Lofting the Boat - Day 3

The lofting continues, we have been getting into the more technical aspects of the task today, some may call it fun, but then again some people enjoy bungee jumping or swimming in shark infested waters.  Lofting is an exciting experience, not least because, as the following photographs demonstrate, you never know what is going to happen... you SHOULD but where would the fun be in that.

Smooth flowing lines

Cue for hysteria, the effect of a measuring error!

The above waterline lofting provided a wonderful moment of light relief, bear in mind the idea is that the lines of a boat should be a series of gentle and fluent curves, and even where they are a little sharper they should have a coherence...

The corrected waterline... smooth curves!

Once the hysterical peels of laughter had subsided and everybody had rushed to take a photograph, this will appear on facebook at the very least, I put it right.

We have another day of sorting out the basic lines and then we have to start putting all the detail into the lofting ready for making the templates and moulds over the next couple of weeks, it seems amazing that we will be laying the keel in the 3rd week of June...

Lofting the Boat

We have started lofting!  This is the process by which the 1" to the 1ft drawing becomes a full scale drawing from which one makes the moulds on which the boat will be built; every day is a school day.

We got off to a good start, no I mean that, it was a good start and it then continued to go well, we have our grid drawn and have the profile drawn including the all important sheer which looks 'fair', the challenge now is to ensure that we can fair the rest of the lines and create a flowing and attractive hull which is both see & sea worthy

 Drawing up a Table of Offsets

A few last minute adjustments

Ready to start the process!

A very large blank piece of Hardboard

Ben using a tick stick to mark in the level lines and water lines

Tomorrow we put in the Buttock Lines and start work on the Body Plan...

Clinker Section!

So this week we have been enjoying the beautiful weather of Lyme and getting to grips with the concepts of 'lines and lofting' and yet more wonderfully definitions, 'buttock lines' being one among many, it has a certain Frankie Howard quality to it.

One of our tutor's told the wonderful story of one Course going to Beer (a small town on the Devon Coast, though on occasions I have felt like turning to drink) to take the lines off a boat on the beach.  This involves measuring the boat in a very specific manner, large plywood squares and tapes and rules etc; it also involves 3 working and the remainder watching and making inane remarks.

This spectacle quickly become a spectator sport with a great many holiday makers coming along to watch the fun, at which point Matt called a halt to the proceedings and announced that now people could see the advantages of the Open Prison System;  the area around them magically cleared.

Last week's other adventure was the Clinker Section, effectively our first foray into building a very small section of clinker, including keel, hog, rabbet, garboards and 3 strakes, browed off, nailed, and screwed, and yes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I am being a smart whatsit.

It was all going so well, that is until I miss measured a fairly vital hole (well 2 actually, followed by a futile attempt to bodge it), correcting this error involved dismantling the assembly and gluing dowels into holes, counterboring them and fitting grain plugs and then re-drilling them; note to self measure thrice drill once...

We have also been introduced to further power tools, the effect of which has been to ensure that a number of us can now make mistakes faster and with real panache!

The Clinker section should be completed tomorrow, just a few more nails and roves to go and then the cleaning it all up so it looks half reasonable.  In my case this will involve planning off the excess glue  where the repairs have been made,  although it has to be said I have received some praise for the quality of those repairs and my creative approach to problem solving.

Still working on the photographs...

Bollow Planes

No, it is not a rude expletive, it is an odd little plane used for shaping curved surfaces, it being curved itself.  

The interesting thing is that we have been making the plane inside out from a block of wood which was then sawn in half and stuck back together with the outsides inwards... it does make sense I assure you.

We had a Paella Party this week by way of getting the social side of the course out of the pub, it was a great success and we cooked Paella for 23, lots of red, and a bucket of olives and breadsticks.

Generally this week has been about practicing skills, particularly chiselling and sawing accurately to lines, another one of those 'how difficult can this be' activities. Answer: very when you are expected to work to the line without meandering back and forth.

This has also been a week for converting a set of 'Offsets' for the boat I am going to be building and trying to get to grips with the maths of designing a gaff rig.  The guy who took the original lines decided for some reason best known to himself to record the Offsets in decimal feet; I am sure there is a very special place reserved for him in the after life involving sulphur and pitchforks... decimal feet!!!

That's all for now, still wrestling with pictures but I will get there I assure you...

End of Week 3

The time is flying by and I for one am beginning to realise the enormity of building a boat in the time we have available.

On the boat front the original plan has ben reviewed and I will no longer be building a Beer Lugger, in discussions with the BBA Staff they have recommended that given the intention to experiment with sustainable fishing something a little more local to the Plymouth area would be advantageous, so following some research we are opting to build a Pilchard Larker based on a Cawsands design from the turn of the 19th Century, the original was still going after 60 years so its longevity isn't in question.  The rig was changed a couple of times and we will probably be going for a later rig with a large and heavy centre plate.

Not only can I bore for Britain on planes, I can now bore for Britain on types of traditional fishing boats!

Life in Cell Block H, as the accommodation is fondly known by those that live in, has settled into a routine of sorts, a number of people have opted to seek outside accommodation and I can understand it if your not used to living communally; the main advantage is without a doubt the convenience.

Lyme Regis itself is a nice rather quaint town, which, once you get behind the beach and high street possesses some real architectural gems and is actually very pleasant, beer however is a horrendous price, not that I am drinking, I have just heard rumours, I am however reliable informed that £3.80 a pint is not that unreasonable in a seaside town, Being TT would have a lot to recommend it if I hadn't been charged £3 for a pint of lime and lemonade... I did ask them not to bother with ice, a move that clearly upset the landlord!

So at the time of this post we are into week 4 and a multitude of different mortice and tenon joints, lectures on fastenings, Health and Safety, and Glue!

More later...

PS. There will be photographs once I work out how to get them on here.