There is additional information including quite a number of pictures of the work underway to install new frames and floors at the following link to our webpages:
Notebook Sketches are …
Some of my notebook sketches simply record what we’re doing. For example, as deck hardware comes off the boat, the deck location was recorded in the notebook by Renee. Many items of hardware are in the same places indicated by the SS Crocker drawings. But, originally all lines ran back to the cockpit. Several winches are located on the raised deck now. We will be returning to running lines back to the cockpit.
The deck hardware is being rebuilt by Brenda or is stored for re-installation.
Other sketches, well, reflect something else entirely! David was going thru dies very quickly at one point with the larger 7/8″ keel bolts he broke 3 dies in a row before getting the hang of it. This photo is of cutting threads in a smaller (5/8″ or 3/4″ ?) keel bolt. Yes, he now cuts them with no problems (thank goodness!).
What my notes say:
The cohorts…
John came onboard to help us with getting out some keelbolts. He’s a good fit for the project. John’s experiences include building his own trimaran; working some years in a wooden boat repair yard in Canada; as well as furniture making. He’s a self-professed “tool junky.” Every week or so, he comes in the yard with a helpful hand-tool addition to the project.
John and laminated frames:
David pretty much does anything that needs to be done to keep the work flowing efficiently. Translate–anything that keep the (high $$) yard carpenter focused on projects that actually take a little skill to do right; this way we’re getting a good bang-for-the-buck spent. Example: the yard carpenter makes a couple doublesawn futtocks and fits the bevels, then David bolts them in place and into the planking. Before John’s arrival in November, David was taking out and installing floors and keelbolts pretty much alone while the yard carpenter worked on making on the floors and forward double sawn frames. Now, David’s got someone to hand over the bottle jack and sledge hammer to…
Me–In general, “I’m the price it, buy it, or go get the tool sharpened” person as well as the project manager (David says “field marshall”) who tries to keep everyone coordinated and moving in the right direction. I’m also the “rebuild the mechanical stuff person.”
Though we count on the yard shipwright (and have a naval architect on call just in case) for keeping the project in line with appropriate wood boatbuilding standards, as an engineer myself, I find myself scribbling load calcs in my spare time to make sure I’m happy with our structural repairs (I sure don’t want to be stressed out about things out in the middle of the big blue sea). Hands on, I’m helping out on epoxy-ing things like the the laminated frames and pin-point plugs for the planking. Since I’m documenting the project, I’m taking all the pics, too, it seems!
Earlier in the fall we had great help from Renee. She’s a college student with a background in carpentry. She’s jumped in and worked on numerous of our projects from heavy demo to finishing brightwork (on the deck lights we removed). In this photo, she’s on the outside of the hull using a socket as a backing for David who is pounding out boat nails from the inside of the hull.
We have had a boatyard carpenter working fulltime on Mahdee since late in September; additionally the yard’s shipwright jumps in and does work on what I teasingly call the “sexy projects” like the lofting the stem, and the stem knee. We’ve really welcomed the shipwright’s knowledge of the wooden boat world, materials, and traditional methods of construction using hand tools.
