Chuck Seiler

Congratulations Lyle. Well done!!

Lyle, Are you going to encase it?

Really? I hadn;t noticed. 🙂

As I mentioned in my log, there were 2 documents-the book and the report. The report can be downloaded from the net. From a quick glance, 75-90% of the material is the same, but each has some stuff the other does not. Both the book and report were based on early findings. I wonder if anything has been published as a follow-up.

Lyle, Looking good. I like the finish. The excavation report indicates that there may have been floor boards/deck boards as you have modeled. Floor boards were not found with the wreck, but this is easily explained since they would have been salvaged before the boat was abandoned.

STEP over. Druxey noted in post 17 and Steven in post 20 that the beams were a bit high over the deck in the model I posted in post 10. This is very evident in the other pictures on the website indicated. The beams were thigh to waist high. In post 21 I noted that the model of the Hedeby 3 knarr that Steven was using as a reference also had high beams--more like s\thwarts or speaders than deck beams. The SANDWICH diagram looks like the beams are at deck level but the WINCHELSEA is unclear. If I make the beams ABOVE the deck level, they should be low enough that the sailors could easily step over.

And now we begin, for real. This kit has us planking from the gunwale (gunn’l) to the keel. Each strake is a single plank. In real life there would be mortise and tenon joints but… Once the planking is complete, I will mark the butt joints. The first two strakes on each side are untapered planks. After that, we use pre-tapered planks supplied with the kit. See Lyle’s build log for specifics. The location of the first plank is pretty easy. The frames are set up with a notched ledge to take the first strake. The plank meets the sternpost right on the edge. There is a slight thickness on this end. The plank meets the stempost as if it is rabbeted. Here I have the plank come to a point. I will eventually strengthen these joints by pegging them with 1mm bamboo pegs. Once the first 2 strakes were in, I taped the edges of the frames and attempted to line off the hull to get numbers so I could taper. I doesn’t show up well on camera, so I enhanced. IIRC the references say there are 14 strakes. Scott recommended a clamp with sandpaper glued to the jaws to assist in holding the stern planks in place. Not sure why he did not do the same for the bow. Soak the plank and clamp in place until dry. Now the edge is beveled so it mates properly with the plank below (above). If all goes well, I will see you at the turn of the bilge.

I have not gotten that far yet. I will give it a try. Thanks

We know the Bremen cog had thru beams and that was only about 100 years later.

Landström shows those 'bumps' as well, on both SANDWICH and WINCHELSEA. With SANDWICH you can see the deck. The beams appear to be at deck level and the higher up beam do appear to support raised foredeck and poopdeck.

I dusted off my copy of the Fircks book and found that the model I posted was NOT a good representation of the Fircks plans. This drawing from the book is close to the plans. Here is an approximation of what the castles look like from above-not triangles. He also includes several town seals, although not in color like Steven's. Winchelsea, Dunwich and Yarmouth all show through-beams. On Yarmouth they appear high up but the other 2 appear lower than depicted on the Fircks model. I think if I use the Fircks plans I need to change the beams and/or deck so that the beams are low enough to step over.

Lyle, Many thanks. I was not originally wild about AYC. I prefer boxwood, but I have not won the lottery yet, so.... It bends well and edge bends well. My major complaint is that it dents easily, so I need to be careful with the clamps. It smells great too. Chuck at SYREN and Joe at MODELER'S SAWMILL both carry it.

Not so fast… The model is built ‘shell first’ on a strong back, then framed. The locations of the strongback frames are marked on the provided baseboard. Marking the centerlines of each frame, I was able to easily assemble the strongback. The sternpiece and keel are already assembled and the center marking of the frames allowed me to install the sternpiece/keel. These are NOT glued to the frames. I did not see any specific locations for the stem, but it was easy to figure out. A NOTE ON WOOD: Scott says most of the wood used for the model is mahogany. While I am not a wood expert, this does not appear to be any mahogany I have worked with. It is soft and coarse grain. Despite soaking and taking care, I snapped the first plank I tried to bend. I decided to go with Alaskan Yellow Cedar (AYC) I had from SYREN. I have worked with that wood before and like it, although it is also soft. UNFORTUNATELY, my AYC is 14 inches long and I need about 16 inches. :- ( I came up with a scheme to laminate the planks so there would be 2 joints and it would hopefully survive the rigors of severe bending. Remember, the planks are not affixed to the frames. The downside to this is (1) it is very time consuming and (b) the finished product cannot be soaked. Joe Volpe at MODELER’S SAWMILL to the rescue!!!! His wood is also normally 14 inches, but he was able to cut me some sheets 18 inches.

Many thanks. Hopefully it will be a fun, relatively fast build.

Welcome to my build log of the “Sea of Galilee Boat”, sometimes referred to as “the Jesus Boat”. I was in the midst of a crisis of creativity with my Hanseatic cog when I came across LyleK1’s build log of the SoG boat. I was interested and jumped in. Lyle’s build log can be found at: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29007-sea-of-galilee-boat-by-lylek1-se-miller-120-scale/#comments This is a kit by Scott Miller, model builder and guitar maker. Lyle provides info on the kit. The kit is based on the excavation of a boat on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee in 1986. This is documented in the book “The Sea of Galilee Boat: A 2000 Year Old Discovery From the Sea of Legends by Shelly Wachsmann“ and excavation report “The Excavations of an Ancient Boat from the Sea of Galilee by Shelly Wachsmann, 1990”. The book I purchased and the report I downloaded for free. They contain similar info but there are some differences. It all began in January 1986 when 2 Israeli fishermen/amateur archeologists stumbled upon some artifacts along the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee (which is actually a freshwater lake…who knew?) Israel had been experiencing 2 years of drought and the SoG had receded drastically. What the fishermen found was due to the surface of the ground being dug up by spinning wheels of a tractor. When officials were notified of the find, they thought it was a hoax-no wrecks that old had ever been found in the SoG because the warm fresh water is not conducive preservation. While a “land site”, the wreck had to be excavated quickly-the drought had ended and the sea was rising. The above listed sources give much info on the wreck. Some I will be mentioning throughout the build. The boat is 8.8 meters/28.9 feet long at the caprail, had a breadth of 2.5 meters/8.2 feet and depth of 1.25 meters/4.1 feet. Dating the wreck is difficult. Carbon dating of the wood, artifacts in and around the wreck, boat building techniques used and historical data of the area led them to estimate 100BCE to 75CE. They are certain that the boat was constructed of parts from older boats and it had been repaired often. Some of the wood is 100 years older than other parts. I am better at building than I am documenting the build, and I am not all that great at building. I get distracted easily. My plan is to provide some early documentation, then get down to building. I need to get out of my slump. There will be large gaps between updates but I will respond to any questions or issues. On to the build.