Update, May '23

Quite a mishmash of pics from the last year or so. There has been lots going on. We've had lots of visitors while we've been busy and lots of family stuff going on too. So, while we haven't been working solely on the boat, we have been steadily checking things off the 'to do' list. This isn't everything that we've got done but enough to give you a look into the last little while.

Wheel house  from the deck.

Forward bunk area. Room for 6 good sleepers. 

Looking at the main living area from the forward sleeping area. Lots of room there. A fairly high ceiling so that our tall friends won't feel squished.

Main living area

Masonic lodge insignia inlay.

Warren working on the wheelbox for the deck.

A group of Dalhousie students and friends came to help clean out our cutting room to get ready for when the boat has to come out of the shed.

Friends trying out the bunks. Yup, lots of room.

Forward bunk area before the bunks were installed. The flooring is recycled long leaf yellow pine from the Yarmouth Textile Factory here in Nova Scotia. The wood itself is about 120 years old after it was cut down and probably a couple of hundres years as a living tree. Quite a history.

That's me working on the bunk trim. doing a little painting.

Warren adding trim. 

Sealing the flooring with S1 epoxy sealer.

Fridge and stove installed. Check. Fresh milk and biscuits for breakfast.

Some little visitors from the States trying out the bunks.

Butterfly hatch for the top of the cabin. Lots of light and some ventilation.

Wheelbox. Almost finished.

There's a brief look at some of the things we've been working on. More to come in the next post.

All the best.
 

December 2021

 Hi All,

It's pouring rain outside and I don't know about any of you but I'm getting a little tired of the wet dreary days of this fall. November was rainy and December is looking much the same. Oh well, I suppose it could be worse.

Our little helpers have grown up quite a bit since my last post (yes, I know. I'm sorry) and we have enjoyed many antics and fun from these two. Also they have kept us sane through the rough times of the past year with all that Covid had to offer.

We put a heat pump in the boat this past week so that we will be able to keep working throughout the winter. We didn't get as much done on the schooner this summer because we spent quite a bit of time doing some castings of some Nova Scotian celebrities. The bust of Angus Walters (artist Chippie Kennedy) was the first to be cast here and you can see Chippie's artwork in the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum. We received the wax from the artist and made that into a beautiful bronze casting. The next bust we cast was also Ms. Kennedy's work and that was a bronze of Viola Desmond. She is on display at the Buddy Daye Learning Institute in Halifax. We had a few other pieces to cast as well and along with pouring a 13000 lb lead keel for Bill's boat that pretty much kept up occupied all summer.

Since we started back on Lena Blanche this fall we have gotten the prop shafts finished out and installed, We had to build new struts for the shafts because the one's we had didn't fit properly. The after cabin has the roof framed up and temporarily covered, the windows have been installed and the lights are wired up and working well. We have laid the main cabin sole and framed out all of the hatches. We have had to insulate the deck so that we can heat the inside of the vessel and also put up a temporary door to the wheel house.

We had to bring in the stove while we could still get it below decks. This will be a welcome asset to our sailing days. For warmth and for good food.

Warren starting to lay the cabin sole in the main cabin. The round form represents where the main mast will be in the vessel. You may also notice the one forward which shows where the foremast will be.

beams on the after cabin

Looking down through the pilot house 

No more cold conditions for the winters. Yippee! We installed a new heat pump.

There will be couple of inlays in the hatches. The outline is there for one and the other will be at the other end of the sole. The wood we used is long leaf yellow pine. It is wood that has been reclaimed from the textile factory that shut down some years ago in Yarmouth, NS. It originally comes from the southern USA. This wood was on the textile factory for over 100 years old and now it graces the soles of our vessel. It still needs to be finished and sanded but I think it's looking pretty nice.

For those who are interested here is a link to a video I did going through the boat in September. I can only apologize for the quality of the video in hopes of getting better at it in the future. Be patient with me God's not finished with me yet, as my Mother would always say. Maybe the camera folks aren't finished with me either.

https://youtu.be/UR_2ZVhGq08

That's it for now.

Some pics and a winter update

 Happy New Year (a little late) to everyone. We sure need a break from the old one,  that's for sure. We have been doing our best to follow guidelines and health protocols and thankfully so far all has been well around here. I hope wherever you are that things are looking good too.

We are now back to working on the vessel for our client and so besides the scattered weekend dear Lena Blanche is sitting in a cold shop waiting for us to arrive  back again in the spring. Warren has had pneumonia for the last 3 weeks so I have been sneaking down to do a little work on our 'girl' and so I have been caulking the deck. It's quite a slow job but little by little I'm seeing progress.

Warren told me that I haven't put up any recent pics of the trailer and of the interior of the boat so here goes:

This is the start of the trailer for the boat. There are 3 axles on either side. The boat will be riding on 12 sets of dual wheels and 12 airbags and brakes on all wheels.

Inside the wheelhouse.

Doing some caulking at the bow.

For Christmas we got some new deck hands. It might take them a little while to get their sea legs though.

                                                                        Keelson

                                                                         Abby
They are keeping our house filled with entertainment. And we have learned (again) to look down when we take a step

https://youtu.be/Fn9L4LeD6HQ

Above is the link to the engines being tuned up on Lena Blanche. Doug Burris is our tech man and very good friend. A big thank you to him for coming and using his expertise in tuning them We had a great visit and learned a lot.

Lots going on

 Happy Fall to all.

We have been busy during this pandemic. We shut down visiting at the workshop for quite a while and to be honest some visitors have just started to come to see us again. It's been good to see some folks after such a long time. If you do plan to pay us a visit to see the boat please give us a call first and always remember our Covid protocols. We want all of us to be healthy and a mask and distancing are really small things when we're talking about our health.

We have been working steadily on Lena Blanche during the hot weather here in Truro. I think it has been one of the hottest summers in recent history.

We got the bulwarks installed ( the planking above the deck)all around the boat and as you can see, it's looking great. It makes LB seem a lot taller. 

We also got the chain plates and the deadeyes installed in their place in the hull. There are 10 per side, 5 by the mainmast and 5 at the fore mast. They are bolted right through the planking and the ribs so everything is solid.

Then we set to work on the wheelhouse. The framing is all 3"red oak and the wood around it is all        2 3/4" douglas fir. The windows (not installed yet) were made by a Nova Scotian company up towards Yarmouth. They will be installed in the wheelhouse after she gets a layer of epoxy and cloth.

The windows looking toward the bow in the wheelhouse.

Wheelhouse ceiling

Looking forward in the foc'sle.

We brought up the beams that will be the start of our boat trailer. Each one is rated at 50 ton and they each weigh about 4000 lbs.

Much thanks to John MacNab on the beautiful scroll work on LB's bow. Each shamrock is made of mahogany that has been inset in the hull and then carved in place. A lot of work and the result is beautiful. The hawse pipe will be installed soon and the scrollwork will be painted green and gold. Fantastic for our Irish Lass.

Framing up the curved front of the wheelhouse and entrance to the living quarters below. The ecoform is representative of the mainmast. Everything that goes below has to work around the mast so it's best that we have some idea of how much space it takes up.

The wheelhouse floor is made up of removable hatches which allows access to the engines beneath. The entire floor can be taken out for large jobs if required or just one for checking on things below.

That takes us pretty much up to date on our progress so far this year.

We hope the summer has been good to you all. See you at the next update

Update

Hi Everyone. We certainly hope that you are all healthy and starting to get out and about now that the weather is getting finer. We are missing our visitors but still feel that we shouldn't open the shop yet to the public. In the meanwhile, I thought that some of you would like to see some updated photos of the work being done.

 This is the framing for the coach house. The heavily wooded area in the center is where the main mast will be

 Looking forward from the side of the wheel house. You can see where windows will be some day. Sliders for yelling orders at Warren as he walks by. Haha

 The main cabin below looking aft. You can see the fresh water tanks in the rear of the boat. There will be a pump for them but their placement actually helps the water the siphon down quite naturally.

 Port side of main cabin

 Starboard side of main cabin. Notice the main mast is represented here so that we can figure out the layout.

 Looking forward

 Steps in the wheelhouse (temporary)

 Looking through the wheelhouse windows. There will be six

Knees on the mast partner beams.

We picked up some spruce for the rail above the deck the other day from Brian and Sandy Field. After a wrong turn and ending up in a blueberry field we found them and then had a great (social distance) visit with them in their yard. Nice to see friends after such a long time of self isolating.

We hope you are all well and we look forward to seeing you in the future. 

Hi All,
The weather is starting to get warmer and our thoughts are turning to Lena Blanche. We have just about finished work on the schooner that is our winter work and we are ready to start this year's work on Lena Blanche.
The past couple of weekends we have been taking apart old trailer bogeys and harvesting the axles, wheels and tires. The boat trailer that we are building will be an air ride trailer to control the lift and leveling of the boat for transport. We are looking for a gooseneck drop front hitch or even one that we could look at and measure so that we can make the front of our trailer adaptable for that type of hitch. So that the trucker can back in and attach on when she makes her move to water. Any help in this area would be appreciated.

She isn't quite ready for launch yet but we have started work on the interior and we have started collecting lead for ballast.

March On.....

Good Morning All.
In response to the Covid 19 situation we are asking that people not visit the shop. As much as we love to see everyone (and we do) we don't want to run the risk of passing this virus on to those who have been so encouraging and supportive of what we are doing here.
Hopefully this threat will be just an unpleasant memory in a short period of time but if that is not the case then we would rather be safe and pro active than sorry.
We usually take the winter off from work on Schooner Lena Blanche (because it's too cold in the shop) but I'll try to get some pics to whet your appetite for a summer visit perhaps.
Keep your hands washed and everyone stay well.