PETERPETER

Part 81 –Mainsail
 
Kathryn’s sails will be furled, so I decided to use silkspan for the sails to reduce the bulk of the sails.  David Antscherl offers a very good process for using silkspan in his Swan IV Sail Making Supplement, and I used some of his suggestions in making the mainsail.
 
I found a good source of silkspan – Brodak Control Line Flying.  They offer a medium weight and a lite weight version, and both come in packages containing 2 24” x 36” sheets.
 
http://brodak.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=silkspan&x=0&y=0
 
The first step was to build a frame that would hold a large piece of silkspan.  I mounted the silkspan to the frame using chart tape, and then held the frame vertically in an old artists easel.
 
                        
 
Following David’s suggestions for painting the silkspan, I mixed acrylic titanium white and raw umber to give an off-white color, then diluted the paint so that it could be used in an airbrush.  I have a couple of cheap single-action airbrushes that gave a nice broad spray for coverage.
 
                        
 
Cardstock was used to make patterns for the sails based on the drawings of Kathryn’s sails in the HAER documentation.  These patterns had the locations of all of the grommets for mounting mast hoops and other rigging details marked where appropriate.
 
                        
 
Using the outside of the pattern as a guide, the outline of the sail was drawn on the silkspan and the location of all of the grommets and reinforcing pieces was marked OUTSIDE the boundary of the sail.  Making the marks outside the boundary enabled me to keep the actual sail clean and free of pencil marks.  The sail was cut out leaving enough excess to still show these marks.
 
                        
 
                        
 
                        
 
Reinforcing strips of silkspan were cut for the areas that would have lines attached. These strips were stuck onto the silkspan using acrylic matte medium.  The medium was applied to the strips using an artist’s paintbrush and then while the medium was still wet the strip was attached to the sail.  More medium was brushed over the strip to ensure a good bond.  The matte medium remains flexible after it has dried.
 
                        
 
 After the reinforcing strips had set, a small awl was used to punch holes in the sail’s perimeter as indicated by the pencil marks that had been made previously.
 
                        
 
                        
 
The sail was then trimmed just inside the border line to arrive at the final correct size.
 
                        
 
Because the sails will be furled, I decided to make both the mainsail and the jib somewhat smaller than the full sails.  The mainsail is about 2/3 of the height of the full sail, while the foot of the sail remained at the correct length.  Also, due to the furling, I didn't try to make any of the seams on the sail.
 
The next step is to install the mast hoops and other connections on the mainsail, which will be the subject of the next post.
 
Thanks everyone!
 
 

Part 80 –Rigging Plans
 
Kathryn’s rigging is fairly simple, especially as compared to square-rigged ships. However, there are still opportunities to cause rigging problems by performing some of the work before other components that should be installed first. Avoiding this situation requires a bit of planning to understand the sequence that will work best.
 
The first step was to develop a description of each line, including rope and/or wire required, the termination points of the line, and the route that the line would need to take.  This was developed as a Word document.  The following is an excerpt from the document, describing the Topping Lift.
 
                       
 
The next step was to identify each task required to install the particular line or component, as in the following excerpt, and to build these tasks into a spreadsheet.
 
                        
 
A sequence of tasks was then put together, where the tasks were numbered in the sequence that they should be performed, blending tasks from the various components or lines where it made sense to do so, and then sorting them by the sequence numbers.  The following excerpt shows a portion of the resultant plan.
 
                        
 
I’ve attached the Rigging Details and a sorted Rigging Plan as PDF’s for those who may be interested in seeing these documents in their entirety.  I fully expect that some changes will be made as work progresses, but these are good overviews of what needs to be done.
 
KATHRYN Rigging Details.pdf
Kathryn Rigging Plan - Sorted.pdf

Something like this ?  

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Five star ***** rating on all of your metal work  and looking forward to the upcoming items you listed. So far you haven't mentioned the great conundrum represented by the two dredge baskets. I know that it will be another challenge which you will master. Meanwhile, this watch-bird will be watching you.
Peter
 
 

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details