New stuff going on

So, there's all kinds of stuff going on these days, as you will see from the photos.  This is me clinging to the sealing of the vessel plugging all of the thousands of spike holes (that the sealing is held on with). After they are all plugged, we will cut them off and sand them and then paint the vessel's interior. Whew! It will be great to see it painted and looking awesome.

 These are dummy shafts. They represent where the shafts will attach to the transmissions for the engines. We have put them here so that we can fit the engines properly before we get the engine beds galvanized.  It would be terrible to have to adjust it (cut it up) after the fact.

 This is the pattern for a hawse hole (basically) for tie up ropes. We will cast probably 6 or 7 sets of these in all. The pattern is made out of pine.

 These beauties are belaying pins.  Great for tying off rope. Or ,you know, keeping order. Just kidding. Wouldn't want to get a knock with these things. There are white oak ones and angelique ones in the bucket. Can't wait to see them on the rails.

And finally, although  not finally because there's another work in progress but I want to show the finished piece in the next blog post, we finally added grab rails to the dog house (scuttle, deck house) so now when we're heeled down we have something to hang on to. Definitely don't want to end up in the drink.
We've had lots of visitors lately and I got a lovely card of encouragement today from B and H Webber in Jeddore. Thank you so much for thinking of us and for being with us on this crazy ride. We hope to see you again soon.
Til next time.....

Hoopl-la

A lot of hoop-la around here these days. (I couldn't resist a horrible pun). The last couple of days have been so beautiful. We did work in the basement  and finished our mast hoops

But we also got down in the shop to work on the finish plank and I continued plugging spike holes in the sealing. It always feels like visiting an old friend when we're working on the vessel. 

Warren is finishing up a bunch (35) of belaying pins. Used to tie off (belay) the ropes, I'll put up a little pic after they've been coated in linseed oil. Some of them are angelique and some are white oak.

For those who would like to add a photo or ask a question or comment (or whatever) we given Schooner Lena Blanche her own Facebook page. Please stop by and have a look. We would love to have some feedback. The blog will still have all of the background information but the fb page will be a quick way to check on progress. Hope to hear from you soon

We're almost at the end of February and I can see spring's light at the end of our winter tunnel. This year has been a welcome relief from the last couple of very cold,  very  snowy winters we've had. We have even had the opportunity to work outside a few days and that is highly unusual.

 Varnished blocks waiting for sheaves.

 The three stages of a block. (Bottom) all rough (right) sanded and ready for router work, (top left) routered, sanded again and varnished.

Mast hoops being sanded. After this router in and sanding the inner edges.

 Mast hoops (60) in the process of 5 coats of varnish.

Warren at the end of a tunnel of mast hoops

We'll keep working on the components until we are able to get back in the shop. It's certainly  nice to see all of the finishing  touches being finished now instead looking for them later. When the vessel is ready to go I want to be able to attach the hoops, blocks, and deadeyes and raise the sails .

Next week. Making the irons for all of this woodwork.  

Special guests

 We had some special guests in the shop today.  The TNR (Truro North River ) 4H club came for a visit and a tour of the shop. We had about 16 kids and adults come and take a look. The weather predicted was pretty crummy so some folks may have had a hard time coming out. That just opens up an opportunity for them to come again another time! The kids are involved with everything from woodworking to painting and scrapbooking to woodsman competitions and animal husbandry. I even overheard something about computer work. An amazing organization and a great bunch of people.

We want to say thank you for their gift of the 4H woodsman touque and the beautiful belt buckle.  It is fantastic and Warren will wear it with pride. We can't wait to see your woodsman competition this year and cheer you on. Thank you all for coming.

Checklist

Happy new year.
Yesterday we were able to do some work in the boat shed so we fastened on a plank and glued plugs in bolt holes and Warren put a bevel on a new finishing plank.
Today we:
Glued mast bands- check
Sanded 40 deadeyes, ready for varnish- check
Finished pattern for wheel hub, ready to be molded and poured in foundry- check.

We're  supposed to have a bit of a snow storm here tomorrow  (it's January in Nova Scotia, we will have snow) so we're probably going to varnish the deadeyes and then plow the driveway. 

Tonight we'll roll some oakum and dream of spring. :)

New Year

On this last day of 2015 we are able to look back on a great year working on Lena Blanche. We got so much done this season and are happy with the progress so far. We look forward to a winter working on components for her in the basement and installing them in the spring and then getting her even more launch ready when the nicer weather comes.

Happy New Year to you all. We wish you all happiness, health and peace for the coming year. God Bless your homes.

Thanks for following LB's progress

Warren and Andrea

It's Christmas time

It's getting toward that time of the year again when we all hunker down and get ready for the colder weather.  Brrr. To me it's never a particularly inviting idea. However,  in the midst of all this Brrr dom is Christmas ,which I like. I don't really care about the gifts and stuff but I really love the way that  everyone makes a special effort to make time for others. Family is so important.
Anyway,  enough of that.  We have been busy.  Bet you thought we had packed up for the year, didn't you.  Nope.  We had a couple of things to do in the house.

We put in a wood stove and built a new table for the kitchen.  Our original table was huge and we get tired of climbing around it. This one is perfect. 

We also have been finishing up the last plank on the boat- since we finished the deck beams. That looks fantastic.  Today we made 21 mast hoops for the main mast. The hoops attach to the mast and the sails to raise and lower them. We have the wood cut and planed to do the rest of them as well.

We have a list as long as your arm of things that have to be done over the winter.  Should be a good one.

We've been celebrating with our friends, Evan and Nick Densmore,  as they are completing their vessel Katie Belle to get it ready for its maiden voyage to the Carolinas in the new year. We wish them good luck and smooth sailing.  Way to go, guys.

Have a safe holiday season.