Glenn-UK

Installation of the foreyard to fore mast Following on from yesterday's post today I was able to install the foreyard to the foremast. Before fitting the foreyard, and as can be seen in the next photo, I was able to redo the truss pendants so their respective thimbles were correctly positioned, as indicated by the yellow arrow. I then applied glue to the foreyard locating pin before it was added to the fore mast. Slings On a real ship once the foreyard has been raised to the required height it is held in place with a sling arrangement. A loop is wrapped around the central point of the foreyard with a thimble on the free end. A second longer loop is wrapped around the mast cap with a thimble on the free end. The two thimbles are then linked together. In the next photo I have added the rigging between the two thimbles, as indicated by the yellow arrow. Jeers Operationally the foreyard is hoisted up the foreyard using the jeers. Two double blocks are located on the foreyard, each situated either side of the foremast. Two more triple blocks are seized to the figure of 8 wrapping around the foremast (above the platform) and they hang down, so they are positioned below the platform but above the foreyard position. The rigging between these blocks then allows the yard to be lifted up in position. In the photo below I have added the inter-block rigging, as indicated by the yellow arrow. The free end(s) are ready to be belayed to the deck using a block and tackle arrangement. Truss Pendants Once the yard has been hoisted, using the jeer block and tackles, and held in place with the sling, truss pendant are used to keep the yard in place with the mast. There are two truss pendant, located either side of the fore mast. Each truss pendant is looped around the foreyard and has a thimble. With the foreyard in position the each end of the truss pendants are placed behind the mast and is then feed through the other truss pendants thimble before they are belayed to the deck via a block and tackle arrangement. In the photo below you can seen one of the truss pendants has been fed through the other truss pendants thimble and is ready to be belayed via the block and tackle (yellow arrow). Nave Line The nave line holds the truss pendants in place. A 3mm single block is located on the underside of the platform, centrally on the rear crosstree. The thread that passes through this block has a thimble on one end and the other end is belayed to the deck. A separate length of thread is passed through the thimble and each end of this thread has a thimble. Each truss pendant is fed through their respective nave thimbles, noting this has to be done before the truss pendants are fed through their respective thimbles of the foreyard. The nave line arrangement is shown in the next photo, noting the free end has not been belayed. To conclude this post I have added a couple of photo's of the Indy with the foreyard in place.

Sprit Sail Yard I have now run in all the remaining rigging required for the Spritsail yard but they have not been belayed, as can be seen in the first two photo’s below. Spritsail Clew Rigging and the double block for the spritsail sheet I am pondering what to do with regards to belaying the spritsail clew and sheet rigging. The spritsail clew line is straightforward as it belays to pin on rack located on the prow of the forecastle. There is a double block arrangement (as can be seen in the above photo) and one of these blocks is used for the spritsail sheet. One end of the spritsail sheet rigging is hooked to an eyebolt on the hull, just after the foremast channel. The other end is fed through a hole in the hull and is then belayed to a cleat located on the inner bulwark under the walkway. As can be seen in the photo below the thread has been passed through the hull. The position of the belaying cleat is shown in the next photo (out of focus). Access to this small cleat is very restricted due to the walkway and the beams. I will try to belay to the bulwark cleat but if this proves to be beyond my abilities then I will revert to a simple solution of using a knot to hold the thread in place against the inner bulwark. Given the position of the walkway and the beams this workaround solution will not, in my opinion, distract from the overall build as this belaying is not really visible. Foreyard Installation Moving forward I am now turning my attention to adding the foreyard to the foremast. A little bit of preparation is required before the yard can be fitted to the mast. When looking at the truss pendants these are wrapped around the mast, fed through thimbles and then dropped to the hull for belaying via a double block arrangement, as can be seen in the attached photo I think it will be easier to fit the truss pendants to the foreyard before installation, and with that in mind I have created the thimbles and the truss pendants are now ready be added to the foreyard. The nave line is added to the truss pendants as shown in the next photo. Next I prepared the nave rigging. This consists of a length of thread secured to a wooden thimble. Another length of thread with threaded thimbles on each end was fed through the wooden thimble. The nave rigging will be will be added to the truss pendants after the foreyard has been added to the foremast. In the next photo I am checking the truss pendants will pass through threaded thimbles. Continuing with the preparation the next task was to prepare the rigging for the sling (black thread) and the two jeers (natural thread, as shown in the photo below. The final task was to secure the truss pendants to the foreyard. Once these had been added I performed a test fit. I soon realised I made a school boy error because the truss pendant thimbles need to be position close to the yard (as per the plan sheet diagram) and not as shown in the photo below. For some unknown reason I thought (incorrectly) the thimble end would tighten up against foremast once the other truss pendant thread had been threaded and tensioned.

Spritsail Yard I returned to the shipyard after a short holiday and added the spritsail yard to the bowsprit. A locating pin was used to hold the spritsail yard in place with a touch of ca glue and was then secured to the bowsprit with black thread. I then added the spritsail yard tye rigging using a triple block arrangement and was then belayed to a hull timberhead. Next I added the thread between the thimbles, not sure what this rigging is called. Next I added the jibboom and the flying jibboom guy's. These pass through eyebolts on the spritsail yard and then are secured to the hull via a triple block arrangement. I have added a selection of photo's showing these guy's. There is still plenty more rigging required with regards to the spritsail yard. Once that is complete I will move on to adding the foremast yard. You will not I have not fitted the boomkin's and I am not sure if I will fit them at the moment.

Main Stay Tackles Todays task was to add the two main stay tackles. There are a number of belaying pins that need to be added to the beams, as a couple of these are required for belaying the stay tackle rigging. It would have better if I had fitted these belaying pins before the beams were installed as the locating holes needed to be opened up a tad. For the most part this was easily achieved. One hole was a bit more difficult to open up but thankfully I was able to do it The belaying pins needed to be trimmed so they would fit flush as are fitted to either side of the beam. Once I was happy with the test fit they were glued in place. With the belaying pins in place I was then able to fit the two stay tackles. These tackles are indicated by the yellow arrow on the photo below. On reflection I should have positioned the lower stay tackle slightly higher up the stay as it is at a bit of an angle. The first double block assembly was secured to the main stay. The bottom block was secured to the beam with a hook and eyelet and once rigged the free end was tied to a belaying pin. The completed first stay tackle. The process was repeated for the second stay tackle.

Mid Deck & Quarterdeck Bulwark Hammock Cranes and Poop Stanchions After completing the backstays my next intended task was to add the two main stay tackles. However as I was looking at the rigging plans and the Indy to check the belaying points I noticed that I had not fitted the various hammock cranes and stanchions to the gunwales. Also I had not added the thread to the quarterdeck barricade hammock cranes. The easiest task was to add the 0.5mm black thread to the quarterdeck barricade hammock cranes. A length of black thread was cut and run through my block of beeswax. I then used a hairdryer to melt the beeswax which helped to stiffen the thread. The thread was then added to the quarterdeck barricade hammock cranes. Next I moved on to the mid deck stanchions and hammock cranes. This uncovered another error with my build in that I had incorrectly fitted the mid deck gunwales, they were fitted back to front. If I fitted the hammock cranes in the holes provided the access to the Indy via the steps would be blocked. I simply added two new holes so the access via the steps was clear. The inner stanchions were fitted and rigged first. Once they were done the hammock cranes were added. These cranes required a length of 2x1 to fitted as well as 0.5mm black thread. The next task was to add the Quarterdeck Bulwark Hammock Cranes and Poop Stanchions. This was a bit more difficult to do as access to the gunwales was restricted by the shrouds and backstays. However I took my time and I was able to complete the task. I am hoping to add the two main stay tackles tomorrow before I go away for a few days so on my return I can then start work on making the various yards and booms.

Many thanks Alan

A few days away will be nice

Backstays I have now completed all work related adding the various backstays. Here are a couple of photo's showing the current build status, they are not great photos. The next photo shows the fore mast breast backstay. The next two photo's show the shifting backstays and the topsail and topgallant backstays The final photo shows the entire lower foremast with shrouds and backstays fitted. My wife and I have booked a short holiday for next week so I'm not expecting to make too much progress before we depart.

Main mast breast and shifting backstays, main topsail mast back stay and main topgallant mast backstay After a few days work all the various backstays required for the main mast, the main topsail mast and main topgallant mast have been rigged and belayed. I am very pleased with how the Indy is now looking. Moving forward the next few days will be spent adding the various backstays for the fore mast, the fore topsail mast and fore topgallant mast. I have attached a photo of the completed main backstays. The next two photos show the completed breast backstays, which have now been belayed to one of the main shroud cleats. The photo shows shifting backstay and the topsail and topgallant backstays. The next photo shows the belaying of the shifting backstay to a belay pin The final photo is a close up of the shifting stay eyebolt and block

Main Breast Backstay Installation Following on my last post I thought I would share the method I used to install the main breast backstay. With reference to the photo below I started by wrapping the backstay around the main topgallant mast and adjusted the height of the block seized to the end of the backstay to the required height. Once I was happy with the position I used a clamp to hold the backstay in the required position. Maybe I should have seized it to the main topsail mast rather than the main topgallant mast but I am happy with what I have done therefore there is no need for anyone to comment on this aspect / error. The eyebolts were dry fitted to the main channel, and clamps were used to hold them in place. In the next photo the inter-block rigging has been added so that the lower block position could be checked with regards to the final belaying point, which is one of the shroud cleats, 2nd one in from the right as indicated by one of the yellow arrows. Once I was happy with how everything looked the inter-block rigging was removed and then the backstay was seized, as shown by the yellow arrow. Next the two eyebolts were glued in place. I did trim and then bend the excess eyebolt material under the channel. The inter-block rigging was then added and the backstay was tensioned. I will belay the rigging to the shroud cleat later on in the rigging process. The un-belayed end of the rigging thread is indicated by the yellow arrow.

Mizzen Mast Backstays I seem to have spent quite a bit of time in the shipyard but there is no much sign of any real progress. I am currently working on adding the various backstays and the preparation work is quite time consuming. I have moved the Indy to a different work area which allows me all round access which is much better when adding the rigging. The down side is it not possible to take good photos due to the open backgrounds. I started with the mizzen mast and this was the best photo showing the mizzen topsail and topgallant backstays. Taking close up pictures is not such a problem and the next photo shows the upper mizzen topsail mast platform where the topsail backstays are positioned and dropped down through the rear crosstrees. And now a photo showing the backstay deadeyes. Main Mast Breast Backstay The fore and main breast backstays are quite involved, each requiring a three block belaying arrangement. In the next photo I have shown the two upper blocks. The next shows all three blocks and this backstay arrangement is now ready to be installed. However before I do this I need to make up the other 3 breast backstays arrangements.

Stays and Preventors I have finally completed adding all the stays and preventors for the mizzen, main, and fore lower, topsail and topgallant masts. The sprit topmast and flying jibboom have also been added to the bowsprit. I am reasonably happy with how the Indy is looking at the moment. There is still a few more months work ahead required to complete the build. The first photo shows the Mizzen mast. The next photo shows the belaying arrangement for the mizzen topsail and topgallant stays, located on the main mast lower platform. I did have to redo the mizzen topsail stay as I was not very happy with the end result after I had added the mizzen topgallant mast stay. The next photo shows the main mast stays The next photo shows the main topsail and topgallant stays belaying arrangement on the foremast lower platform The next photo shows the belaying on the main topsail stay and preventor at deck level. The next photo shows the foremast stays The top gallant stay and flying jibboom stays are fed through the dolphin striker, as shown in the next photo. The fore topsail stay and preventor are taken through the bees, as shown in the next photo. Some close up detail of the sprit topmast and flying jibboom arrangements in the next couple of photos. The next photo shows the fore topsail preventor and flying jibboom belaying arrangement at the bow. There is a similar belaying arrangement on the port side bow for the fore topsail stay and fore topgallant stay,

Congrats on completing a superb build.

Enjoying your progress. I think the Brig Adder will be my next build once I have completed the Indy in a few months time. I really like the look of the curved bow.

In answer to your question, I have no idea.

Main and Fore Topsail Mast Stay Belaying Blocks As indicated in my previous post the belaying of the main and fore topsail mast stays are via a blocking arrangement, as can be seen in the photo below. The smaller lower block requires a thimble and hook adding. The upper section consists of two blocks, with a thimble added to the larger top block. In the ensuing text and associated photos I have detailed the method I have used to make this blocking arrangement. The lower block This is a single block with a thimble at the top of the block. A hook is seized to the bottom of the block. To start this process I took a length of 0.5mm black thread and wrapped it around a metal rod which was held in the quad hands, as shown in the photo below. Using some 0.1mm black thread to add the seizing i was able to create the required thimble, as can be seen in the next photo. The block was then placed in the quad hands and the thread was then added. In the next photo the block is now ready to be seized. Once the block was seized, one of the thread ends was cut away and the hook was then threaded on the remaining thread end. This is shown on the next photo. The thread end was then clamped to the side of the block. I have shown this arrangement in the next photo and the hook is now ready to have the seizing applied. Once the hook has been seized the excess thread can be removed. The next photo shows the completed block. The double block This is a more complicated arrangement as it consists of two block seized together with a thimble on the top of the larger block. I started with a length of 0.5mm black thread which was secured to the smaller lower black with a simple cross over knot, as can be seen in the next photo The two blocks are then held in the quad hands and the seizing is added. One of the free thread ends was then removed. The thimble is formed by holding the thread to the side of the block, as shown in the next photo. Once the thimble has been seized the excess thread is removed. The completed double block is shown in the next photo. The first set of blocks for the topsail stays is now completed. I will now repeat the above process to make three more blocking sets.

Topgallant Shrouds I have now added the shrouds to the fore, main and mizzen topgallant masts. Fore topgallant mast shrouds Main topgallant mast shrouds Mizzen topgallant mast shrouds The topsail and topgallant stays have also been added but have not been belayed. This will be my next task and there is quite a bit of work required in belaying these stays with the blocking arrangements. I have attached a couple of examples.

Possibly, not shown on the build plans. I am content with what I have done.

Topsail mast, the topgallant mast will slot in square hole between the stays.

Topgallant Yard Lift Blocks I spend the last couple of days adding the all the shroud cleats. When looking at the plan sheets with regards to the topgallant shrouds I noted that I need to add blocks for the topgallant yard lifts as these are sited between the first and second topsail shrouds. It makes sense to me to fit these before the topgallant shrouds are added. In the first photo below I have shown the arrangement I am using for these blocks. The large loop can be passed over the top of the topsail mast. The block is used for the topgallant lift and the bottom end is then belayed to one of the topsail shroud cleats. The next photo shows the arrangement is place.

Thanks, I quite enjoy adding the ratlines, the repetitive nature can be therapeutic. It is a big relief once it is done however.

Many thanks Alan

Mizzen Topsail Shrouds and Topsail Stays This morning I added the final ratline when I completed the mizzen topsail shrouds. Before moving on to adding the topgallant masts and associated shrouds I ran in the threads required for the topsail mast stays. Starting with the mizzen topsail mast stay The main topsail stay and preventor have been run in, but I have not belayed to the deck as yet. The fore topsail stay and preventor have been run in, but I have not belayed them to the deck as yet. Current build status

Thanks

Main Topsail Mast Shrouds Despite suffering with a bad case of manflu I have bravely continued with working on the Indy build. Over the last couple of days I added the main topsail mast shrouds and ratlines. I used the same method as detailed in my fore mast topsail post(s) and I am reasonably happy with the end result. Next up will be adding the shrouds and ratlines to the mizzen topsail mast. I will have very limited time in the shipyard over the next few days due to grandparenting duties.