Schooner Martha's "On the Water" Content Stream

We're on the water - here's what we're up to.

JANUARY 26TH LOAD AND LEVEL THE KEEL MOLD

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

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

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.

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BALLAST KEEL PROGRESS

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.
 Sonia Frojen started the seasonal process of varnish and paint.

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Thanks to all involved

As work continues on the vessel and fore mast we want to take a minute to acknowledge and thank all those who have been putting time, materials and energy into the project.  Please visit their sites and consider their services.
Companies such as:
Edensaw woods
Port Townsend Foundry
Gus Sebastian of Olympic Boat Transport
Turn Point Designs
Non-ferrous Metals
We've had generous support and donated materials from the following businesses:
Port Townsend Shipwright's Co-op
Admiral Ship's Supply
Point Hudson Boat Shop
Northwest Maritime Center
System Three Epoxy
Yacht design work by Craig Johnsen and CAD work from David Vohs
Our crew led by Robert d'Arcy:
Ossian Smith, Chris Stohlman, and Annie Teater
We've been blessed this past couple of weeks with the help of Doug Jones, board member and boatwright from Traditional Boat Works of San Diego.  He has been invaluable as consultant and lead on the new rudder, and some good muscle..   Our amazing volunteer force beginning with Capt. MB Armstrong-Sigmond, Peter Sigmond, Tom and Linda Weiner, Dennis Cartwright, Christopher Hanke, Ted Pike, Adam Opsata, Mark Ellison, Northwest Boat School students Matthew Straughn-Morse, Eric Hervol, and Cliff Bisch, along with Carlos and CJ Burleson.   High school senior Shawn Huston has a regular schedule and working mainly with the mast project. Holly Kays works where needed and Sonia Frojen is starting on the varnish.
In the yard and behind the scenes the Board members of the Schooner Martha Foundation are working to support the project.    Chris Grace and his wife Kathy, Todd and Kathy Knoblock and Adam Henley,  all help to keep things going.

BALLAST KEEL REMOVAL PROGRESS

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We have made great progress on removing the original ballast keel and have discovered some interesting data points regarding Martha's build and later modifications. 
The plank keel timber is in very good shape and is in it self a remarkable piece of wood.
Her keel bolts were in very good shape and are 1 1/4" diameter, not the 1" diameter indicated in the plan. 
The original iron keel appears to be about 2000lbs lighter than the plan calls for as well.

KEEL MOLD DESIGN

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Volume and weight considerations were worked out with yacht designer Craig Johnsen  who made center of gravity,  center of buoyancy and righting moment Calculations. 
David Vohs made a preliminary cad model and that model was exported to Brandon Davis at Turn Point Design for final analysis and adjustment.
Brandon Designed the tool that would become the lead mold then programed his 5 axis machine to cut the parts.
Take a look at some of the tools used to design the lead keel and mold.