one on the pilot schooner from bc I think he has some good pics as well. I would say there is a pretty big difference in the loads and distr with a ply deck and a laid deck.

Hope that makes sense

Jake

I get it now, thanks. Z.

[TR]

This thread needs a sticky......

Hey Cap.....sorry if I'm a bit late with this, I had to go out to the boat and use a measuring tape to make sure I got it right. The partners can be a complex structure, lots going on.....

Our boat is of a similar size to yours and built of a mix of PNW softwood (Yellow cedar sawn frames, beams, stringers) and South American Hardwoods (the deck is planked with 1.75" Ishpingo). The partners seem to be hardwood similar in grain to mahogany, dense, fine, and clear. The drawing might explain it best but the grain in the partners runs across the boat so side loads from the mast are taken by the end grain for minimum wood crushing. The blocking is let into the beams slightly to lock it all in place. The blocking is all flat on the bottom and shaped to the deck crown on top. I know she is massively overbuilt by today's engineering standards but this allows for rot which we have plenty of......



Around the mast the deck planking is replaced by a boss that swells the thickness to about 2.5", so at the main mast there is about 6" of solid wood taking the loads, this is necessary for softwood spars.

[SV Papillon]

What Tad said

If your boat originally had a plywood deck and you are sticking to the same dim on everything I would think real hard about switching to a laid deck, you might consider t&g with ply glued over it then a faux layer glued on the ply of you want the wood top.

Jake

[SV Papillon]

In the sketch you show Tad, do you think this arrangement is prone to possible trapped water issues and rot, lots of joints and holes in the beams all under the deck.

[TR]

In the sketch you show Tad, do you think this arrangement is prone to possible trapped water issues and rot, lots of joints and holes in the beams all under the deck.

Hi Jake......Do I wish my boat was built differently? No....well maybe, but anything will rot if you let fresh water get in. This partner layout is pretty traditional, I can find versions of it on LF Herreshoff and Bill Garden drawings. Just without all the lodging knees and not quite as massive. No, I don't wish the boat was built weaker, I love just sitting and marveling at all the bolts........It could be simpler for sure. But Bob Prothero was running what he termed a "master" school of boatbuilding, I guess a simple solution wouldn't cut it. I had a deck plank over this blocking up last summer, the deck seams had been leaking for years. The Yellow Cedar beam was going soft on top but the blocking around it was sound as a nut. We'll start pulling up sections of deck and changing beams in about 10 years......

[SV Papillon]

Thanks Tad and pardons Capt Z. for sidetracking, a new deck should happen for us before any serious offshore time and I want to think of any potential structural changes that will happen then, if you go for the big thru bolting Capt Z don't go buy some exp long bits just find a welder to weld some 3/8 steel round stock to the ends of a couple of your bits, the ends of most HSS and other drill bits are not hardened so they are fine to weld a extension on.

Jake

[Capt Zatarra]

My Internet was out for a couple of days and I could not get on line, I'm back now. Tad, the drawing and explanation is awesome thanks so much. I am working on incorporating in a layer of wood with the grain running athwart ship as it makes sence from both examples. Jake, I am not sticking with the same dem, fact is (for me) plywood belongs in packing crates, not boats that are expected to last years and years. I had two major problems in my hull undersized steam bent ribs, that were all busted to hell and back. And plywood bulkheads and cabins that were petre dishes for rot spores. So the plywood is gone and I have grown frames and beams and will lay a traditional straight plank deck. Lots of changes! Pilot house instead of open cockpit, two steering stations (one inside and one outside), new layout below, losing the raised cabin, new mast heights, raking the mast, new sail plan, you know nothing too drastic or big! So anyway thanks again both of you guys your input has been most appreciated. So now I am off to install some more short beams. Please keep the coments and suggestions coming. I'll have new pictures soon. Capt. Z.

[TR]

Every construction style and detail is part of a system, and all the parts of this system must work together. If there's no plywood in the deck supplying the diagonal bracing something else must be added. The diagonal metal strapping by Herreshoff is one solution, massive blocking (as above) and lots of lodging knees is another. We have no plywood in our boat yet but 17 lodging knees (and about 8 hanging knees)each side of the boat. There is a lodging knee each end of every deck opening, forehatch, chart house, galley hatch, and aft skylight, plus those at the partners and two at the deck break. It adds up to a lot of wood and bolts.

[Capt Zatarra]

Tad, thanks again for helping out, I agree completely with what your saying.
I have twenty four knees on order from my wood guy, and hopefully will be getting them soon. I do understand not mixing construction styles and I have chosen to rebuild traditionally from the keel up, so hopefully she'll float when I'm done. I have been getting the lions share of info for this rebuild from the books by Chapelle, McIntosh, and Pardey, and then what I can glein from other sources like this forum. So advise and critiques are always welcome. This morning I got another short beam installed and hopefully will be able to get another one this afternoon. If I get it in today, I will only have 14 more to go!, then I will dive into the blocking and knees. Wish me luck. Capt. Z.

[Capt Zatarra]

Another week in the can. And a few more short ribs in, besides the two mast partners cut out that we were talking about earlier, but not installed. How many progress pictures of deck beams being installed do you guys want? Capt. Z.
Ohh ya today is my birthday!

[Sailor]

Happy Birthday. You can't post enough pics of deck beams, mast partners, stem peices, backbones, floors or any other boat part you've got going over there.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Happy belated BD Capt Z and I third Mr.Roberts's call for a sticky!


Cheers!


Peter

[Phil Y]

Happy birthday Capn

[Capt Zatarra]

Thanks for the birthday wishes, y'all, there is an El Cribe festival going on today and yesterday, music, food(Ron Don pork oh heavenly yum) traditional dancing, bull riding, a lot of fun.

Three calls for a sticky! That the nicest thing any one has said about my post. I'll have to work hard to live up to such high praise.

Tomorrow I will take pictures of the new short ribs I have been installing around the saloon entrance. Even though sailor is the only one out there that wants more rib pictures, these will be just for you sailor. Capt. Z.

[Capt Zatarra]

As requested, these short ribs are for you sailor. Capt. Z.

[Sailor]

Thanks!

[Capt Zatarra]

Today was a good day! I made up my mind on how to install the mast partners, and then went to work on them. It is a process for me that As I am building I want to keep my options open incase a better way to do some part becomes apparent. So right up to the point that the piece of wood must be installed I am still asking myself, 'self is this really how we want this done?' I find myself asking myself. And then I go for it. So today I cut two channels in the back of the mast partners, like this.

I then hoisted the partner in to it's position and marked the deck beams where the channels were, lowered the partner, drilled holes in the deck beam, ran painted/treated threaded rod through the beams and then lifted the partner back into place and tightened the bolts up. Then taking splines I had cut I glued the channels closed.

Then I chiseled the spline flush with the top surface of the mast partner. You will notice that the the mast partner sit half an inch below the top of the beam this is for the king plank to resess into. Then I cut the mortise for the short beam. Like this.

And then cut and fit a short beam to fit from the shelf clamp to the mortise, like this

And one more view from the bottom. Like this. Because every one want more pictures.

So that is what I call a good day in the boatyard, and it only took nine hours!
And to make things even better, some how, today I got 5 stars on my thread. Thanks so much to who ever did that. That was really very nice, it made the perfect ending to a perfect day.
enjoy Capt. Z.
P.s. Knees and blocking still to come.

[Larks]

The five stars only seem to come when you have a decent number of viewers all voting consistently a five start rating.

I understand the frustration of going to the trouble of photographing, downloading and posting updates here, looking forward to comments and responses only to be just a tad disappointed that no one seems overly interested. But just remember Z, that you at least now have proof that although we may not be responding after each of your posts, we are watching and admiring every post and every milestone on this thread, well I am anyway and the 5star rating shows that I am certainly not alone.

I think the difficulty with commenting anything other than oohs and ah's and admirations and a few polite questions here and there, is that what you are doing is quite a bit beyond the mere tinkerings with little wooden boats that the rest of us are doing (other than the likes of Ole etc anyway - his is another thread that I enjoy as much as yours).

[Capt Zatarra]

Larks, thanks for your support and understanding. This may sound funny but I am really looking forward to this build being done so that I can build two small row/sail boats for my shore boats. Some thing in the 12 to 14 foot range. After all you have to have the perfect 'captain's gig' and a dependable 'liberty boat' when your cruising. Nothing is more fun then when you sail to a new location then to set up a couple of little sail boats to race each other while exploring the new anchorage. I have never built a traditional clinch nail clinker built boat so I want to build one maybe a white hall they are one of my most favorite rowboats. And then the second boat would be some thing light probably a cedarstrip type since I have built that way before, a little Mellonseed would be the cats meow(anybody built a 14' Mellonseed before?) but then when I see what those SOF guy are doing, holy smokes, ultra light? That stuff is radical, I might have to go with a SOF white hall for my second shore boat. Anyway that is a little ways down the road still. but I still follow the threads on the which is the best rowing and sailing boat under 14' very closely. Capt. Z.

[Tom Freeman]

I haven't looked in on your project for a bit. Nice to see the outstanding progress that you are making!

[headonz]

Thats it Capt'n ,Larks hit the nail on the head ,its the shear magnitude of the build that would intimidate most people.And be careful what you wish for,do you really want the hordes here pontificating endlessly on every detail.Nay !

Some of the certified bonafide experts are a little conspicuous by their absence though !??

I just feel privileged to be along for the ride.

[SV Papillon]

Looking good Capt Z

It looks like you have it figured out! I would let in blocking in the frame bay aft of your partners a little over the width of the Carlins aft of the beam, maybe 3 pieces to keep it manageable. If you make a sketch of the layout as is I bet Tad will draw in where the lodging knees should go.

I used to get a little bummed about the lack of feedback good and bad as I'm new to it all. After you read enough on here though you can see that the old school and new school professionals absolutely cannot resist pointing out when you are f&$cking up!! So no news is good news and the occasional atta boy from a Cleek , Greer or Roberts goes a long way. I may have said it before but my first post on here after I bought my boat and was Oh so full of enthusiasm and ignorance was replied to by a Mainer telling me that I was a complete idiot for buying the boat and I needed to run away from the whole thing.

They weren't entirely wrong but it didn't stop me!

Keep the pics coming!!

Jake

[Capt Zatarra]

Always good to hear from you Jake, Did any of your 'run from it' type posters ever come back and say that you did all right after all? I hope mine looks as good as yours some day. Now in an effort to "keep the pics coming!!" here is a couple of shots of me making paper patterns for the knees that I am planning to go next to the partners

I laid some old bolts and sticks on top to show where it would be through bolted. The inside part against the short beam is 12 inches long and the long out side length is 22 inches long. I am guessing that this is long enough, it would make the combined length 71 inches long athwart ship.

And the underside view, you cannot see it in this picture but that blue sky is blazing HOT, by nine o'clock in the morning I was soaking wet in sweat. Today, despite the heat, I got the foremast partner in as well as the other main mast short beam that you can see in the picture with the paper patterns.
Jake, I was under the impression that if I were to install a king plank, in this case about 21 to 24 inches wide with an half inch recess over the beams, that king plank would replace the blocking needed between the mast beams and the carlin beams and the beams in between those two. Tad? Do you want to weight in on this? If it does not replace the blocking I need to make some changes in my plans, quick! Waiting to hear what the crowd thinks. Capt. Z.

[Larks]

Any reason why you couldn't go belt and braces and do both anyway? It'd reduce any possible risk of twist of the whole thing, within those three frames, for and aft that the king plank might not be thick enough to cope with......probably unlikely but would there be any harm, other than extra work, in being sure while you have the chance?

[SV Papillon]

Hi capt Z

I think what you are saying is that you are going to cut into the bottom of the king plank over each beam 1/2"? If it were me I would do the blocking and keep it independent of the deck planking but your plan should work too.

Jake

[J.Madison]

Looks really good to my untrained eye Captn'. There are lots of opinions around here on the small boats but when it comes to something like your boat I think most people are out of their league! At least I am. I like to just sit back and watch the real shipbuilding in action.

[TR]

Thinking about loads........The centerline blocking between beams is there to spread the fore & aft compression and sheer load from the mast. Imagine running off in a gale and you can't get the sail down or you're being chased by pirates....(See J Slocum).......There's a smooth bend in the spar from head to step, in the middle are your partners being pushed both aft and sideways. The strength of wood is different depending on grain direction. You have the end grain (strongest direction) of your longitudinal blocking pressing against the side grain (weaker) of the beam. Thus I would look to maximize that contact area, lowering the load on each square inch of side grain. I guess I don't think 1/2" by 24" is as good as say 2.5" by 24". This is an area where you really do not want any movement ever! Thus overbuild. If the blocking is almost full depth (molding) of the beam it (the beam)cannot roll even though it's mainly fastened on top (deck spikes).

Maybe one thing you could do without changing too much would be to do the king plank as planned, then add some small (2" by 10") underneath and between the beams? Not sure on the fastening though, perhaps drifts from one end........This blocking should always be let into the beam from the top with a shallow (1/2" max on top) wedge shaped socket.

[Capt Zatarra]

Tad. That makes sense. I can visualize the strain on the deck beams causing them to twist from under the 1/2 inch slot of the king plank. So I am taking your advise (as well as Jake and Larks) and will add in blocking under the king plank. If I run the grain for and aft I could cut the blocking from the same wood as the mast partners in the same dimensions so that the visual line runs all the way across the overhead in the saloon, from the entry port to the butter fly hatch and then continue from the fore side of the bfly hatch up to the bow. I will let it into the beam 1/2 inch from the top like you said. But as to the fastening, becuase I can only get at one side, what do you think of drilling a hole all the way through the outside of beam and the block and then halfway through the far side beam, then cut a four inch long piece of 3/8 steal rod and drive it through the hole with a 5/16 steal rod as a nail punch. Then drive a normal 3/8 spike with a head in the hole from the drilled side. This would have both sides nailed with an empty hole in the middle between the two spikes. I could drive a wood dowel into the middle to fill the void if it really made a difference. This would be nailed in place, but it would have no compression as it would if it had been bolted into place. Does that seem strong enough? Thank you again for your help, Capt. Z.

[TR]

Cap,

Your method will work but properly installed "drifts" will be better. I gather this is pretty hard wood you are framing with, thus the holes should be only slightly smaller than the rod diameter. I would do a single rod full length, through the beam, blocking, and 3/4's of the way through the next beam. So for your 3/8" rod try drilling holes at 11/32" or 23/64ths.......Hammer a short point on the drift and slip a washer on it before hammering in, when it's in all the way peen the head over the washer, if done correctly these hold impressively, almost like a bolt. Oh and you can countersink the washer and head out of sight into the side of the beam........Keep hydrated in all that sun!

[Capt Zatarra]

Thanks Tad. I am going to do some experiments to see if I can make the right hole and drift diameters in some scrap wood before trying it on the build.

Yesterday was a tough day, the wood gods were playing games with me. All I needed to do was cut out a couple of 3 inch by 4 inch by 31 inchs long carlins for the fore hatch. Becuase my lumber is cut from trees with chainsaws and has never seen the inside of a sawmill it has no straight edge to start from. So when it is time to cut a long flat side. So usually I pick the flattest side and hit it with my 18 inch Stanly joiner plane till it is level then mark the next side to cut and then I cut it with my skilsaw if it not to thick. Well needless to say this was not working for me and I wound up butchering a nice piece of wood, before I had to start over and try again, this time things went much smoother and I wound up with two pieces of wood that look like they came from the sawmill. Square, straight and flat, it is days like this that I miss having a lumberyard and a table saw. I will try to get some pics. Tomorrow. Capt. Z.

[Sailor]

You're building this boat without a table saw? wow. I bow down before your gutsy move.

[wizbang 13]

Hey Z , The boat is looking good to my eye. I do not advise you cuz this is outta my field. I am just a glueworker after all, not a chippy.
I watch west indian shipwrights in carriacou, that does not make me one. I am watching you too.
I am familiar with the oppressive heat, no tradewinds to speak of there. Thanks for taking time to build this thread.
Bruce

[svaap]

Capt Z

I am impressed by your progress, and especially that you manage to do it with primitive tools.
The rest of us need big planners and bandsaws to get going.
Remember a picture of you sawing the deckbeams with a handsaw.... Phew. Love it!!!

[Capt Zatarra]

Sorry it's a little blurry but I was was standing on a deck beam holding the camera over my head, trying to get as much of the fore deck in the picture as possible. This way you can see both mast partners in the same picture. I was about to take another picture when my batteries went dead! So for now this is it. Capt. Z.

[Capt Zatarra]

I was thinking today how much joy there is in a razor sharp chisel. There are (in my opinion) three types of cut that can be made with a chisel, and all are a so much better when your chisel is sharp enough to shave with. First is the 'moving meat' cut. This is for when you have made a cut with a saw and there is a lot of wood to be removed, think of an ax splitting firewood, in this case you are not cutting the wood you are using the chisel as a wedge to split the wood on the grain. This reminds me of when I was 12 yrs old and I was chopping firewood (one of my chores at the time). My Dad stopped as he was passing by, and watched as I would swung the ax over my head in to the chunk of wood where it lodged firmly. My Dad ask me what I was trying to do 'bruise the log in two or split it?' He then taught me how to sharpen an ax till it could shave the hairs on the back of my arm. And explained that the point was to cut deep enough for the wedge to get enough traction to split the wood on the grain. It is the same with a chisel, if you are lopping off big pieces of wood and your chisel is getting stuck, try sharpening it. The second is the 'shaving with a mallet' cut, usually I cut about 1/8" in hard woods and as much as 1/4" in soft wood. The technic here is to tap the chisel just enough to cut without splitting or chipping. Usually the chisel advances about an 1/8" each tap of the mallet. And the third, my personal favorite, the 'push shave', here you choke up on the tip of the chisel with your off hand, with the chisel turned backwards and with the palm of your prime hand you push the the chisel so that a fine thin shaving of wood curls off, or lay the flat of the chisel on the on the face of the cut with the thumb of your off hand pressing the chisel down, your prime hand pushes the chisel forward shaving off any high spots just like from my 100 year old marsh #7 hand plane. Yes there is a joy in a razor sharp chisel. Capt. Z.

[oceangroover]

Poetry Z. Love your work

[Capt Zatarra]

Progress continues. Your looking up at the framing of the Samson post, and the starboard fore hatch carlin, and the port side carlin notch. For those who were apart of the discussion on where the fore hatch should go, you can see that it will be just abaft the Samson post, and about three feet in front of the fore mast. For better of for worse, it feels good to have made the decision and moved forward. Now it is what it is and we are movin' on.

I placed the some of the carlins and short beams where they will eventually be so that you can see how the pieces notch together.
And here is the view looking aft from inside.

I love the view looking up through the big deck hatch. I designed it to be big enough to pass any thing up from below, like the stove or the motor or tanks. After seeing people cut huge holes to get an engine or a bad tank up through the deck, I figured out that this will keep that from ever happening to me. And if I get desperate for some jingle in my pocket, I figure I can haul some freight in the main saloon. Just lower down through the hatch thar matey! What do ya think? Rare pieces of wood, the worlds finest chocolate, premium wines, rum, cigars, caviar? After all this schooners pedagree is blockade runners, and smugglers. Capt. Z.

[m2c1Iw]

It's amazing how far you've come since this thread started, keep up the great work. When does planking start?

Cheers
Mike

[Capt Zatarra]

When does planking start?

Cheers
Mike

That is the $64,000 question. I had hoped to be there already, the plan was to do the deck first so that durning the rainy season she would not fill up with rain while we were planking the hull. The deck like every thing else is taking longer then I anticipated.

I thought that I might drift a little to show all you guys and gals out there a few small details of the schooner that I do in the evening after working on the big stuff in the boat ward. This is a carving of Eolo, God of the wind. It is carved from kakui nut (a type of palm nut, sometimes called plant ivory). It will be mounted on the ships wheel, as the TDC MARKER, that I am building for the schooner.




I might have mentioned here or on other threads that I really like to cook and entertain other sailors on our schooner. As such I like to keep different kinds of oil for cooking near the stove. Olive oil, coconut oil, sesame seed oil, and others, but I was always worried about them breaking, but then I learned about an old solution. I had seen where several hundred years ago people would shrink boiled leather around glass bottles and make them almost break proof. So I went to a friend of mine who owns a bar and ask him to save me some fancy cork top tequila bottles. Like this

And after reading up on boiled leather on the internet I tried my hand at it. This is my first leathered bottle. It is a little crude, but I think now I can make them a little nicer. Next I will have a small brand made up with the schooner's logo on it and brand the leather with it.

And finally I always wanted to try my hand at scrimshaw. So awhile ago I was walking to the boat yard when I saw an old beef soup bone that some dog had gnawed on and abandoned. I took it to the boat yard and cut it in to slabs and sanded it down till I got to 600 grit then polished it up with emery paper. I ended up with a disk an inch and three quarters wide and two and seven eights inches high. So then with an exato knife and some India ink I scrimed this.

So this is my very first whack at being a scrimshander. Hope you like it. Tomorrow we will be back with an update and pictures on the schooner as all the deck beams and carlins and short beams are in and today we spent our time cutting and sanding blocking and the trim that goes around the hatches that the deck planks butt up to. Anyone know what this piece is called? Capt. Z.

[Larks]

Lovely lovely work Z!!! What is the backing timber on the Eolo carving? Wenge? The grain very nicely matches/compliments your shaping.....or vice versa...