Skiffs, sloops, and runabouts

Our very snowy Winter seems to be over at last.  It is, after all, officially Spring. However, one of the byproducts of the winter was a bunch of days on which school and ISM were closed.  This has set us way behind on the completion of the four SAILOR program Harbormaster skiffs.  To pick up the pace and have the boats ready for Spring rowing, instructors Dave and Jen, as well as several WoW volunteers have been devoting time to skiff construction. Their efforts are paying off, as good progress is being made and the skiffs are coming closer to completion.

Jeff shows Jen how to drill bolt holes in a skiff skeg.

Jen takes over, and another skeg gets ready for installation.

Lots of pieces need to be cut, both for planking and for the cross-planked bottoms of the skiffs.  Volunteers Joe and Bob took on that task, and roared through a pile of white cedar in a day.

Bob selects boards while Joe gets ready to joint their edges.

A properly jointed edge keeps the water out.  That's pretty important in a boat.

Dave assesses the next board to be machined.

Dave rounds over the edges of a skeg prior to installation.

The orders of the day for the next session with the kids.

In addition to the skiffs, Newt and volunteers worked on several projects for Misleading Lady.  Newt has been doing finish work on the acres of brightwork she will display.  He is finishing the boards on the bench, with mahogany stain, two coats of sealer, and the first four of 8 coats of varnish.  Then, he installs those parts that will be permanently attached (bulkheads, seats, etc.,) fastening them with countersunk screws and bunging the screw holes. Then it's a matter of staining and sealing the bungs, and proceeding with the remaining coats of varnish. It is a time consuming, labor intensive job.

Newt works on bungs in the engine compartment forward bulkhead.

The bleary eyed bung setter. That's a lot of holes.

Meanwhile, Bob took a break from skiff work to machine and hand sand many feet of wood which will soon comprise Misleading Lady's ceiling.  Like everything else on this vessel which will be stained and varnished, the ceiling must be carefully sanded to be absolutely scratch-free.

Bob gets ready to sand another strip of ceiling.  Note completed pile on right of table saw.

The 22' Oughtred Grey Seal that was in the shop for ballast and engine installation this winter is now tied up at the floating dock outside WoW's window.  This was accomplished by a whole gang of staff and volunteers last week.  She was lifted off her stands using the shop's two gantries, rolled into position by the sliding doors, and her trailer was rolled underneath.  Then, she was towed to Butch Greco's dock in Essington, PA to be put in the water.

Ready for the trailer

A full crew of supervisors watch Lee fasten a strap to the trailer.

Ready for hookup.

In she goes at Butch's in Essington

Jeff, and John S joined owner/voluteer Charles and his wife on a three hour cruise up the Delaware. The engine performed flawlessly, and the boat, named Lagniappe (LAN-yap) is now tied up at the ISM dock awaiting rigging. Rigging is underway back in the shop, where it is much more pleasant to work on early Spring days than is the dock.

Throat halyard block will be attached to strop on mast.

Shrouds and forestay fastened to mastband and taped.

For a traditional look, steam bent oak mast hoops will be used.

Things take shape

A great deal has been happening in the shop over the past several weeks. Foremost is the progress being made on the four SAILOR program Harbormaster skiffs. They have begun to look like boats, as planking is well underway.  Transoms, keels, garboards, and one or two other planks have been glued, screwed, and riveted in place. If spring ever arrives, they will be ready for rowing in the basin.

Dave fits a plank to one of the skiffs.

Another day, another plank

Getting ready to rivet, the plank lands are bedded in Sikaflex

Planks are rabbeted and screwed at the stem.

SAILORs began mass-producing the frames that will be needed for the skiffs. They are cut from white oak, rounded over, and notched to fit. Soon, they will be fastened in place.

Cutting out frames on the bandsaw.

Crews of volunteers are making good progress on the Beetle Cat project.  All the frames have been replaced, as has the white oak transom. The boat has been flipped allowing a better view of the planking. Initially, we planned to retain the planking, but a close inspection led to the conclusion that it will be better to replace it. Existing planks are good enough to use as patterns for the new ones, but not good enough to sail again.

The new transom held in place with clamps and a strap.

We began unscrewing the planks, starting with the garboards. The planks will be removed and replaced two sets at a time in order to protect the shape of the hull.

Garboard planks removed, and keel rabbet cleaned up a bit.

Newt has been devoted to sanding, staining, and varnishing Misleading Lady for what seems like forever. There are a tremendous number of surfaces that must be finished bright, and Newt is carefully matching the hue of the wood. Many coats of varnish have been applied, and many more will follow.

First coat of varnish on a cockpit bench.

Misleading Lady originally had a bench for the pilot, but the original no longer exists.  Jeff is doing his best effort to mock up a seat in plywood.  It will eventually be rendered in mahogany.

Jeff's bench.  The cushion is a nice touch.

Charles' Grey Seal is fast approaching her date with destiny -- the big splash. The engine is fully installed, plumbed, and wired. House wiring including bilge pumps, running lights, and anchor lights is done.  Final coats of non-skid paint are being applied to decks and soles.  Once she is in the water, rigging can begin.

A very salty starboard running light

John S. and Joan discuss intricacies of sailing.

Back to Work

Christmas and New Year holidays are over, staff have come back from using up accumulated vacation, volunteers are back, and students have returned to school.  WoW, which was a very quiet place for a few weeks, is now bustling again with multiple projects underway and lots of people.

Dave took advantage of the lull to sort through and organize the hand tool cabinet.  He's the "new guy" so he is not ready to admit that keeping WoW volunteers, staff, and students organized is a no-win proposition.  However, in the short run, the shop has never looked so good.

Don't touch those screwdrivers!

. . . or the pliers!

It has been cold outside, especially for a few days at year's end, and the Delaware River and the basin have been fascinating to watch as they iced up and then de-iced.

Ice on the river with Ben Franklin Bridge in background

There will be less scraping needed this spring on Gazela's hull.

Poor lonely Suzy waits for spring.

We are moving along on the Beetle Cat volunteer project.  Only four frames have yet to be replaced.  Different groups of volunteers prefer different techniques of replacing frames.  Some like to steam and pre-bend the frame on a jig, while others remove the wood from the steam bag and clamp it in place in the boat directly.  The most interesting variation is a gadget Lee found on the Internet.  It allows you to capture the contour of the hull and transfer it to a board to position clamping blocks, all in a single step.

Lee's "gadget."  If it doesn't work for boatbuilding, it could be a prop in a horror movie.

One way or another, with many active hands, frames are getting replaced and the hull is getting stronger and more stable by the day.

John works inside, positioning a frame while. . .

. . . Larry and Joe screw the frame to the hull from outside.

The Harbormaster skiff strongbacks are beginning to look like devices on which to build boats, as molds are beginning to sprout from them.

Hmm.  Might be a boat!

The kids are working on other projects designed to teach them basic woodworking skills.  

Drilling, and . . .

. . . planing, and . . .

. . . clamping.

Dave is working to stay at least a step ahead of the school groups.  He is cutting out transoms for the skiffs from white cedar boards.

Dave cuts out a transom.  Wow! Straight lines!

Newt is continuing to work on Misleading Lady, painstakingly matching stain hues, sanding, and varnishing his way around the topside.

Newt wipes stain on the coaming trim.

Charles labors on with his engine and power train installation on the 22 foot Oughtred Grey Seal.  Controls were installed, fuel hoses clamped in place, and work is now underway on the shaft and propeller installation.

Water lock mounted behind engine, control cable in foreground.

Fitting the cutlass bearing. The hole above will be extended into a prop aperture. 

Bob worked on rebuilding a set of blocks from a vintage 15 foot sneakbox. This entailed disassembling the blocks, boring out the sheaves to accept an oil impregnated bronze bushing, pressing in the bushing, and reassembling the blocks.

Bob drills out a sheave for a new bushing.

Good for another few decades of service.

New volunteer Robinson tried his hand at leatherwork, preparing and installing some whaleboat oarlock leathers to replace the seizing that did not hold up well.

Nice work, Robinson.

Strongbacks

The Workshop on the Water is nicely decorated for the holiday season with a Christmas tree, garland, and assorted trim, and played host last weekend to "Santa's Workshop on the Water."  You can read more about the event and see some pictures at the WoW Facebook page.  

Tree and garland beside clamps and sawdust.

The SAILOR kids have been busily working on their strongbacks, in preparation for the construction of their Harbor Master Skiffs.  The strongbacks have been screwed together, and fastened to the floor. 

Strongback construction is underway.

Cross bracing was added.  The strongbacks must still be leveled before mold construction can begin.

Cross braced strongbacks are nearly ready to build.

John stopped in to visit over his college break, and was promptly put to work sanding Misleading Lady's hull.

Scratch sanded and ready for another coat of hull paint.

He finished too quickly, so he got to sand and apply another coat of varnish to the undersides of Misleading Lady's engine hatch covers.

John adds a coat of varnish to the hatch covers.

Charles continued engine plumbing on his Oughtred "Grey Seal", completing the shaft bore and putting the fiberglass shaft log in place.

Shaft log glued in place with 3M 5200.

With brazing help from Jeff, the Grey Seal's traveler was completed and fastened in place.

Traveler with stops brazed in place by Jeff.

Sprucing Up

With the fleet safely stored in the warehouse for the winter, it's time to put some effort into sprucing up some of the well used interactive displays in the Museum.  One of the most popular of these is a skiff that is mounted on a cleverly disguised waterbed, which kids love to sit in, rock and sway, and generally have a great time.  With so many little feet climbing in, out, and around, it is no wonder that a fresh coat of paint is warranted from time to time.  This week, the skiff was removed from its watery base and brought down to the shop where volunteers sanded and primed it, and Jeff did the honors applying fresh paint to the inside and out.  The boat will be back on display next week.

The skiff interior is now bright and shiny again.

Jeff applies the red bootstripe

One more coat, and she'll be ready for more kids.

Misleading Lady is luxuriating in a new coat of varnish over her decks and coaming.  Newt and Jeff worked as a team with Newt rolling and Jeff tipping, and the result was a perfectly even finish -- not a single "curtain" or "holiday" could be found.

That's a lot of brightwork!

Looking good. It's a shame we need to sand it to apply the next coat.

New WoW team member Dave began this week and went right to work lofting the Harbormaster Skiff that will be the main project for this year's SAILOR program students.  Teams of high school students have already begun their own lofting exercise, and are now building strongbacks in preparation for beginning construction of the skiffs.

Dave bends a batten as he lofts the Harbormaster Skiff.

Stacks of legs and braces for strongbacks await the next class day.

Next steps.

Plumbing was the order of the day for Charles and his Oughtred Grey Seal. With the shaft bore pilot hole completed, and the engine position determined, the next step was installing the raw water side (through hull, seacock, raw water filter) of the engine plumbing.  More detail on the Grey Seal project can be found on Charles' blog, Building a Grey Seal.  

The raw water filter is fastened to the cabin bulkhead.

Seacock ready for fastening.