Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2012 day 2

Saturday, the busiest day of the Festival.


I headed over to sign up for a rowing/sailing trip aboard the longboats. These longboats are replicas of the longboats used by Captain George Vancouver to explore the Puget Sound region in 1792. Ive been wanting to take a tour on them for years, but havent been able to until now because they were either full or there were too many other things to see and do. There are so many things to do at the festival there is no way to do them all.

These 26 replica longboats are used by the Northwest Maritime Center School Programs. They are each equipped with 8 rowing stations and 3 dipping lug sails.  They are used to teach youth teambuilding, problem solving, and maritime skills.  Teenagers attend intensive 2-5 day programs of discovery and exploration where they learn to row, sail, learn navigation, compass use, knots, marine biology, history and more.  They are also used in the Pacific Challenge.

Fortunately, we had several of these teenage students aboard to help us learn to row in sync and teach us how to tack the three sails on our dipping lug rig.

The first lesson we learned was "Crab!".  "Crab!" is what you yell out when the rowers get out of sync and get their oars all tangled up, which usually brings all four rowers on that side to a halt.

To prevent Crabs, one rower is designated as the pace setter.  From the rowers point of view, its the rower on their right and all the way up front. The rowers are all facing aft of course, so that would make him the aft-most port-side rower.  Anyway, the rower to his immediate left is supposed to row in sync with him.  The rest of the rowers are all supposed to keep in sync with the rower seated immediately in front of them.  Sounds simple, right?  We had lots of Crabs.  All it takes to create a Crab is for one rower to lose focus for a second or two.

Tacking the dipping lug rig involved a complex sequence of  tacking the halyard, the sail tack, tacking the sheets, lowering the sail and dipping the yard, that I still dont fully understand.  It was unlike anything Id ever done before and required about 3 or 4 people on each sail.  I loved it!  I wish I were a teenager so I could sign up for these programs.  I also have a new found respect for the crew of these longboats. After only a half hour of rowing, my hands were numb and my back started to ache.  Vancouvers explorers often rowed for hours upon hours exploring and charting the miles of coastlines here.  Heres a bit of video.  Its not very good.  These are working boats.  Youre always rowing or sailing, or trying to stay out of the way of other boats.  There is very little opportunity for filming.

More to come.

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Planking Timber 2

Contd from Planking Timber

I cut a piece 6" long and about 5 inches wide from each board and then resawed them to the thickness of the thinnest, the Yellow Cedar, at half an inch. The Sitka Spruce is a much narrower plank than the rest but I think I can account for that in this next stage of testing.

I wanted to find out which split the least when nailing planks together. I started by drilling pilot holes and then hammering in progressively larger nails. Its good to know that this resulted in almost no splitting and eventually I had used my biggest nails.

To get a result I then tried hammering nails in without pilot holes close to the end of the planks. I started at 20mm from the end and 20mm from the nearest edge.
Western Red Cedar was the only board to split.
Then I moved the nails further into the board and closer to the end.
Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir went next at 10mm from the end of the board.
Yellow Cedar and Khaya Mahogany didnt split even at 5mm from the end of the board though the Yellow Cedar did produce a lot of tear out.

The Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce seemed the easiest to hammer into and pull nails out of. Next was the Western Red Cedar and then the Yellow Cedar. However to say these were "harder" to nail into is not to say they were "hard". It was all very relaxing.
The Khaya took a bit more effort on the way in but clung on for grim death on the way out. The only nails that bent on exit left this board.

Yellow Cedar is definitely winning. I was trying not to admit to myself that I liked the idea of using Sitka Spruce. Its a very pale colour, which is my preference, and the strength to weight ratio would make a very light boat. Now that Ive done some testing Im sold on the Yellow Cedar.

When I get some Oak Ill compare it with the Khaya. Gartside shows it as an alternative choice and I can certainly get enough domestic oak to salve my conscience.

The mahogany is so good to use the thought of building the whole boat from it has crossed my mind.

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Chapter 9 A tale of 2 planks

It was the best of planks, it was the worst of planks...

Sorry Charles.

The garboard plank on the Navigator is in many ways the easiest plank, and also the hardest to install. The aft half of the plank is quite flat. It is spliced together with nice friendly butt blocks - no scarfing is necessary. The plank is quite uniform in width. The entire lower edge of the plank is attached to the lower panel using the ever popular stitch-and-glue technique.

The forward half of the plank is a another story. It makes a near 90 degree twist while curving around the bow and increasing in width, culminating with an attachment to a contoured stem with a rolling bevel.

Lets start with the easy part.

Here is a section of the garboard plank from the transom through bulkhead 7. To make the plank, first we measure the greatest width between the bottom panel and the stringer and add about 50mm. Measure the length and add about 50mm. Cut a rectangular piece of plywood to that size. Clamp it to the boat. Trace the profile of the lower plank and stringer onto the panel. Cut the panel to the profile. Epoxy the panel to the boat. The joint between the lower panel and the plank gets stitch-and-glued, which means it is temporarily stitched to the lower panel with wire ties or bailing wire, dabs of epoxy are applied between the stitches. When the epoxy dabs cure, the stitches are removed, a fillet of epoxy/wood flour is applied over the joint, which is then covered with fiberglass tape and epoxy. There are two splices in the panel. Both splices are hidden under the seats, so there is no need to bother with scarfing the plywood joints. Simple "butt blocks" are glued over the top of the joint, held in place with temporary screws until the epoxy sets.


At the bow, the panel has to twist from near horizontal to vertical

Its hard to believe that plywood can actually do this, but it can.

The drill starts out much the same as before. Cut out an oversized panel and clamp it to the boat, slowly and carefully bending it into position so it can be traced to actual size and then be installed.

So first we clamp it in place at the aft end, making sure we overlap the lower panel, stringer, and the aft panel.

Then we work our way forward, applying more clamps and carefully and evenly apply pressure to the panel.

At this point I noticed that the panel was riding quite hard on the front, lower edge of the stem. I forgot to take a photo, but you can see what Im talking about in this diagram. I had to remove the panel and plane off some additional material in this area until the panel fit properly.

Keep working your way forward. Avoid using clamps between the panel and the stringer. Quite a bit of force is required to bend the panel. The stringers will deform under that much force. I mostly used spreader clamps between the building jig and the panel to press it into place. Once the panel was in place, I added clamps to the stringers to pull the panel in the final fraction of an inch.

Another shot of the spreader clamps.

Finally the panel is in position.  Now trace around the lower panel, the stem, and the stringer onto the garboard panel.

Remove the panel and cut it to the traced profile.

Re-install the panel and re-clamp it to its final position. Stitch the garboard panel to the lower panel. Bailing wire or copper wire stitches work better than plastic ties in this area.

Glue the panel in place and repeat for the other side.

All I have left to do is finish the stitch and glue fillets and tape, and add the butt straps.

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Desert Island Boats 2

Contd from Desert Island Boats

I spent the better part of this week on a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter sailing from Lymington to Brixham.
Whilst I lost a bit of the experience to the worst seasickness Ive ever had I did learn a lot about gaff rigs, which, after sailing, was the objective.

Here are some reflections:
Gaffs are easy to drop on peoples heads, heavy to haul up and fall away to leeward.
Gybing is even more dangerous than in a Bermudan rigged boat as the force of the gaff whipping round could bring the mast down. A preventer is essential.
Gaffs seem to require running backstays which add more time, people and rigging to any tack or gybe.

Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters were famously sailed by a man and a boy.
It took at least 5 of us to hold the boat on course, manipulate the mainsheet and sweat and tail the throat and peak halyards to raise the main.
I can only imagine that the boy was a four-armed chimp with a twelve foot reach.

If all this sounds sounds a bit negative then Im misrepresenting the trip. I had a great time. I dont usually sail with a big crew and the teamwork made the sailing even more rewarding. But having that many people on board does give one a lot of time to go in for some serious reflection! So heres some more:

Big bowsprits are a worry. Our skipper was concerned about burying the pole in a big swell, it gave coming alongside in a busy harbour a certain piquancy and because it didnt steve or retract it contributed to the overall length which increases mooring fees but doesnt add speed through waterline length.

Cutter rigs are good. They help you balance the boat. Without the jib set there was considerable weather helm. Raise the jib in front of the staysail and it balances the boat. But if youre worried about burying the bowsprit are you going to put a big bit of cloth, with all the extra strain, on the end of it? You could reef the main to balance the boat. Reefing could be easier. With that gaff and a tree trunk of a boom reefing in a swell could put someone in the drink.

So Im moving towards a Bermudan cutter, perhaps a yawl to reduce the size of the sails and make it easier to balance. A short, retractable, bowsprit isnt out of the question but Im not convinced. It would certainly spread the sail area fore and aft keeping it lower down which would reduce heel.

These are old quandaries, I know. Unfortunately so many sailors seem to advocate certain rigs so devotedly that its impossible to get a really objective analysis. The only solution is to sail them all oneself.

I need to find a double headed Burmudan ketch or yawl with no bowsprit for hire in the UK.

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Sucia Small Boat Rendezvous 2014 Day 2

Saturday morning, after sleeping in a bit late, I fired up the Kelly Kettle while Tim did some writing.  Our Kelly Kettle, by the way, was a big hit.  Just about everyone who saw it was impressed with the speed it could boil water.  Several said they were going to get one for themselves.

There was no reason to hurry because we werent going anywhere.  This is what the perigee-syzygy  does to shallow Fossil Bay.

 

A -2.8 tide does provide an excellent opportunity to see parts of the island normally hidden from view.  Like Sucias treacherous reefs for example.

"Boaters should use caution when in the waters around this park. The word "sucia" is Spanish, meaning foul or dirty in a nautical sense. It refers to the numerous rocks and reefs which surround the island. These rocks and reefs have grounded and sunk numerous boats since European explorers first named the island in the 1790s. Boaters should check their charts frequently and pay particular attention to Clements Reef on the north shore of Sucia, as well as the entrances to Ewing Cove, Fox Cove, and Shallow Bay. There is a long reef which extends to the west of Little Sucia Island. Reefs also extend outward from Ev Henry Point, North and South Finger islands, and the Cluster Islands".

A couple years earlier I discovered what remained of one unfortunate boaters yacht, claimed by the reef at the entrance to Fox Cove.  This mornings low tide would be a great opportunity to see if the shipwreck was still there.

As I was about to set out for some shipwreck and fossil exploration, James McMullen appeared, looking for someone interested in going for a hike.  I told him about my plans and he agreed to join me.

We found the rusted, barnacle encrusted remains of the engine block and the boats windlass right where I remember seeing them years before.  They were straddled one on either side of the reef that obviously sank the boat.  We looked for evidence of exactly where the boat hit the reef but saw no obvious scratches or anything in the reef, but James found some other bits of metal nearby.

From there, we went on to explore the fossils on the southern cliffs of the point.  Every year they look a bit different as the cliffside slowly erodes away, replacing last years fossils with newly exposed ones.  Fossilized clams are by far the most common.  We didnt see anything else this year, but James discovered an unusually large one.

Later that afternoon, when the tide came in, Tim and I finally had an opportunity to explore Little Sucia Island.  This is a completely undeveloped little island just outside of Fox Cove.  It is surrounded by reefs and swift currents.  There is only one small patch of beach suitable to land a boat. The little bay on the North side looks inviting, but its a boulder field just below the surface. We anchored at the patch of beach and walked around the island.  The entire shoreline is covered with rocks and there are no trails, no campsites, and no indication that anyone has ever visited the island.  Quite nice, actually!

We returned to our campsite at Fossil Bay.  Tim went for another hike out to Ev Henry point.  As he came around a corner, he startled two bald eagles which took flight only a few feet from him. He said he could hear the wind whistling through their feathers and it scared the crap out of him!  Tim also came across a pile of white feathers, apparently the remains of a seagull eaten by something.  The park ranger we talked to later said it was probably a hawk.

Later that afternoon was Wine and Cheese night, a visit from my fishing buddy Ray, followed by an evening around the campfire with drinks and music.

Good times.

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Eastern Washington Moveable Messabout Day 2

Sept 10.  EWMM day 2.  We crawled out of our respective tents into the crisp morning air. There wasnt much time to spare before our 8am breakfast and crew meeting in Priest River Idaho.  Just enough time for a quick shower (who knows when the next opportunity will be?), to break camp and hit the road.

We crossed the border into Idaho and arrived at AJs Cafe in Priest River, ID about 15 minutes later.

Now, for the moment of truth.  As is the case with many Messabouts, you never know for sure whos going to actually show up until the day of the event.  Our group consisted entirely of a group of hardy sailors.  When Dan first organized the event, he envisioned families, wives, maybe children, many in campers, coming and going for parts of the messabout.  Such was not the case.

Attending the event was (clockwise from the bottom) Dan Rogers from Diamond Lake WA, Mike Cox from Everett, WA, Kim Apel from San Clemente, CA, Dennis McFadden from Burnaby, BC Canada, Steve Lansdowne from Austin, TX, Tom Gale from Port Townsend WA, Joel Bergen (me) from Mukilteo, WA, and Thom Vetromile from Sagle, ID.

 

After breakfast, the caravan hit the road to our first destination, Blue Diamond Marina and Resort on Priest Lake, ID.

Launching the boats took several hours. Each boat had to be backed down a narrow dirt road, rigged, and launched one-by-one.

There was very little wind, but Dan cautioned us that the wind was forecast to blow later in the afternoon. Dan suggested that we should all sail to Indian Creek campground instead of Bartoo Island, for safety sake, to avoid getting trapped on a lee shore. Steve and I ghosted along in the warm, gentle breeze while the last few boats finished launching.  Sailing was rather dull, the skies were clear, and I scoffed at Dans weather report.

With all boats launched, we set forth as a group towards Indian Creek.  Sailing was pleasant at first, but ahead, in the distance, I thought I saw whitecaps.  A few minutes later, the whitecaps appeared to be headed our way.  Fearing Dan might be right after all, I began to tie in a reef.  Halfway through tying in the reef, WHAM it hit us.

The lake churned like a washing machine.  It was so rough I couldnt finish tying in the reef.  I had a double reef on the forward end and a single at the back.  The sail was flogging. One of my battens flew out of the sail and sank to the bottom of the lake.  We got the boat under control and pressed on.  Steve, and my camera lens did a good job of blocking much of the spray, but Steves foul weather gear was on one of the other boats.  He was wet and starting to shiver.  I looked behind us and saw that all the other boats had turned around and were headed back to the launch.

Steve and I abandoned our attempt, turned around and rejoined the group at the launch.  We waited for a while to see if the wind would die down, debating if we should try again or pull the boats and go somewhere else.  After an hour or so, conditions seemed to improve.  We decided to make a dash to Indian Creek campground, under motor, as quickly as possible.

We beached our boats on a beautiful sandy beach and set up camp.  The water looked tranquil in the little bay.  A while later, another sailor in a Lightning sailed into the bay.  He was headed to the North end of the lake but couldnt make it.  He said the conditions were too rough.

We named this windstorm "Hurricane Dan".

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Arctic Tern x 2

Though you will find a building library of small boat designs profiled here, the Voyage Ethereal is as much about the people as the boats. Through the years of writing these pages, Ive had the pleasure of meeting many interesting folks from all over the world, who have enriched my life more than they will ever know.

I wish I could meet all of you, face to face. Maybe someday.

Last fall, I had the pleasure of meeting first Bruce, then Andy, who were new friends to each other. We three had a common thread running through our lives, a quiet yet powerful vortex, on the Southern Salish Sea.
The thread became a quilt...

The friendship of these two men developed over time and distance, for the love of the Arctic Tern, a design from the board of Iain Oughtred. Ive not had the pleasure of sailing a Tern, but have sailed in company with one, enough to know that Iains description of this design as a "double ended flyer" is so true.

The story of how Bruce and Andy meet on a remote beach, a meeting which culminates in Andy building two Arctic Terns, intrigued me. So I petitioned them to tell the tale.

At a point in the first build, Andy amuses himself by naming the two identical boats Ted and Alice. Andy is a philosophical sort, a state of mind I appreciate, but the reference to the old Paul Mazursky film still eludes me. If I understand Andy, elusion frames his amusement.

So then, lets hear their story!...




TED and ALICE

BRUCE: I’m not normally a very trusting person, but it didn’t take me long to let down my guard with Andy. After rowing together for a day and exchanging e-mails about small boats over the course of a few months, I found his sincerity disarming. Even with Andy, the King of Craigslist, sending me "for sale" links to boat after boat, I didn’t find one that met my criteria. Soon an idea was hatched: Andy would build me an Arctic Tern, and while he was at it, he’d build himself one too.

ANDY: The Arctic Tern is a pretty ideal choice for a sail and oar vessel. Good rower, good sailing qualities, attractive and pointy at both ends. However, I needed another boat like I needed... I think everyone knows how that ends. But, what do needs have to do with it? Wooden boat enthusiasts occupy a highly delusional plane where needs and wants are barely distinguishable from one another. And this was a wonderful opportunity due to the combination of an interesting co-conspirator, the economy of scale and a pretty open schedule to build a couple of really cool boats.


BRUCE: I varied between feeling giddy with delight as I watched Andys construction photos come in and feeling completely paranoid that this was all some strange dream or scam. My wife, with her usual practicality, convinced me to get over it. Those pictures were of my boat and soon I did start to feel like a conspirator. The only thing missing was a secret code for this project and it didnt take long for Andy to create one.

ANDY: There were quite a few moments during the first stages of the build when I would find myself giggling due to the fact that I was building a boat for money. Ted and Alice, the provisional working names for the two boats, would be my eighth and ninth boats and during each previous build I always, always thought about building boats professionally. There is certainly an aura of romance to boat building, just as an aura exists around painting and sculpting... but, as with other artistic pursuits, the pot of money aint so full.

BRUCE:
"Hes calling them Ted and Alice," I said to my wife. "What do you suppose that means?"

"Ooh-ooh its from a movie," she replied, half questioning herself. Turns it out was from a 1969 movie that had a sense of humor. As we worked through the project, Andy indeed showed his humor, perhaps thats why he found getting paid to do it somewhat funny.

I kept wondering which boat Id get Ted or Alice? My friends all said to ask him for the one he was keeping for himself. How I could figure that out was beyond me...




ANDY:
From the beginning my thought was to let Bruce have the first boat off the molds - Ted - unless of course that one turned out poorly.







Being a carpenter and knowing many other carpenters and going to their houses exposes a common carpenter gift/flaw/whatever. Carpenters can’t finish things that are to be for themselves. Their houses are full of unfinished trim, missing cabinet doors, alarmingly large sections of tarp roofing… To let Bruce have my boat would likely have meant a boat with only one gunwale, half a tiller, missing hatches and any other number of incomplete tasks.

BRUCE:
With it established that Ted was mine and it coming rapidly to completion, I had to find a real name for the boat and a place to do the finish work on her. Finding the work space was easier than expected. My neighbors dusty garage was commandeered, junk removed, and transformed into a varnishing studio, sanding zone, and paint shed. Now as, for a name. Code name Ted was funny, but in the long run, I wanted something with a little more personal meaning. A long list of names was considered (Lutra, Gator, Lookfar), but none of them stuck. Fortunately, I had some time before the boat was to arrive, and many hours of sanding, painting, and sanding again, to contemplate the right name.

ANDY:
The beauty of a boat designed for sail and oar is the inherent simplicity- wind and muscle, food and barometric disagreements. No mechanical gizmos to rely upon or to curse at when they fail to operate correctly. And so, after a herculean final push of spar making, painting and finishing touches, whilst attempting to deliver Ted, my journey was cut short by the failure of a mechanical whatsit.

It’s around four hundred miles from my home to Portland where Bruce lives. After a hundred or so miles my vehicle decided it didn’t care to part with Ted and chose to not proceed any further south.

BRUCE::
Traveling toward the headwaters of the Columbia River from its lush lowlands is a mind warp. Everything you see gets browner, drier and rockier, except for the massive river. Its a beautiful, but long and slow drive. Gives a fellow a lot of time to think. Ive always thought sailboats look like some strange kind of bird and since this one rowed too, the name Row Bird got stuck in my mind, and soon in my sons mind too. When it came time to officially name her, I started to think of other names, but my son looked at me like I was crazy, so Row Bird it was.



And thats how Ted became Row Bird.

With any luck you can meet Ted and Alice (Row Bird and Sigmund) as well as Bruce and Andy at the 2013 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival!






 
In case you missed the links above, Bruce and Row Bird can be found sailing through Terrapin Tales and Andy strives steadily on Sigmund in Sage and Sea.

Thank you, gentlemen, for visiting Doryman!
 

Arctic Tern				Iain Oughtred
Length	Beam		Weight (kg)	Sail Area
18 2" - 5.52m	5 5" - 1.64m		110	102 sq ft - 9.48 sq m

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Mahogany Decked Seats Part 2

After all the mahogany decking was laid the next task was to apply caulking to the seams. There are two ways this can be done.

The traditional way is to apply caulking to the seams, wait for it to cure, and then sand the entire deck smooth. This method sounds easy but there were some uncertainties. I have never done a laid deck before. I was concerned about caulk getting deep into the grain of the wood and then requiring excessive sanding to get it all out. This is a concern because the hull and the bulkheads limit access to sanders. I also didnt know how easy or difficult the caulking would be to sand.

The other way is to mask the deck, caulk the seams, smooth the caulk, remove the tape, and do a final finish sanding. Although there are more steps involved, I felt more comfortable with this method.

Masking

After giving the decking a thorough sanding I applied masking tape to the entire deck and everything else that I didnt want black goop on. I bought two large rolls of masking tape just in case I needed more than one roll. I nearly ran out.

Trimming

After the tape was applied, I used a single edged razor blade to trim the tape away from all the seams.

Trimming done

Apply and spread caulking


Next I pumped Sikaflex into the seams. I needed 13 tubes of caulk. It really pays to have a good caulking gun for a job of this magnitude. I had to replace my cheap gun half way through. My hand is still sore a week later.

Pulling tape

When the tape is pulled is important. I used the LOT (Long Open Time) formula of Sikaflex which takes about 5-7 days to cure. Before I caulked the boat, I made a test piece to see how the caulk behaved after each day of curing. I determined that the best time to remove the tape is 24 hours after application of the caulk. If you try to pull the tape before then, the caulk will make a mess by leaving residue on the paint. If you wait beyond 24 hours the tape will be more difficult to remove. The caulk will be be too firm and the tape will tear rather than cutting the caulk.

Sanding

My test also revealed that sanding must wait until the Sikaflex has cured for at least 4 days. Before then it is too soft. Attempting to sand it will tear out chunks of caulk from the seams.

Lumps

Lumps like this were easily sanded off after the caulk had cured for 4 days.

Finish Sanding

Sanding was not difficult and went very well. If it wasnt for the access issues with the bulkheads and hull, I think method one would have been a better way to go.

 

Done sanding and ready for oil

Applying Teak Oil

I have to apply 5-6 more coats of oil, but after only one coat I couldnt be more pleased with the results!

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