Ian_Grant

Kevin I thought you were doing the Cutty Sark climb this summer! Better steel yourself for her futtock shrouds 😏

Bill, it's pretty fiddly to add the futtocks and catharpins without distorting the run of the shrouds. Take it slowly and don't commit the knots until you are satisfied. I remember that there is a recommended order to do them in ie futtocks then catharpins, or vice versa. I did the catharpins first for what it's worth.

Yes, that's exactly what they did. Don't forget that at sea the ship would be heeled one way or the other; the crew always went up on the windward side where the futtock angle would be nearer vertical. Also a strong wind would press you into the shrouds, not off the ship! I surmise that as they near the top the shrouds become like a close-packed set of tree branches. It would be impossible to stick your feet between them anyway. Also it would be very slow for the men to funnel through the lubber's hole one at a time and then have to step to the rim of the top before continuing to climb. As a side note I have often wondered about the many times Dr. Maturin entered a top through the lubber's hole, in Patrick O'Brien books......without ratlines? Here is an extract from "Tall Ships - How to Climb the Rigging" Up & Over the Futtock Shrouds The first hurdle for most people is the infamous ‘futtock shrouds’ just below the first platform. All the tall ships we work with have a safety wire here for you to clip to, so if you do slip you won’t go far. This does need a bit of arm strength and commitment as the futtock shrouds lean backwards for about 4-6ft to access the platform. The best tip we can give you is (i) do it with a friend or crew member for support the first time as they can give you an idea where your feet are….especially on the way down. (ii) on the way up (and down) hang back with straight arms as it is less tiring on your arms and your body doesn’t get in the way as your feet and knees move up. Also you are more likely to be able to see where you are placing you feet if you lean your body out.

Bill, as far as I know lower shroud ratlines end at the futtock stave; there are none above it.

In #948 I only meant it might be easier for you to attach things that attach near the feet of the masts before final shroud tightening. Once you are happy with whatever is left to reach in at, shrouds should be tightened. Definitely before catharpins and futtocks. Good luck! 😉

Agree completely!

Bill I'm not sure if you're implying that the lower shrouds are not fully tightened yet, but they need to be before you add futtocks and catharpins. She's looking great!

You could consider having one gun firing, perhaps as part of a salute on entering harbour 😏

Wow! Cycling east to west across Canada is gung-ho!

Tim, your model is looking magnificent! Interesting-looking ships from that time. I've been eyeing the kit of the "Maine" for years.... I once pedaled from Ottawa to my parents' place in Toronto to use up a couple of vacation days I could not carry over. This was in April and on the 2nd evening I rolled, exhausted, over the causeway to Port Perry and stopped at a hotel. I must have visibly sagged when the desk ladies told me that they were full because fishing season had just opened; they took pity on me and offered to put me up in a cot in the conference room if that was ok. I gratefully accepted and was even able to watch a Leafs playoff game on the room's big screen. Ah, Port Perry memories...😃

I got tired of tying lines on and just coiling them, so in a fit of madness I fitted all the lower shrouds. They're just tied off with a grey seizing at the rigging screws for now and as yet untrimmed. Later (much later) when I make a guide for ratlines I will add the white seizings on each. I might regret this later when adding upper braces to the bulwark rails behind the shrouds, but they'd just be too long to have hanging in coils in the interim. I also uncoiled the lower braces from the winches and passed them up the masts through the requisite blocks where they now dangle as coils again. This was easier to do now before I add more standing rigging. The decks look better with only the upper halyards still coiled on them. Here we see the shrouds and dangling lower brace coils. The foot of the mainmast with braces from the Jarvis winch going up to to their blocks. Sorry about the focus. In hindsight I wish I had drilled new holes to move this Jarvis winch closer to the mast; for some reason this particular one is about three times as far from its mast as all the others which makes the braces nearer to interfering with the main lower yard. I could have added more blocks to divert them but at this point I will leave it.

Not in photos, but if you have rigged the mizzen stay and preventer the only other things I can think of at the moment are the main topmast stays which attach to deck behind foremast. Might be easier to get in there with loose/detachable shrouds.

Never heard that before. Interesting! Will keep in mind in future. Thanks!

I used to display my Cutty Sark and Constitution side by side; it is interesting to see one bathtub-like bow and one razor-like bow together.

Doesn't sound too slow to me.....you should see the snail's pace on my build progress 😭

Wondered where you got to. I used seed beads too, glued to stay then wrapped in thread. Keep up the good work Bill!

Ferrus, welcome to MSW! I, along with many members here, built the Revell models at about your age. Fond memories. Good luck and looking forward to reading your build log! Best Regards, Ian

You're a CAD whiz! Very nice.

I laugh.....HoHo......because I am one of the dinosaurs still carrying around a flip phone. Refuse to get sucked in to "The Matrix" on a smart phone.

I liked the jig too, but how about just printing the actual ladders and painting them to save the headaches? I did this at 1/150 scale (I CAD'ed them, my brother printed them) for Preussen 'cause the kit ladders were unusable. Mind you this is a plastic kit.......

Looking great, "rookie"! Really like the tryworks.

In a moderate burst of energy, I wound threads on the remaining brace and halyard winches. All 17 are now glued to the decks with threads coiled. No more empty holes in the decks! The only remaining parts are the yards, four boat davits, and two walkway planks beside the boats. The coils are getting a bit ridiculous, I must do some real rigging soon before it becomes a hopeless tangle. The foot of the mizzen, with Jarvis winches both before and abaft.

Veszett, there are recent printings. Mine is a William Collins 2014 edition.

Kevin, yes they are beautiful; there's nothing cuter than a Toller puppy. They're easily bored because they have brains and to spare. Penny was very very smart; by the end of puppy socialization class she could do the "biscuit on the end of the nose" trick. She was a ball of fire at the dog park; loved to be chased. Not many could catch her. Many Tollers have slightly sad expressions, until they have some work to do then they have an air of intense excitement and concentration. LATER EDIT: I forgot to mention the key thing Tollers were bred to do; they "toll" which is lure ducks towards the hunter's blind. Something to do with their fox-like colouring and the way their bushy tails wave as they play around. It may sound unbelievable but we've seen it work on loons while on canoe trips. Penny loved to wade around looking for frogs in the evenings and time and time again we had loons hanging around off our campsite watching her (she was oblivious to them 😀). The record was 14 of them one night on a Killarney trip. One never sees more than two or three together normally, and I have no idea how they communicated the news. When Penny wandered away from the shore, the loons would bob around and be facing random directions but as soon as she reappeared they all pointed at her like compass needles. Fascinating to see! Don't know if they mentioned it in what you read but they also have what is known as "The Toller Scream". The breeder used to have annual gatherings for all her customers' puppies. When Penny was two years old 42 dogs showed up. They had a fun retrieving trial in the lake; a guy in a rowboat fired a starter's pistol then tossed a dead duck into the water. Whichever dog whose turn it was was then released to see if it would retrieve it (these were mostly just pets, not working dogs). But each time, 42 dogs would scream to be allowed to go. Deafening. 😃 Penny used to sit on the cottage dock and watch me if I swam, worried about me. Sometimes I would fake drowning, splashing my arms and calling her name. Then I would duck under, at which point she would scream and dive off towards me. I loved that dog! Still miss her. Here she is in the canoe with my wife, still damp from a swim at the portage mouth, on I think the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park. Digital photo I just took of an album photo from the old days 😀. Apologies for further digressing!

To continue the digression: we've seen many moose while on back-country canoe trips. They're impressive animals especially when standing on land - hugely tall. One time we rounded a bend to find two just clambering out of the water. One paused, looking back at us, to let a veritable waterfall of urine flow into the river, which of course we would be drinking out of that evening. 🙄 Another time I came to the rather cramped end of a portage to find a moose standing there munching on plants. I talked to her for a minute or two, with a canoe over my head, until finally she edged over just enough to let me drop the canoe into the water. She calmly stood there six feet away, eating as we loaded our stuff and departed. I had for many years a photo of her pinned in my cubicle at work. An extreme close-up you might say. We had a Duck Tolling Retriever, Penny, who loved to come on canoe trips. Darned if I was going to carry her food too, so from the first we got her "dog panniers" which we strapped on at portages. She carried her food and soft bowls, her first aid kit (porcupine quills anyone?), our first aid kit, and some TP. She would trot along ahead of us on portages, pausing to look back at each bend to check if we were still coming. One trip when she was very young I rounded a bend to find her in a staring contest with a moose who had been strolling our way on the portage trail. I stood there, talking to it, until finally it stepped off into the woods. Penny was glued to my legs for the rest of that portage, and glanced nervously into the woods as we passed the point where it had disappeared. 😄 Last story: on one trip we were paddling on a river and rounded a bend to find two moose calves enjoying themselves swimming around. Two ladies who had come in a canoe from the other direction had decided it was a great idea to get out to swim around with them! We stopped paddling and the breeze blew us to the shore. I remember saying to my wife, "Their mom must be nearby", then we heard snapping and crackling from the woods beside us. Mom emerged, heading directly at us. When they're walking toward you and you're sitting down, they are HUGE. But she swerved slightly and stepped past our stem into the water. Let me tell you, those ladies moved pretty fast too. We have done many canoe trips and you never know what you might see. Some other time I might tell you some black bear stories. We've seen lots of them too.😬 Later Edit: I dug out the old photo albums and found a couple of moose pictures. First is the usual view you get, them standing knee-deep as Kevin mentioned, eating as you paddle past. You don't go too near bulls like this if you can help it. Second is the one at the end of the portage I mentioned above.