CHOOSING THE RIGHT WOOD FOR THE JOB

 All the wood for the boat is carefully selected from a saw mill where it is cut from whole tree trunks.Selection depends on type of tree and desired shape of any bendy bits. Adrian, the saw mill owner, is very supportive of the project and has his own wooden Nobby boat.

The trunks can be sawn to any thickness with a maximum length of 30 feet on this mill.Dave, our new shipwright, and Adrian discuss the required cuts.He then cuts the slabs and delivers them to Conwy Quay.

The patterns taken from the boat are laid on the cut planks to check for fit and run of the grain.Adrian gives us a great deal of his time to select the correct pieces.  Thanks !

P.S. Notice the rough sawn beams Adrian made to build his barn . ( A wonderful building )

  This shows the new stern post and knee.
The diagonal bit is the stern post and the knee is behind it to give extra strength. Some of the old planks have been removed to allow fixing of the above.
When any new piece has been replaced ,the old wood has to be re-fastened to it  even though the old will be replaced later. The reason for this is that each piece of wood supports others and if the parts are not re-fastened ,stresses and strains can cause the hull to twist or warp. Thus every job takes a long time in preparation and completion.

The same proved true for the stem (the front bit )
The groove cut into the stem allows the planks to fit snugly along where they need to be fastened on.
 Again, no gap is allowed as water can then enter the space and cause rot. To stop this red lead putty will be put behind the join to fill any possible space when the new plank is fitted

Behind the stem is another large chunk of wood to give extra strength........That's another knee.

The red object behind the boat is the old Fairway Buoy now used as our donations box.
(We need all the donations we can get !.)
So if you come to view , ask questions,or simply take a photo please support our efforts.



Wednesday Phil

A POTTED HISTORY from 2012
In 2012 students from Landrillo College built the cover over Helen II supported by their tutors and funded by Conwy Council.
The students came to work on practical tasks using teachers and the shipwright.They were here preparing to create frames (ribs ) for the boat from slabs of English and Welsh oak. They were the first group on the Marine Construction Course run by the College.





Work on replacing the old frames was a long and somewhat laborious task.I will try to include an information sheet I made for the public to understand the process to create each piece of a full frame .Each could be made of 4 -5 pieces.

In 2012 -2013 work began on the main stern .This needs to be very strong as the rudder is fastened to it  .Dave Williams amazed me in creating what to me was a work of art !
See what you think......

Normally if  I have a small gap of a few millimeters I tend to think " that will be O.K."
A gap of any sort is unacceptable to these shipwrights .My own skills and standard of work have improved no end seeing what can be done !!!
(The speckles on the wood  are modern pigeon droppings These will not be replaced )

A

In the beginning 2012 the frames (ribs ) of Helen II  had been repaired many times over the years and complete replacement of most  was desirable due to general rot 'though it was hoped that some could be retained.As with most old boats ,the more you investigate the more you find needs attention.At the  time of this photo the keel (under the boat ) had been removed .

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A view towards the stern (back ) showing the frames which make up the skeleton of the boat.

The Blog according to Wednesday Phil  November 2014

I have volunteered to take over the blog due to the difficulty Jane has had in finding time from her work commitments and I firmly believe Helen II is a project worth documenting.

I have been amazed at the interest shown by the general public over the last two and a half years and hope to inform the "Friends of Helen II" of progress as promised during our recent "open days ".
My blog is written by an unqualified D.I.Y. enthusiast not a shipwright !
I make no apology for my lack of specialist terminology and hope anyone with an interest will be able to read and understand my ramblings with the same pleasure I get each Wednesday working on the boat.






So here we go.......

Donations and Fund Raising:

Jim Unsworth donated a traditional launch “Emma” for the Helen 11 that students at Llandrillo College completely stripped and rebuilt as part of their course during Spring/Summer 2011. They have done a fantastic job as there was a lot more to do than we originally thought. Hopefully they enjoyed the experience and got a lot out of it.

During 2012 it is hoped to use Emma to have trips round the harbour and up river to both promote the project and let youngsters start to get a feel for sailing. She may be small but that is perhaps an advantage when you are learning to handle a boat – having someone on hand to apply powered steering can often prevent those stomach churning events when an obstacle is looming. 

There have two Street Collection days – the first assisted by students from Llandrillo College and the second during the River Festival 2011when a group of musicians gave their time for free and played next to the Liverpool Arms (thanks to them for the electricity.

Andy White from Llandrillo ran a raffle to go sailing on the Helen when she’s finished and raised a brilliant £218. Thank you to all concerned.

Laird Assessors, North West Cruising Club, Conwy River Festival, Cartrefi Conwy and other individuals are just some financial supporters.

A large donation came from one source that the Trustees are extremely grateful for. It has allowed them to draw down part of the Lottery Fund and start the real work of restoration.

Andrew Potter (Marine Surveyor) has provided a full survey of the boat free of charge and Paul Kennerley has provided line drawings in CAD form and these will prove invaluable in the future.

Quay Marinas have donated a berth for Emma which is extremely generous.

The Trustees would like to thank everyone for their support to date.

News

From the initial concept this project has taken ages to formalize. You may think that progress has been slow and you’re right but it’s not for the want of effort. 

We thought we would start a News Letter – so here we go!

We are now a registered Charity and we have been awarded Heritage Lottery funding. This is a Match Funding grant that awards up to £50,000 which means we have to raise funds from other sources before we can draw down money from the Lottery Fund. The trustees have done this with the help of several generous supporters and we cannot thank them enough. Without them we would have been “in irons” (unable to manoeuver because of the position of the sails with relation to the direction of the wind). 

We will have to continue to raise funds to secure the future of the boat and its primary use for youngsters to learn about our maritime environment and to hopefully achieve self confidence and trust in others in their team.

Llandrillo College have built the shelter and thanks to Richard Williams Builders Merchants for providing materials at cost and Blah d Blah for the information boards. We think it now looks an integral part of the quay as well as allowing work to progress in bad weather.