Thursday 28 February 2013

Cotton

Cotton arrived today from http://www.tradboats.com/ . Very quick delivery to Ireland.
Its not all for Teal, half of it is for the yard.


Wednesday 27 February 2013

Plugging and painting

I sealed over the stem bolts with stikaflex today and then glued in dry oak plugs with
epoxy so that should keep the bolts well protected , now I can finish fairing
off the stem the next day when the epoxy has set, I also glued the scarf joint on the last
plank I put in, and plugged over the sternpost bolts as well.
Ken vacuumed out inside the boat and finished sanding the sections between the sawn
frames and we gave it all a coat of primer so its ready for the steamed ribs.
I also started refastening some of the badly stepped planking and it all pulled back in to
shape quite nicely although I now need to order some more silicone bronze screws when
I can find some money to pay for them.



Saturday 23 February 2013

The missing piece

Today I scarfed the extra piece on to the plank above the garboard to make up the full
length, did the edge bevels and got it in the steamer, While that was steaming I got a lump
of oak and started on the missing bit, I assume it would be called a false keel as well but
either way it has been missing since we bought the boat and was the last piece to finish off
the lines of the hull.
I fastened most of the plank in place but just twisted the aft piece in and clamped it as I want
to take it out and glue the scarf when the plank is dry. After a leisurely 4 o clock coffee break
I fared of the bottom of the stem and the false keel and gave it a coat of primer.
Also we have placed the order for old growth douglas fir for Teals's new main mast along with
the timber for the Eva's mast and a mast I am making for a Bawley so there will be a lot of
mast and spar building going on shortly.
Check out http://www.facebook.com/KevinOFarrellPhotographer?fref=ts for images of the
Eva which is being rebuilt in Hegarty's at the moment, A Baltimore yacht built in the 1890's.







Wednesday 20 February 2013

Few more bits,

Bit more progress today, Ken finished removing the ribs and started sanding down
the inside ready for primer before the new ribs go in.
I Started on the final plank on the port side and have it nearly ready for the steamer
now so hopefully I will get it finished on Saturday and get started on the starboard one.

Saturday 16 February 2013

Steamed ribs comin' out

I fitted another plank last Wednesday and Ken and myself went down today and got a
good bit done.
I set about fitting another plank and Ken went removing steamed ribs. While the plank
was in the steamer I glued on a new plank edge to an existing plank to make up for a
wide caulking seam.
Only the planks above each garboard left to do now, although I have two other bits which
may be changed before we get to caulking but there not too bad and its more a case of
changing them as we're at it.
Inside looks much neater now most of the messy ribs are gone. New ones are in the making
at http://www.btswales.co.uk/ who are also sending us our copper rivets, They provide a
ready made ribs service so when they arrive they are the right size in green oak and ready
to be steamed which means we have no waste.






Sunday 10 February 2013

Garboard edge bevels

Yesterday I got the port garboard fitting and then removed both side and went
about correcting the edge bevels. This is done by recording the angles and
various points along the rebate with a small wooden bevel at however many stations
you wish and transferring the angle on to a piece of straight edged wood along with the
number of the station. Then you can set your bevel to the desired angle as you plane
the the edge of the garboard. The same method  is used to find the edge bevels of all the
planks.
I also fared off the false keel and the craving pieces I fitted the last day and gave them a
coat of primer while Ken cleared the stopping from all the rivets aft in preperation for
removing the steamed timbers.
Got a new wide angle lens for my birthday which explains the pics.






Tuesday 5 February 2013

Anti-tech

This is going to be somewhat of a rant. I assume a lot of people who share an interest in
old boats could well be like minded when it come to "new stuff " and hi-tech this and that.
The fact that everything is becoming more and more disposable and completely 
un serviceable by the person who paid for it in the first place irritates the hell out of me.
I won't say I don't find all these gadgets useful but if this laptop didn't exist then my 
morning would have been far more productive. At very least I would like to be able to
own a car and a camera that wasn't out dated five minutes later and as for phones and 
ipods and smart gadgets they can all go to hell, we managed for a long time without them
and I fear that already many people may not. 
I am a firm believer that old fashioned simple engineering is better than any common
rail, fuel injected electronic crap that was put together by people that didn't understand it,
sold to people who don't understand it and who depend on people who don't understand 
it to fix it when it goes wrong.
I find it funny that so many people would be outraged at the concept that older technology
could be better but wouldn't it be great if today's engineering ability was used to perfect those
simpler devices. 
I'm sure you could then own a car or an engine that would last a very very long time indeed
and that this slight loss of efficiency would be far outweighed by is longevity.
For anyone who shares these views here's an interesting link that Ken pointed out to me 
a while back. It actually contains a good few articles on sail power. 

Saturday 2 February 2013

Garboards & stealers

Yesterday I was going to go buy some more Iroko for planking but when I went out
to my car it had a flat tire, no diesel in it and I ran the battery dead trying to start it so
I had to go spend my money on fuel and 2 new tires instead. I'll get it next week.
That meant I had to find something cheaper to continue with. I had been down to the
yard on Tuesday and had finished the other difficult stealer and also changed another
one lower down, I could have left it but it was easy to change and it didn't require
much timber, I finished by painting up a few bits of bare wood here and there.
Today I started refitting the garboards, I was afraid they would be slightly short as
everything they attach too has been changed but it turned out they where about half an
inch long. I have one temporarily fixed in place and the other clamped up ready for
trimming to lenght. The seams need to be a little tighter so I'll have to do more work
on the edge bevels.
I also glued in some craving pieces were the old forward floor was bolted out through the
planking.



Dying  boats in the evening sun