July

Our rudder is back in place again. We cut off the wooden shaft and replaced it with a steel shaft. Mostly so that the shaft could be inspected if it ever needed to be. It doesn't affect how the rudder works and doesn't put any extra force on the steering gear.

 This is how we put this new shaft in. Through the roof! When you don't have enough space to put it in you just need to cut a hole. It all works.

 Shaft all greased up as we set it down through all of the rudder stock. Messy.....

 But Warren doesn't mind. An experienced mechanic is pretty used to grease.

 The start of the steering gear fits well

 The steel frame around the gear will make it sturdy. Reassuring while out to sea.

 We welcomed a new daughter in law on July 13. Congratulations to our son, Sheamus and his lovely bride, Jaime. We had the wedding here in our field and it was a beautiful  day with lots of family and friends.

 The deck is now all finished.

Putting in the final pieces in the bow.

Raising the cabin sides. We had to do it in parts so we routered  the pieces and put in a tenon. 

Caulked and seam sealer. So that we can put the steering gear in permanently. 

Foremast  hole.

 Steering gear with hydraulics. Yippee!

Scroll work starting on the bow.

A little look from the bow aft. It's been a busy couple of months. We are still waiting to put the top pieces on the fuel tanks. It has either been hot and dry of pouring rain. Neither are great for welding. 

We have had some visitors the last week or so. From Ontario and Newfoundland  and New Brunswick  and today a couple from Texas stopped by with their relatives who live locally. 

A great start to the building season

I don't know where you live but it's been a long cold winter here in Nova Scotia and so far the spring has been on the coolish side too. BUT.... in true maritime fashion  we will prevail. We have made a start back at Lena Blanche while finishing up a couple of last things on the 'little' 46 footer that we're building during the winter. She is called the Helen Florence for any who would like to look her up on Youtube.

So far we have fabricated the steering gear for LB. This will be run with hydraulic pistons. For the sake of saving some time we're not going to cast the mechanical steering pattern and all that goes with it at this time. That may happen in the future. The hydraulics will be great and it will work really well with the 2 steering stations that we have planned.

 The hydraulic pistons will be on either side of this apparatus in a push/pull fashion. This has been sent off to the galvanizing plant and should be back this week.

 Once we have it back it will all be put together and installed.

 Shaft from 1922 reduction gear. All taken apart and a new 3' shaft made. We are waiting on bearings to re assemble. I believe we found the last 2 bearing for this particular model in the world. Of my, thank heaven for Ebay.

 This is our rudder. Yes, it was on the vessel the last time you saw it. We decided to take some advice from a very learned friend and replace the wooden shaft with a steel one. That way, should we ever need to get it inspected, we will be able to remove the shaft from the upper side without disturbing the rudder and then reinstall. While we were making a new shaft for the rudder we also line bored the hole out with a pretty fierce cutter (seen in a pic below). Warren and I both had to hold the 1/2" drill to keep that puppy under control. We drilled a 6 5/8" hole through 6'  of the rudder port to receive a pvc sleeve. It fits perfectly with the steel shaft. Again, everything it at the galvanizing plant.

 These windows are a salvage from another yacht. The cross hatching is leaded and I think they're teak. Anyway, I thought they would add a touch of old world charm to our little schooner so I have been trying to sand off umpteen years of varnish without destroying the wood or the glass.

 These are hold downs for the planking on the 'little' 46 footer. Ours were quite a bit larger than these so we had to make new. (And they work like a charm)

 PVC pipe in the rudder port ready to be caulked and ready for the new shaft and rudder.

 6 5/8" cutter for rudder port. This cutter was custom made here in the shop for this job. It has teeth on both ends of it.

 This is the start of the new fuel tanks for LB. These will fit along the outside walls of the engine room in the vessel.They fit the shape of the hull and we are able to keep them quite low for extra stability.

 Doing a little grinding.

 I got a nifty new plasma cutter that has made making the rounded shapes so much easier

 I had to add a little bit of extra protection (from the sun mostly). I did have my blue rag all tucked in behind leathers for those who would be concerned.

 A closer look at the cutter.
So, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I feel like we've gotten more done so far this year than we did last year. I hope it keeps up.
Today someone stopped by with several hundred pounds of lead for the ballast. We're always looking for lead. So, if you know of any (cheap or free) please let us know. We will be melting and pouring it into ingots that fit in the bilge.
Thanks for continuing this journey with us.
Warren and Andrea