Jane Gifford moves (to the boatyard)

[dhic001]

For those not in the know, Jane Gifford is one of NZ's last sailing scows.Originally built in 1908, she worked under sail, and then power around the New Zealand coast until the mid 80s. She was gifted to the Waiuku museum, and moved to the Manakau Harbour where she was rebuilt to sail again. Unfortunately that rebuild had flaws, and in 1999 she was lifted out and moved to Okahu Bay on the Waitemata Harbour for another rebuild. She was found to be very rotten, and the restoration stalled. She was taken over by The Jane Gifford Restoration Trust in 2005 and moved to Warkworth, somewhere that was home port for Jane Gifford for many of her working years.

Restoration has been partly covered in threads http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74738 and http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85689. The restoration has really been a complete rebuild around a thrid of the original vessel. While not done as an original scow, it has been done to last, and allows people to see what a scow would have looked and sailed like as built.

Anyway, launching has been set for the 16th of May, and today she moved down into the boatyard in readyness. Restoration has been done under a cover in Robertson's carpark, and when I got there, she had been picked up by the cranes and put on a local roading contractor's transporter.



Not long after, they tried to move her, but the trailer was slightly bogged, so a crane was hooked on and she moved out from her restoration spot.



Her resting spot since 2005 was left clear, only the rudder needs to go down to the yard now.



Daniel

[dhic001]

She was moved out onto the roadway, and looked to be heading for the sewage treatment plant



Before being backed up the hill and being turned into Robertson's drive


Note the masts on deck, the crosstrees are sitting out over the caprail.

Then down the hill she went into the yard.



Robertson's yard is built on the site of a former lime works, and Jane Gifford would have carried cargo from this site in her working days.

Daniel

[dhic001]

Finally she was in the boatyard, although surrounded by rather more modern craft.



Note the extra deadwoods and skids under her, all to help her from being blown around when under power in the confines of the river.


Here she is unstropped from the trailer, ready for the travel lift to pick her up and move her to her final fitting out place.

And finally, in the slings of the travel lift. She will be launched on the 16th with this lift, and her annual maintenance will be done in this yard.



I left before she was finally in place. The masts go up again very soon, and much of the standing rigging has been done, courtesy of people like Peter Sewell (of Whio fame) and my friend Tom Wustenburg, with assistance from others. The rest will follow next week.

Daniel

[The Bigfella]

Fabulous. Thanks Daniel... keep us informed please.

[rufustr]

Thanks for this thread.

I'll follow with interest.

[Steveh]

Great update Daniel. She's looking fantastic. Always good to get a view once out of the shed, and that sheer is bang on.

For those that haven't seen the other threads the hogging was so bad the sheer on the Jane Gifford was the reverse of what you see now. It is incredible to think it possible to rebuild.

All credit to everyone who has been involved. See you on the 16th.

[dhic001]

Thanks for the comments guys, will do my best to keep updating, in between getting Zeltic ready for the big event.

Steve, are you ill ? You do realise that Jane Gifford has huge amounts of epoxy in it now? I agree with you though, it was amazing that it could be rebuilt at all, even though only the bottom remains.

Daniel

[PeterSibley]

Thanks Daniel ,a brilliant job!

[dhic001]

Progress is being made still. The shrouds are ready for going on the masts, which currently lie beside the boat complete with topmasts. Janie is blocked up very high in the boatyard to allow bottom painting to be done. No sign of the rudder today, but no doubt it will go on soon. I believe the mast will go in early in the week.

Take a look at http://aquapx.com/site/#/gallery/the-scow-jane-gifford/ for some of Paul Gilbert's photos from earlier on in the restoration. http://aquapx.com/site/#/gallery/the...-gifford-scow/ is particularly interesting in showing some of the massive construction in this vessel.

Daniel

[Jay Greer]

Fascinating project! I look forward to more news of your progress.
Jay

[ben2go]

Holy crap that's a huge scow.

[dhic001]

Holy crap that's a huge scow.

Actually, no its not. Jane Gifford was registered at 67.1 feet long by 18.6 feet beam. Being registered figures, those are from inside of stem to inside of sternpost. Janie was of a fairly common size for New Zealand scows, but was by no means a large scow. The largest survivor is Alma (our NZ Alma, not the one in the states) at 79.6 by 25.6 feet. Again, she was no where near the biggest. I'll try and find a picture of Zingara, the largest scow ever built in New Zealand, whe was a three masted topsail schooner of 128.1 feet registered length by 33.1 foot beam. Now that was a huge scow!

Daniel

[ben2go]

Actually, no its not. Jane Gifford was registered at 67.1 feet long by 18.6 feet beam. Being registered figures, those are from inside of stem to inside of sternpost. Janie was of a fairly common size for New Zealand scows, but was by no means a large scow. The largest survivor is Alma (our NZ Alma, not the one in the states) at 79.6 by 25.6 feet. Again, she was no where near the biggest. I'll try and find a picture of Zingara, the largest scow ever built in New Zealand, whe was a three masted topsail schooner of 128.1 feet registered length by 33.1 foot beam. Now that was a huge scow!

Daniel

Holy cow!They get bigger!

Jane Gifford is the largest Scow I ever seen in pictures.Never seen one that size or bigger in person.I think the biggest I seen was roughly 20' to 24' long and maybe 10' to12' long.Those are some of the coolest boats, in my opinion.

[dhic001]

Heres an old picture of Alma in her heyday, sailing during an Anniversary Day Regatta:


Daniel

[dhic001]

Ok guys, a few more pics for you. Taken today in failing light, but give an idea of progress. Masts went in today, although much rigging is still to be done.

Looking down on her into the yard.


The view of her sitting in the yard. She is blocked up very high to ease painting her bottom.


The bows, there is much rigging still to be done as can be seen here.

Daniel

[dhic001]

Looking aloft the two topmasts are in place, although not yet rigged. The main masts themselves were cut down from 18 inches to 10 inches, the basis being the masts ex Shenandoah of Sark, the three masted schooner rebuilt in New Zealand in 95-96.


Another view across the yard. Totally impossible to get a clear photo of the whole vessel, too much clutter in the yard, and she is a big vessel to photograph too.


And finally, the view of the stern. The rudder chains will be finished tomorrow, although the tackle for lifting the rudder may not get on for a few days yet.


She's meant to go in the water tomorrow sometime, after some finishing work. Trials will occur sometime this week to ensure all is well for her party on Satuday. All rather exciting really.

Daniel

[dhic001]

Just a quick update for those who are following this. She's in the water and afloat, sitting quite high at present, but ballast tanks aren't filled as yet. Engines have been tested, sound lovely (for a diesel). Trials in the river tomorrow, more rigging still to be done, but starting to look good for Saturday, hopefully the weather will be better than forcast.
Daniel

[jevvv]

Thanks for the updates Daniel.

We're planning to be there tomorrow for the big do. Brian will be there with Maggie and co. Hopefully we'll see you there

[BrianW]

I'm following...

[Lew Barrett]

Great thread. I'm eager to see her floating on her lines.

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

At first when I began to read the thread, I thought, sailing scow?, but then I looked at the pics, yep, that's a scow all right. I'm fascinated by the practicality of her lines, that must have facilitated building a great deal. I wonder if she will have any deeper keel attached when in deeper water, both for sailing ability and stability, or whether she was designed to be a shallow water craft? I suspect the latter, but then I wonder how she sails to weather?

I totally agree with the route taken to rebuild her, more a reproduction than a restoration; at some point, a true restoration is just not practical. Saving a symbolic piece and rebuilding her proper was best, and that is what is most important, to have a functional, durable ship around for people to see and learn from. Whether every piece of lumber is historical is of lesser importance, in my judgment.

Very interesting post.

[dhic001]

Firstly, to respond to Bobs post, the New Zealand scows were a development of the Great Lakes scows. The first ones were blunt ended like their cousins, and were named after the lakes. A blunt ended scow in the Hauraki Gulf turned out to not be so clever, so the scow was developed into the form you see in Jane Gifford. There were two main scow builder, the Darroch's and the Niccols. Janie is a Darroch scow, Alma is a Niccol scow, note the difference in the bow shape where the bow planking meets the sides.

Scows were centreboarders, carrying one or two long centreboards that drop vertically , the draft board down being around 6-7 feet on something like Jane Gifford. Janeie originally had one long centreboard, but now has two shorter boards to ease lifting. Stability was purely down to the beam of the vessel, and the weight of the load carried. Most scows were called deck scows, thus they carried their cargo on deck rather than in holds, although a few hold scows were built. To counter the lack of cargo on deck, ballast tanks have been built into Jane Gifford, which will carry a total of 10 tons of water in ten tanks. The starboard five tanks are shown in the photo below.
the loose planks are lying on top of the tanks. The centreboard casing can be seen amidships with the three hardwood posts standing up to the full height of the case. Note that the Darroch deck scow uses solid 'partitions' to support the weight of the deck and cargo, the side of the centrecase, the middle partition and the hull sides being the supports. Deck scows were either built with solid partitions, or with a series of posts holding the deck up. The partitions/centrecase/sides give the vessel its fore and aft strength, the athwartships strength being through the bottom planking which runs athwartships.

Hope this has been of interest. Questions anyone?

Just incase people aren't aware of what the guys started with, here she is during the first working bee in 2005:


Daniel

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

Just incase people aren't aware of what the guys started with, here she is during the first working bee in 2005:


Daniel

Oh dear god, don't get us Seattlelites started...

That brings back memories. There was a boat in similar shape that folks tried to restore, plank by plank, but it was rotting away far faster than their pace of replacement. I had always thought it would have been better to start from the ground up.

[dhic001]

Actually, looking at the pic, its not the first working bee. the first working bee cut off the remains of the decks and partitions, and then positioned a bulldozer inside the hull to help straighten out the hog. The bottom is straight in that picture, so it was a later working bee. She had serious serious hog when she arrived in Warkworth, reverse sheer infact.

Basically at this stage all the rot and rusted bolts were removed, the bottom was planed clean and then coated in resin and had a new skin (1 inch planking) glued on. From there it was a case of build up until she was decked. She was then rolled upside down with cranes, and the bottom planking repaired as neccesary, splined, epoxied and then had two diagonal 1 inch skins glued on. All epoxy coated, deadwoods built, then rolled the right way for bulwarks, cabin etc.
Daniel

[Steveh]

Here's a few shots just after she arrived at the boat yard. She was very hogged but if you look closely the top plank is shaped at the ends. I don't know if this was intentional or if in deed a curvature was built in, (obviously not as much as in the photos). Sounds unlikely but someone did mention it was built in to take the extreme loads.

[dhic001]

Here's a few shots just after she arrived at the boat yard. She was very hogged but if you look closely the top plank is shaped at the ends. I don't know if this was intentional or if in deed a curvature was built in, (obviously not as much as in the photos). Sounds unlikely but someone did mention it was built in to take the extreme loads.

The shaping in that top plank is purely sheer Steve. It appears that the deck is flat and the shaping is to deal with hull planking curvature, but in reality the planking was straight, and the sheer strake is cut to the sheer. Someone claimed that scows were built with a curve so as to cope with the loading, but that wasn't remotely true. The early pics of the boat show the sheer that was put back during the rebuild (which Waiuku could never achieve with the hogged hull they started with (hence the top bulwark plank aft)), and the planking was very obviously straight. The extreme hogging occured at Okahu Bay when they didn't support the bow when the deck was removed.
Daniel

[Steveh]

I forgot she was already dealt to. And it does seem odd that you would build in a reverse sheer for the stress of massive loads. But that was a hundred years ago and there was certainly different thinking back then. I really don't know that much about the scows and their building methods.

What I do know is the Jane Gifford parked on the beach in front of my grandparents house in North Harbour, Kawau Island back in 1925/6 and loaded up with shingle which was duley dumped on the wharf at Warkworth. I think they were fined for their efforts as the shingle was of poor quality and no one wanted it!

[WX]

An amazing job. I am constantly impressed with what people take on and the results they achieve.

[dhic001]

It definitely was an amazing job. Did you see the launched thread? http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97099
Daniel