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Jim Lad

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Everything posted by Jim Lad

  1. Anchor cable looks good now, mate. Being a naval launch of the 1860's, surely the blocks were for signal halliards - no radios in those days! John
  2. She's looking good, Andy. How about we club together and buy 'you know who' a talking parrot? "Arrk, arrk, pictures, pictures, arrk!" John
  3. Finished the standing rigging? Oh, I thought it was something significant. Seriously, mate, a beautiful job and very well done indeed. I trust you enjoyed your favourite libation while admiring your handywork! John
  4. Pat, With the addition of more photos from different eras and of different types of rigging stowage, your original post could easily be built into a very useful article for the database. Perhaps contemporary illustrations of various rope stowage from as many eras as possible would be very helpful for a lot of members. As an example, I know exactly how derrick guys and mooring ropes were stowed on mid 20th century cargo ships, but how were mooring lines stowed on a naval vessel of the same period - I have no idea! Good, clear photos of the decks of sailing merchant ships are hard to find, however here are a couple of quick examples of what I was talking about that I could lay my hands on immediately. I'll have a browse through my various books etc. and see if I can come up with something better. This is the deck of a merchant ship in port in the 1850's, so a very early photo. You can see ropes coiled on the pins around the mast. Two photos of cargo ships at sea in the 1870's. In the first one, the coils on the pins at the rail are very clear. Not so clear, but still visible, are the coils on the pins around the mast in the background of the second photo. John
  5. Never mind, Mario! Remeber the RAAF's motto, 'Per Ardua Ad Astra' - through struggles to the stars. John
  6. We certainly didn't see any of those little critters, Mario! John
  7. Allow me to throw in a spanner, Pat. The coils on the belaying pins are made up in the manner of modern school ships (and possibly Grey Funnel line as well - I don't know), but the usual practice in commercial sail was to simply coil the rope over the pin then, when it was needed in a hurry, the coil could be simply thrown off the pin onto the deck and the rope was ready for working in no time at all. I've read several descriptions in books on commercial sailing voyages where all the rigging was washing about the decks because a rogue wave had washed it all off the pins. It was usually the apprentices job to get everything coiled up again. In times of expected heavy weather the pins were sometimes raised up into the shrouds on temporary rails to prevent this happening. John
  8. Very nice anchor, Bob. It looks just the ticket, except that the launch would be aground before the anchor touched bottom with that length of cable! John
  9. Mario - your woodchuck looks like a giant rat! Where the heck do you find those things? Elia - It's a toss up between furled sailed (tissue might be appropriate) or no sails at the moment. John
  10. She's really coming along, Mobbsie. A shame about your port damage, but I'm sure that you're on top of it! John
  11. Crikey, that didn't take you long! As I explained on your 'Mermaid' thread, the name of this little ship should really be 'Mercury'. Looking forward to seeing her grow. John
  12. Nice going, Popeye! That large eagle on the stern looks very smart! John
  13. That's come out very well, mate! Good on yer! Your schooner will be the 'Mercury'. The original plans in Greenwich are labelled, "A Schooner for Port Jackson" and were sent out in 1803 on the "Calcutta", but by the time they got here the Government had already aquired some small ships and didn't need the schooner. As far as is currently known, Mary Reiby's "Mercury" was the only ship ever built to these plans (it's the ship on our $20 note). John
  14. Something like that, Pat. The really weird thing was that I thought when I packed up my gear at the end of the day I'd find them tucked under something, but no such luck! John
  15. Popeye, Have you checked contemporary illustrations of the America to confirm the shroud disposition? John
  16. Now there's an idea - sails instead of the need for a case - good thinking, Mario! John
  17. Yes, sails furled, Michael - otherwise they'd hide too much of the detail. John
  18. You've done really well with your reconstituted log, Kats - almost caught up now! John
  19. Spar torpedo? Ah, you mean the suicide spear! :mellow: Whoever thought of that one out should have been made to make the first live attack with one - but you've made a great job of it, mate! John
  20. Lots of money! John Seriously though, I'm sure the RC buffs will be able to help out.
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