Schooner Martha Foundation » News

HERE’S THE VIDEO

Robert d'Arcy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:37:08 +0000

lead keel placement.MOV Watch on Posterous

PLACING THE LEAD BALLAST KEEL

Robert d'Arcy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:18:38 +0000

Wednesday the 1st of February and the ballast is ready to bolt up to the hull. Everyone is in high spirits and we even lured Doug Jones back from San Diego to work for a couple of more weeks. We are very impressed with the level of accuracy and production the crew is able to produce. Chris Stohlman, Ossian Smith, Greg Freidrickson and David Griswold are ON. Floor timbers, mast step, drilling, counterboring…. a regular beehive of activity. Port Townsend Foundry delivered 11 brand new 1″ aluminum-nickel-bronze bolts and nuts/washers to the job site and as of this evening 8 of them are in place and tightened.

At the NWMC, all of the mast staves are thickness planed and ready for the bird’s mouth and tapers. Glue up should occur next week.

The rudder is ready to go to Turn Point design to infuse the GRP skins (more about this process later.)

A big thanks out to Townsend Bay Marine for the donation of vectran ply 108oz infusion cloth.

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LEAD KEEL ARRIVES

Robert d'Arcy — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:45:32 +0000

Monday January 30th and what a whirlwind. Chris and Gus of Olympic Boat Transport “and ballast keels” arrived in Port Townsend about 1330 hrs and we started to work the keel mold.

Due to Gus’s schedule (moving another boat at 1600), we decided to disassemble the mold partially and use the mold structure to support and place the lead under the boat today; as in now.

It is quite the thing to watch Gus back and fill to line the ballast keel up with the boat and block up.

Hats off to Gus and Olympic Boat Transport for the good work, “sure made our job easier”.

I must take this time to state that I and the Schooner Martha Foundation are so very pleased with the professional abilities of the folks we are working with. We are surrounded by CAN DO attitudes that produce incredible work, efficiently and enthusiastically.

David Griswold of the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op said,” lets get this keel under the boat now” and that was it, under the boat it went!

mold removal and placement.mov Watch on Posterous

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LEAD KEEL POUR part 2

Robert d'Arcy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:39:07 +0000

LEAD KEEL POUR part 2.mov Watch on Posterous

Here is part 2 pf the keel pour.

We sure are pleased with the results so far, the mold held up very well and did it’s job admirably.

The big concern had been excessive off gassing “smoking” and moisture expansion which would yield a poor finish and foul the atmosphere in the foundry. We kept the mold very dry and used a sodium silicate solution “water glass” coating and it worked very well.

Gus Sebastian and Chris Grace will head back into Seattle Monday morning. The lead keel should arrive here in PT in the afternoon.

JANUARY 27TH LEAD KEEL POUR

Robert d'Arcy — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:55:44 +0000

LEAD KEEL POUR part 1.mov Watch on Posterous

Here’s the first movie installment of the pouring of the lead keel. It was a great pleasure and very exciting to work with the folks at Non-ferrous metals. The men there have a great deal of experience working in their trade and it shows in the efficiency in which they work as a team and the quality of their product; in addition to being very nice people to work with. This video is 2 parts, each about 9 minutes long. Part 2 will uploaded shortly. It may be more information than everyone is wanting, but give it a try, it is quite an interesting process. If anyone has any questions about detail feel free to contact us at our email: schoonermartha@yahoo.com

JANUARY 26TH LOAD AND LEVEL THE KEEL MOLD

Robert d'Arcy — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:23:19 +0000

What a week!!!! With the new timber in place, Chris and David started shaping and fairing, Greg continued with the mast step and floor timbers. New bronze bolts were cut and threaded by the good people of Port Townsend Foundry and Ossian split his time with keel bolts and rudder pintle and gudgeons.

Annie worked at the shop for the final preparation of the keel mold. More coats of water glass sealer and then constructing a shrink wrap cover to make sure it arrived dry. Gus Sebastion of Olympic Boat Transport brought his trailer in on Thursday morning and they were off to Non-ferrous metals in Seattle. What an amazing process!

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UPDATE Sunday January 22

Robert d'Arcy — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:50:44 +0000

The snow has melted for now and we are still making progress. Chris and David were able to work on the timber inside the Shipwright’s building. Using the the “Alaska Mill” they were able to remove large slabs of wood to match the shape of the keel (see movie “sawing timber”.) Chris and Griswold moved the new timber around with the help of Boat school student Ryan Ostendorp and the new “load all” fork lift. The timber was close fit on Friday and we will begin drilling and bolting on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ossian continued and finished shaping the rudder and it is ready to move on the next stage
Volunteer Sonia Frojen worked all day on varnish while Mark Ellison continued to be a strong hand for Steve Chapin in the NWMC boat shop working toward the foremast construction.

Ryan came back on Saturday for a big yard clean-up along with Annie Teater and then forged bronze bolt heads for the floor timbers and then finished bolting the keel mold together with all thread. The mold is scheduled to travel to Seattle this Thursday for a Friday pour. Weather permitting of course.

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JANUARY 18TH PROGRESS UPDATE

Robert d'Arcy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:56:43 +0000

A vigorous winter storm has made work on the project a little more interesting.

Moving heavy timber and lead on wet icy surfaces is a very challenging situation,

fortunately the shipwrights co-op has a very nice work shop for us to work in.
In addition the lead keel mold is receiving the last bit of work before heading to the foundry for casting, and the new center board slot cap has been placed upon the keel to carry the bolt heads and act as a foundation for the floor timbers.

January 18th update.mov Watch on Posterous

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BALLAST KEEL PROGRESS

Robert d'Arcy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:34:43 +0000

The week ending January 7th provided some great progress on many fronts.

Dave Griswold, Ossian Smith and Chris Stohlman chopped the rocker into the top of the 17″x24″x 32′ timber.

Martha’s back bone timber and floor timbers were prepared for new bolts.

Brandon Smith of Turn Point Design designed the rudder blade foil shape.

Doug Jones laid out and started cutting on the rudder stock.

Steve Chapin and Chris Grace finished gluing and vacuum bagging the fore mast stock and rudder blade.

Chris Stohlman, Anne Teater, Shawn Huston and Mary d’Arcy put the finishing touches on the keel mold.

Sonja Frogen started the seasonal process of varnish and paint.

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BALLAST KEEL PROGRESS

Robert d'Arcy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:34:41 +0000