Blog — Monday , 13 May, 2019

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Leo and Ian are fitting the hanging and lodging knees into the hull.

Paul is making a copy of the ship’s numbers. He took a rubbing to get a completely authentic copy, including any original quirks.

The Japanese members of the team are learning about the importance of varnish and the need for multiple coats. Varnish is most effective the more coats you have, as a thicker layer is not only more durable but offers more UV protection. According to Paul, it is common to underestimate the amount of varnish needed, and 10 to 12 coats should be considered the minimum—16 coats is sufficient.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Kawashima is making the crew companionway door.

Demetri is caulking the garboard strake. The garboard is the lowest plank on the hull, and is attached to the keel (which is attached to the ballast). Caulking exerts enormous pressure between the blanks, so we didn’t want to caulk this seam until the ballast was in place to resist the pressure.

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Richard will start work on the mast partners, and it’s obvious from the condition of the old ones that they are too badly degraded from years of water leaking around the mast to be used. So new ones will be made. The term “partners” comes from the days when several beams would be joined to hold the mast in place. Today, most partners are a single piece of wood or steel, and ours will be made of one solid block of oak with rivets through them to prevent splitting.

The team is discussing the deck layout, and the issue of setting out carlings for the hatches. The beams’ placement needs careful planning so the hatches can be fit in the correct spots.

Friday, May 10, 2019

Michael cuts the joint ready for the new mizzen mast partner.

Today, Paul talked about the members of our team during our break. He said that almost all of them are independent craftsmen in their home countries, working on their own to find customers and sometimes hiring people, so they have the ability to think for themselves, take responsibility for their work, and find solutions for themselves.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Setting out some of the interior cabins on the workshop floor.

We left the centerline unpainted until now because it would have needed repainting after all the tramping all over it with dirty boots and working on it with heavy, greasy tools. But now that all the keel bolts are in, we’ve painted it and will try to keep it clean.

It’s started to get crowded on deck now with so many of the beams fitted.

Lewis and Michael are working on the placement of the main mast partners.