bruce d

Hello, I am looking for some help. It concerns the keel of a Bermuda built schooner circa 1800. The keel is 10 inches breadth tapering to seven inches at each end. The question is: where does the taper commence? The options seem to be … (1) There is a section in the middle of the keel where the sides are parallel and then the taper begins at a point approaching each end. If so, where does the taper begin? (2) The keel has little or no parallel section with the tapers starting from (presumably?) the width extreme point. It would be very easy reading various scantlings to believe this was the intention. This option seems pointless but what do I know? Thanks in advance, Bruce

Christian, I understand your feelings, and I have also had a difference when posting pictures. Something is different but I am not a 'techie' so can only say that I made it work recently by uploading the pictures and placing the cursor where I wanted the picture before hitting ' + '. This may be a bad explanation but it possible. Read what your friends say above! Please continue to post!

Excellent work, Richard, I will join the audience if you don't mind.

Looks that way. I can't think of any other use, will watch for comments.

Totally by chance, another current thread may have come to the rescue. The thread 'Deck Layout Mermaid Cutter 1817' by Cabbie ... ... has images from the drawings of Phillip Parker King between 1817 and 1822. The second image in that thread I have pasted below: The block and line (whatever it is called) is present and better illustrated. It goes loosely under the boom and sail. Perhaps one of the more salty members knows the function of such a line, but I don't. HTH Bruce

Hello Uwe and welcome to MSW.

I see what you mean. It clearly goes either side of the sail yet the port side line seems to have no termination point. It can't be secured to the gaff boom because we can see that the lowest edge of the sail is behind the boom. ? Well, my comment doesn't get you closer to an answer but I will follow along to see what happens.

Those sails look fantastic. I appreciate this advice, doing experiments to find the 'right stuff' is not my favorite use of time.

Ah, good, that is what I thought.

Here is a more contemporary scene: ... in the NMM collection, "British and American Gunboats in Action on Lake Borgne, 14 December 1814" Date made: Early to mid 19th century by Hornbrook, Thomas Lyde This painting shows how I imagine a schooner the size of Pickle would have rigged boarding nets (I suppose technically anti-boarding nets), but I have nothing to verify that. The nets illustrated are bulky and, if the ship faced a threat of boarding, would have been useless if not available quickly. Would it make sense for a modest craft like Pickle to stow them below decks? I don't want to speculate, so will keep an open mind. Perhaps the answer is in Gilkerson's books.

This is the way Dodd portrayed Pickle under the guidance of Lapenotiere, her captain: The naked woman rescued from the water at Trafalgar by Pickle's boats was from the burning French Achille. Her name was Jeanette: close enough? Bruce

Eyewitness account of a midshipman in Euralus (later retired as Rear Admiral) Hercule Robinson. Also, although I do not have access at the moment, there is a mention in Pickle's logs of 'nets' without further details. Pickle was active as a fighting ship as well as a messenger. She was involved in blockade duties and her boats were part of cutting out operations and raids, plus she had close encounters with gunboats and other small craft. I am open minded but am having trouble visualising the sailplan of Pickle supporting the nets shown in your illustration. I had imagined nets along the sides ready to foul the efforts of hostile small boats, but perhaps you are right. I suppose the basic question is if the nets were stored on deck what might this have looked like. I do not intend to model Pickle with her nets out.

These books are news to me, many thanks. I have looked for reviews and citations and they seem to be the go-to source for the subject. I have put them on that 'wish list' I keep in the drawer with my lottery tickets. In the meantime, I am hoping for a bit of guidance to finalise the deck layout of the plans I am drawing. I don't want to speculate too much but if the nets were stored on the deck it would not be a surprise.

Morning Mark, Thanks, but it seems not. What started me down this path is finding that HMS Pickle had her boarding nets up at Trafalgar. I wasn't expecting that. Regards, Bruce

Mods: please move if this is not the right forum. I wonder if someone has some answers about boarding rigging, Nelson era. All info welcome but my interest is focussed on one of HM schooners. 1 - Was boarding netting stowed on deck? If so, what did it look like? 2 - Were there standard sizes and materials? Concerning 1 above, in my case there were only four of the potential 14 guns mounted so there would have been more room for storage around the deck, if such a thing was permissable. Thanks, Bruce

I have a 'Henry' vac set up as a dust collector. The noise factor was originally bothersome but that changed when I finally got around to making a proper spot for it under a bench. It was absurdely simple: I sat it on a piece of styrene foam and it became quiet! Presumably the hard plastic wheels resting on the wooden shelf had been the source of the racket. Now it stays running for long periods and I can listen to the radio. BTW, I made an impromptu hose adapter by cutting the bottom off of an empty plastic pill bottle. The bottle's lid-end fits the sander and the Proxxon saw, the other fat end fits the Henry hose.

My brain hurts. I have now, thanks to the help received from Ab, Rene' and Terry, imported the background image I wanted into the Delftship workpiece and adjusted it to the correct size. This absolutely basic step is now complete and I can plug away to get a good result. The learning process also illuminated a number of the features within the software and I can see how some of the other stages will be more straightforward now. Delftship is no doubt a marvellous tool for modellers with the patience to learn the techniques peculiar to this software and I can only hope that one day there will be a 'DELFTSHIP LITE' version without the sophistication of the professional ship-designers requirements. It sounds odd but I believe the complications I encountered could be eliminated if the advanced features were stripped away. It would be of more use to modellers with only the basic tools to produce detailed drawings, not the 'real' shipbuilders' calculations and options. I would pay for a version tailored to that narrow specification. Also, a tutorial for a 'draw only' edition could be much more focussed and I believe could make the product commercially viable. Perhaps I am a dinosaur and more nimble minds would have danced through the steps that defeated me, but we shall see what happens now that I am up and running (well, not running but moving along anyway). Many thanks to all concerned, especially Terry who stepped in to shine further light on the subject. Regards, Bruce

Update: the tutorial from Ab and a very detailed off-board lesson from Terry are being digested. I hope to have a four hour slot to sit down at the computer and do both exercises properly later today.

Welcome and good luck with the rebuilding project. The big thing is that everyone (and the critters) made it. Maryland has so much history, and I'm a bit partial to the working boats I saw in the bay, especially the crabbers. Perhaps you have visited the museum at The Solomans? It is a great source of inspiration. We look forward to seeing what you build next.

Chris, how can I resist the challenge? Will have a rummage tomorrow.

Glad to help. Thought I would identify myself since the original may be digital dust now. Did you get what you needed or would you like the link again? Bruce

Just to come back to the original question, Unimats were made in Austria up to and including the Unimat 3. The Unimat 4 was made in the far east as have all others with the Unimat name since.

That makes a lot of sense. The crew would be keeping their eyes on the prize and would not want any fiddling around at the crucial moment.

Very nice model (including the rat).

Ab, thank you and please pass on my gratitude to Rene' (again). It will be tomorrow before I can sit down to the task, and whatever happens I will report. Regards, Bruce