THE GARBOARDS  GO ON AND DUNCAN VOLUNTEERS !  21st January 2015

 In January,the start of the new year ,saw the start of a new volunteer..
Duncan, who at present is involved in a Level 2 Marine Design course at Llandrillo College, came to gain and implement  marine skills.
He is working with shipwright Dave on Thursdays.

The starboard (right ) garboard plank is now fitted and the black tarry paint I put on last week oozed out .Guess who got the job of cleaning up and making good ! (I've learned from this experience ).

Shipwright Dave began work on the third plank up. If you click on the picture you can see the snug fit of plank 2.
The length of each full plank run will now require two parts as we have no larch slabs long enough for a full run.

Meanwhile apprentice Dave tweeks the base of the frames (ribs) on the port (left) side of the keel so his garboard plank fits snugly.

Before final fitting, Dave paints the tarry paint, which won't come off clothing, behind the plank. (I told you I'd learnt from previous experience !)

The plank is then positioned and secured with clamps where possible .
The story continues........

STOP WATER PEGS ,STUDENTS AND GARBOARD PLANKS...14th January 2015
When two pieces of wood are joined together, the joint can slowly open over the years and water seep in the gap. To stop the water getting in ,a wooden peg can be placed across the joint via a drilled hole.

As the water seeps in , it meets the peg which absorbs the water and swells up and this stops the water in its tracks !
Today students from Llandrillo College came to see the progress and see how stop water plugs are fitted and used.Students rarely get an opportunity to see these being inserted and the problems involved in doing so.

Apprentice Dave showed the students previous pegs inserted and both Daves showed how this is done.



As some joints meet at different angles , Dave has made a jig which allows the peg to sit across joints at irregular angles.

Once the jig is lined up across the joint ,small pilot holes are drilled from both sides and if the two drills meet, then the hole runs straight through the joint at the correct angle.

This hole is then re-drilled with a larger drill ready to take the stop water peg.

This is then hammered home and the ends cut off.
 Both Daves were really chuffed the demonstration for the students went well
 and were almost unbearable for the rest of the morning !!!!




Garboard plank fitting.....
Once the  stop water pegs were all in place ,the garboard planks can now be fitted.Dave the shipright finalised the port pattern and we 
"first fitted" the starboard plank by clamping it in place to see what needs tweeking.

Notice that Dave is still grinning from his successful demonstration this morning.

I wrongly told him I had noted this .This was a mistake !

I was rewarded for my observations by being given a large tin of tar paint which I had to slap on the keel where the garboard plank was to fit.This horrible stuff will fill any gaps behind the plank sealing it water tight!
Once suitably gunged up (not a technical term ) the plank was finally fitted and duly nailed home.

 

We then all celebrated a successful day by looking at some beautiful cake given to us by volunteer Pat .

Which apprentice Dave ate....

Thanks PAT

AND Wednesday Phil showed everyone his latest war wound but no one seemed impressed!!!!!!





Wednesday Phil

THE NEW YEAR BEGINS WITH THE GARBOARD PLANK

Dave started with a plywood template lying along the keel with a tapering edge towards the bow. Having drawn the required lines on the template ,as in Making a plank for Helen 2......,
this was then laid on one of the new 30 foot slabs to transfer the  exact detailed  lines ready for cutting out.
A tourist asked why Dave had now started planking from the keel up.
I explained that planks were fixed from above and below so that the final plank (called the stop plank ) is laid near the centre of the hull in a place that is easy to get at ( presumably to make an awkward job a little easier ).

Meanwhile apprentice Dave began" fiddling" with some bolts and noticed an unexpected problem !
He found that previously tight bolts were now slack and some could be tightened  by fingers.
The reason turned out to be that the frames had dried out even further and the wood shrunk so that all bolts needed to be tightened at least one complete turn if not more .We discussed what might happen later when the wood swelled, but decided we could not have slack fastenings now . So Phil went round the entire boat re-tightening all bolts. Oh what fun I had !

At the same time PAT, our latest volunteer, began work filling in the nail heads on the planks with a stiff mix of West epoxy. She soon got in the swing of it and was finally mixing her own filler.
It's great to see another helper with a love of
Helen 2.... and patience.

Readers will be pleased to see that FANG, our guard dog , is keen to model as the figure head for the bow. Dave thinks he has ruff chance.

Visitors today were in abundance with many well wishers coming to see progress.
Adrian, the saw mill owner, came to see what was happening and to discuss his idea of using sail power to restart trading between Wales and the Shetland Islands. More on that later.....
Tony Mead and Murray Taylor two of the trustees made one of their regular visits to discuss the work in progress and then Murray,after funding lunch , went to the College to see some of the students on the boat construction course . Cheers Murray
And finally both Daves showed me how to sharpen my chisels to perfection. I learn something new each day.
Wednesday Phil

ALL QUIET ON THE NORTHERN FRONT

This Wednesday was very quiet with few pedestrians venturing away from the shops. We were all surprised at the temperature and had to discard jackets to begin work. (10 c)

This was the view  forward and aft this morning as work began.





On Monday the long awaited 30 foot slabs arrived from Adrian's
saw mill. Dave the shipwright was pleased to have seen these trees still as standing trees a few weeks ago at Bodnant Gardens before they were finally cut.
Wood doesn't get much more local !
UNFORTUNATELY as I was passing by, the wagon arrived and the two Daves burst into cruel laughter stating my timing was as perfect as ever and would I like to help ?
I changed into my scruff and it took five of us to unload and stack the timber.

We should now hopefully have enough larch to finish the planking and I will hopefully get an early appointment with the knee specialist !

Dave began work on a short rear deck beam .Having created a pattern ,he drew it onto an oak slab and cut it out on the band saw.

Once it was completed, it was set aside until the awaited rudder tube arrives- as this needs to be in place before final fitting.

Meanwhile apprentice Dave battled on with a difficult forward deck beam which has to be fitted in a complicated section. (that's what he told me!)

As the day drew to a close ,we began to tidy up and prepare for the Christmas holiday.

The project will close tomorrow for a two week break .

May we take this opportunity to wish any bloggers

 a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!

And should you be passing  Helen II to walk off the festive calories ,lighten your step with a donation in the buoy!

Cheers,

Wednesday Phil

FIRST FIT OF THE EXTERNAL BALLAST KEEL AND PAD.

Dave, the shipwright ,finished the rough shaping of this oak pad with the adze and continued using an electric rotary plane and finally a hand plane. To my untrained eye it's a perfect fit,but Dave will lower it down again to take out any minor lumps and bumps.

Then we will need to have some keel bolts made ( approx.1 m long ) to bolt from the inside ballast keel to the external one.We are still not sure how to drill these holes through the keels but we have expert advice and help from Buckley's Crane Hire of Conwy.
MEANWHILE DAVE LOW CONTINUES DECK BEAM FITTING
Dave is at present creating the final forward deck beam from a beautiful slab of Welsh oak supplied by Adrian. Once planed ,we both keep stroking the beam as the wood is gorgeous (our case comes up next week !)

Today was the day of the " weather bomb" when winds were forecast to exceeded 70 mph but luckily we were protected from the worst of the  wind by the castle walls. We even saw a few rays of sunshine.
The sun always shines on the  righteous ! Guess who ?

Shipwright Dave began to plan out the welldeck (I think) This is the area from which you steer the ship standing up or in a sitting position.As we have no plans ,Dave is using a method of construction called " wingin' it "

Having fitted the port (left) side of the welldeck, He is now preparing the starboard (right) side.

Today was the coldest day of the year or it felt like it.

I was overworked with hot tea provisions for shipwright Dave
BUT

Apprentice Dave prefers his own drinks which he brings each day.

The silver flask contains  his special coffee .
It always brings a smile to his face !
The purple bottle contain spring water which makes him smile even more .
We don't know what the third bottle is for but you can't wipe the smile off his face all day !

We had a visit today from The Blind Veterans Association which caters for armed  service personnel.They have a base in Craig y don and are very interested in our project - which may later prove of value to their service members , as many have a naval background.
We had a interesting chat.
William Turner from the Northern Archaeological Diving Unit came with them .He has sailed round the world .An interesting life ! He has kindly offered to donate to the trust an eight man life raft ,50 m of chain and an amount of ropes. Many thanks from us all......

WORK STARTS ON FITTING THE EXTERNAL BALLAST KEEL
But first the view from the office window at 8-45 am.today.

 








 A cold morning but what a view !



Dave, the shipwright, has started to make a solid oak pad to clamp the external ballast keel to the original keel. This additional ballast will help the boat stay more upright when sailing so that it doesn't lean over as much.

The solid iron keel is to the right of Dave on the floor.
He first made a pattern of the underside of the bright orange keel on the boat and added the shape of the top of the outside keel.(are you following this ?)
This was drawn onto the oak slab and he set to work with the adze to create the correct shape for a good fit.I find it surprising how detailed and delicate adze work can be.

THE EASY WAY TO DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE on a 30 foot plank.

This little gizmo is great for straight lines.It consists of a piece of string on a winder. As it pays string out, blue dust enclosed in the winder,  sticks to the line .The line is pulled tight at the other end of the plank and by lifting the cord up and dropping it -like pinging a musical string, the dust falls from the string leaving a straight line.
It certainly makes things a lot easier.









At one stage today I was tasked with red leading several deck beams, which I did with enthusiasm !
I proudly announced the completion of the job only to hear the cruel sniggerings of the "Daves".
 I wonder if you can spot what they did ?

 Little     *******s

And finally... as I walked away this evening, this is how Helen II looked .

                                                                        beautiful !

PROGRESS CONTINUES ON THE DECK BEAMS

The deck beams, which will hold up the deck planks continue to be created. As I understand it ,although most are made from oak some are made of larch to reduce weight.

This is where we were up to on 14 th of November. Most of the forward beams are in place.
Next Wednesday, when Wednesday Phil is available, we are expecting a big delivery of 30 foot slabs of larch and more oak sections from Adrian.
 Because of the weight of these slabs, we are all needed to carry them.
Oh goodie !!!!!!!!
When a larch tree is sawn into slabs (planks ) we can only use the centre planks from the trunk for planking  the boat  .The rest are sold to other people.
When I asked people at our latest open days during the" Conwy Feast" , to guess the reason why...  only two people guessed the real reason for this.
?
?
?
 The reason being that we cannot have knots in these planks because if the knots should pop out in the water, we have a problem !
That was a fact I had never cosidered.