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Jim Lad

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Everything posted by Jim Lad

  1. I've had a reply from my contact at the Mariehamn Maritime Museum. They tell me that it was a common fitting used when it was necessary to use a capstan on a different deck for a heavy job such as hoisting yards 0 remember that the yards on the 'Duchess' were all steel and thus very heavy to hoist. John
  2. I think perhaps we're going around in circles a bit with the mooring line thought, but I've had another idea - She had to change sails several times each voyage; could the fairlead have been used to help in hauling sails aft from the sail locker under the forecastle? John
  3. Keith, every ship coming alongside is heaving on mooring lines at an angle through a fairlead of some sort. In extreme conditions, nasty things can happen if you don't take care, but that usually involves the mooring line breaking, with often disastrous results for any nearby crew! John
  4. Andy, don't forget there were also a pair of capstans on the well deck under the boat skids. They would be perfectly placed for heaving the forward springs. John
  5. Thanks again for your input, gentlemen, but I think we may have forgotten the layout of the deck of this ship. Below is a sketch plan of the deck of the 'Duchess' from 'The Tall Ships Pass'. The fairleads are at the break of the poop, marked by the black arrow. There are capstans positioned along the deck marked by the red arrows and there is a steam cargo winch with warping drums extended out past the hatch coaming marked by the green arrow. I certainly agree that these large fairleads look like they're designed for a large rope, but I can't see them being of use for mooring lines unless the after mooring lines were routinely stowed under the forecastle when at sea, which a possibility, given the long sea passages she regularly undertook. John
  6. And although not painted in detail, that appears to be a Spanish ensign that she's flying. John
  7. Thanks for the input, Dafi and Veszett. The 'Duchess' has an extremely long poop stretching to between the fore and main masts. There's no clutter around there at all. Good thought on cargo derrick crutches, but the 'Duchess' didn't sport such fittings. The search continues! John
  8. Hello, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John
  9. Thanks for that, Rob. Every time I find something else to be done on the model I feel like Doctor Watson being chided by Sherlock Holmes - "You look, but you don't see". John
  10. Thanks very much for that, Wefalck. I've also approached my contact at Mariehamn and he's also having a look for me. I could just make a pair of fairleads and fit them "because they're there", but I'd really like to know their purpose. John
  11. A good thought, Wefalck. What puzzles me a little is that the fore end of the poop was severely damaged in the donkey boiler explosion in 1935, so these fairleads must have been replaced after that; which means that they must have had an important role in the working of the ship. I will be fitting them, as the photos of the wreck show them still in place, but I'd just love to know exactly what their purpose was. John John
  12. Looking very workmanlike, Colin. John
  13. hello Graham, and a warm welcome to mSW from 'Down Under'. John
  14. Hello Joe, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John
  15. A good thought, Andy, but she carried bagged grain, and these fairleads were fitted back when she was built as a cadet ship. John
  16. Eberhard, you're displaying the true craftsman's attitude. The old story is that when you ask a craftsman what his best work is, he says, "The next one." John
  17. Pat, the trick on the 'Duchess' is that she had such a long poop and the lead forward was obstructed by the boat skids and boats. She had a large capstan on the forecastle ( mainly for anchor work) and smaller capstans on the well deck and poop. If you were leading lines from the stern it's such a a long way forward to those fairleads with basically nothing forward of them, and if you're leading lines from the bow you have the 'brick wall' of the skids and boats. John
  18. Ian - no brace winches or other labour saving devices. As originally built she carried 100 cadets, so they weren't needed, but she must have been a heavy ship to work with the small crews that manned her in the wheat trade, especially as her yards were all steel! Keith - I can get you an overhead view of the boiler house when I'm in next Monday, but there's no boiler in there! John
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