an infrequent repository of mostly new stuff
building a pair of 19th century gunning skiffs
Hyacinths blooming in fresh snow
A few weeks ago we had snow on daffodil, crocus and hyacinth blooms. Yesterday it was almost 90 degrees. Abnormal is pretty normal here this time of year. I have photos taken several years ago of roses blooming in a snow storm. They don’t sleep well nights at the local vineyards and orchards until April is over and done with.
Toe rail, rub rail, and hardware mockup at the stem.
There are more posts to do on Guatemalan boats, but in the meantime we’ve got our own boats to attend to.
Time for Toe Rails. This is a good example of how to take something simple and make it complicated. Or maybe things that look simple are more complicated than they seem.
Chapelle’s scantlings for the Toe Rails are 3/4” x 1 3/8”. Barto specs them a little thinner at 1/2”. I’ve seen Melonseeds done with big thick rails, no rails, and everything in between. Frankly, they all look good. I made some mockups to try different sizes out.
Full Moon, bare trees
The oaks are letting loose their leaves now.
Driven by the wind, they pour out of side streets and across the road like wash over a sandbar, sea foam scudding on a Spring Tide.
It’s a young wind, too, gusting into the 30’s toppled some trees, and knocked the power out for several hours earlier in the week.
Aeon’s tiller fitted and ready for finish
Tried something a little different on the second Tiller. I have some brass knob handles to fit on the ends – something comfortable to hold that will keep a line from slipping off – but I’m not certain yet I’ll use them. In the meantime, that leaves an opportunity to play a bit with the handle ends and see what works. So Aeon’s Tiller got a carved knob end. It may just get cut off, but it was fun to try out.
Rudder ready for cleanup and shaping
The second rudder went together a little easier than the first. On the first one, to save time, I tried to glue up the whole thing all at once. It came out okay, but it was a pain. With no reason to rush, this one went together in stages – the core was glued up first, then the cheeks and outer layers sandwiched on later. Continue reading “Rudder Number 2”
Tending Fire
“…I have a sort of sea-feeling here in the country, now that the ground is all covered with snow. I look out of my window in the morning when I rise as I would out of a port-hole of a ship in the Atlantic. My room seems a ship’s cabin; and at nights when I wake up and hear the wind shrieking, I almost fancy there is too much sail on the house, and I had better go on the roof and rig in the chimney.”
Herman Melville – in a letter, December 12, 1850
It snowed again last night, big wet flakes that clung to everything. Overnight, a breeze blew the trees bare along the ridge line, leaving the forest frosted thick in the lee up the hillsides, so the mountains are stark white, outlined in black. Really striking.
Hatch Cover and Mast Collar
Progress has been steady, though you’d never know it from the blog posts. There’s some catching up to do.
The Hatch Cover and Mast Collar are almost done, as are the Rudder and Tiller. Used the same sandpaper trick to shape the Mast Collar to the curve of the deck, and tried to lower the profile of this one a bit so it isn’t so prominent. The Hatch Cover turned out well, despite attempts by the wood to curl in on itself. Just took a lot of careful scribing and clamping – and leaving that bucket of water in the hold all week.