Jond

My bad....I should have written" Ice Barrel". not bucket. Here is a picture from the biography of Donald MacMillan who went with Peary to the North pole and then led his own expeditions from 1910 to 1954. He designed and built the Schooner Bowdoin right here in our town , so I am quite prejudiced. Bob Bartlett was with him too with Peary and again sailing Ernestina Morrissey. Their name for the barrel is what I latched onto a few years back. Here is a photo from his book with the caption. More important is to understand the ease of entry. All the peak halyard blocks and lines are behind the mast making it easy to both hold on and climb in over the top. getting to the spreader is no big deal. Perhaps when I get there I will find the same logic. I don't argue the idea of a trap door, it just doesn't seem safe. Think of the thick gloves/mittens and bulky clothes being worn while climbing or worse descending. what is there inside to stand on while the hatch is open? etc. I am totally guessing at this point but would image the Jacob ladder SHOULD have gone to the top....😁. I'll wait till I get to the halyard rigging. I probably just leave it a mystery. cheers

Harvey I can not even begin to join in knowledgeably with the recent exchanges here about the Kayaks, sleds and small boats . They are wonderful to look at and also to imagine about using. I have read a huge volume on the arctic and remain keen on learning. Your build is terrific for that purpose. Also I have been looking over your rigging with equal awe. Your larger scale is helpful for one's thumbs, but the workmanship is definitely up to the task of more detail. Example. drawing the seams on the sails you made the two distinct lines that are great to see. Working ar 1:75 or 1:64 and even 1:48 I have never succeeded with two lines. Another detail is your cringels; I find them to be is awesome. I recently got the book you recommended on the rigging and I have to agree that the drawings are extremely helpful. anyway I just want to thank you again fro sharing your work. jon.

16a. another two sails….sort of Thanks to those visitors and their likes. The shipyard seems busy, but the progress seems slow. We forget how many different lines, their spices, their blocks an anchor points etc. for each sail. This partial update is to record the end of the year, with three sails in place. Their lines however are not. We have three views from different directions showing the sails. • The main needs the most work; the topping lift on the starboard, lazy jacks port and starboard, gaff down haul also starboard and perhaps a flag halyard though not a raised flag during a race. • The foresail need replacement throat blocks, and both a topping lift and gaff down haul. I need to do a survey and make up a kist of blocks so I can get them from Bluejacket and have them all match. • The Jumbo needs sheet and temporary preventer, sail downhaul. Also, not all hanks are in place I have also a view on all the reef lines being hung with wet white glue to they hopeful will hang down and not just stick out. Some are very stubborn. If one looks closely one finds several items still missing on deck. I need to get the fife rails , representation for the pumps etc before closing in. As some wiser builders than I have said...start in the middle and work out 😄. I will not start the ratlines until all the inside lines are made off. We all learn the hard way that one never seems to have enough pins for tying off all those lines, we must also add dory tackle and hooks, set up snatch blocks so the forward winch can raise and lower sails. Fortunately I only need one dory..... I hope this new year offers the chance to get most of this work done. I have a third build [ Fram] that I need to start shortly and this one may again have to be delayed. I am giving myself only a few weeks more and I know that is not enough time to do it all. Fortunately this one does not go anywhere for another year and with the sails on she looks OK. My goal is to hang all the sails and be basically done with deck furnishing. We'll see how we go. cheers

10a part way through the deck furnishing Before sharing progress. I want to share a news clipping I received just recently. A local retired Shipwright passed away and donated his library to the local library book shop. The volunteer there helps us at the historical society, She knows I am doing a multiyear study of our shipyards as well as the study of the Northwest passage and other related stories. She showed me this clipping knowing it would fascinate me and here we are. 00 The online record states that the San Francisco park had suspended the repairs to Gjoa in 1939 but resumed them after the war, and completed the effort in 1949. The clipping here is from 1957 and has a great photo of the deck. This image agrees with a one other [ I posted it earlier] and I have followed it. The forward anchor windless assembly is black and the mid or Main windless is dark here, and green in a museum image. So along with the enjoyment of hearing about unsuccessful engine pirates, we gain a tid bit of info to either use or not I understand today much more of what is on board seems to be white. There are not however comprehensive images I have found and for a few issues, I hope to be more successful. Specially how did they rig the tillar? The working progress including a snowy New Years This partial update is to cover some of the fiddling to get the deck furniture done. When scratch building, we get to rummage through our stash of unused stuff. Either unused kit material or surplus buying that now fills many plastic tubs. We also get to build stuff, and it can be a real learning curve. A. First up the anchor windless. 1 -2 here I have taken an unused kit supplied windless that will need to be extended both for winches and gears for the drive chains. In view 2 I drilled holes for short extension shafts. 3-4. here I am used sheet pear wood to make up the windless stands. 5 and here we are finally set in place. I do openly admit the diameter of the barrels is a bit undersized, sorry…… Ice Bucket I have a question that I plan to ask Harvey….if the ice bucket is suspended as it is shown on the drawings all by itself. I assume hung on some of those many mast rings. However, I ask……, with no extended climbing means, how did the crew get there if the wind and sea are a mess? 6-7 show two images of the ice bucket on the schooner Bowdoin. It sits on a spreader, and the ratline takes you right there. Just a comparison and the basis of my rhetorical question. 8-9 to build the bucket, [ it has sloped sides] I took the inside lines from the plan and shaped a plug. I then covered it with saran wrap and over a few days glued piece after piece. I then sliced off the bottom of the plug and glued it in for the floor. 10-11. here is an overall view showing the anchors and some progress on the bowsprit. The second view shows the anchor winch with chain leading to the boxes and ice bucket sitting on the deck waiting for me to figure out how to attach it to the mast. The main winch pieces are waiting to be assembled with the pumps too. Cheers

Thank you Keith for your greeting and I offer them to you as well. My daughter made up the remaining sails while here, so now I need to get them on. A little wiggling is needed for the jumbo, but hopefully all the others should be OK. There are so many other things happening , the productivity in the shipyard is a bit low. I did set the main, but all those lines that need to be made up are still in production. I hope to get it done and a posting before the new year. I am running low on parts too, and may need to add to my crew. cheers and Happy Holidays

John I can not wait to see the real thing again with those stairs. Just amazing. I also want to learn more about the battery and tiny lights you have shown a few times, I am thinking about that photo you took here but later with the roof on with inside light coming down the stairs.....it will be fun to see. Merry Christmas

Thank you Phil and others for your likes. 16a Just a quick update as we get to the Christmas Holiday. Also it is snowing and we are in a perfect White Christmas on the Maine coast this year Another milestone was reached as the first sail is now on. But more important was the show up of the main crew. 1 here we see the foresail bent and sheeted. I usually engage the boom tackle, so the sail stays in position. In this case we will have starboard tack. One note is my stash of blocks. I try to use Bluejacket blocs on my Maine Schooners, and I am running short of some sizes. The example here is the throat halyards. When I get further along and know what I need, I will order and reinstall those two smaller blocks. That effort will raise the throat just enough to straighten out the luff, and all will be in order. 2-4. The main crew arrived. The first view is the whole crew; 16 figures in the box. They offer many different poses, so I ticked off this bunch and hit buy...simple. I ordered them from Etsy and in the second photo, look at the shipping label…wow they came from Ukraine! I am pleased to support them in this way, as tiny as it is. The third view is one figure as they come. The detail is incredible. In a race they had maybe 24 on board. Many wore street cloths, smoked cigars etc. Maybe as I go back online looking for Norwegians for my Gjoa build, I’ll find a few more. Merry Christmas

Phil Nearly 10 years ago I made my second visit to Lunenberg to sail on Bluenose II. The day before our sail, they were rained out and I got to spend a good hour or more on deck with the crew taking a million photos and asking lots of questions. I also bought a copy of the book sharing all the detail of her design. On one of the pages [copy below] there is a description of rigging that sail, the four corners do the following • Peak halyard is continuous line that goes through a snatch block either port or starboard rail depending on the tack • Throat halyard goes to pin rail • The sheet leads down to aftermost dead eye…..I believe that means another deck snatch block to make it easier to handle, and again it would be either rail based on tack • The tack is the most interesting and not possible to model. There is a hook that is lashed to the tack and secured to either of the foresail halyards. It is meant to slide up or down the foresail halyard and thus to flatten the staysail at mid point. The tack itself is belayed at the outer rails, again port or starboard. In my studies I have found many similarities between The Bluenose information and new England Gloucester fishing schooners. There are a few differences as well. I will likely follow this wonderful detail as we all know outside of the Howard Chappell Fishing schooner book, there is little other information. If there is more out there, I would love to read it even it comes too late for my work. Thanks for pointing our this issue. Merry Christmas too Jon

thank you Druxey. I have used similar setups making masts with Sitka spruce up to almost 3 feet. However masts or other spars over about 15 inches only come up from time to time and I somehow get through the challenge. A more worrisome issue is the Norwegian rigging come straight at me.....Thanks to Harvey I just got a rigging book written by a Swede that looks like a whole new rabbit hole to descend. We'll see how that goes. cheers

Dear Cathead My father in law was a navy officer below decks running the boat [ Destroyer] during WWII. After he came home he spent several years working in Schenectady, NY where they build Railroad engines and this anvil ended up in his shop. I don't know its history other than it was one of his favorite possessions. I am sure it has a hidden story that would be fun to know. cheers

9 working on the deck furniture. I am working away through the deck furnishings. 1. I counted ten main deck stationary items including the skylights, and here 8 of them are almost ready to glue down. 2 ,3,4. these three views show my experimental approach to make then main windless out of paper, a tiny wood dowel and plastic gears sanded down to size. The two deck brackets holding the shaft coming forward from the engine room. I switched to brass. 5 I am using the old thread trick to try to simulate iron rods for the forward skylight. I used pins on the aft cabin skylight. We’ll see if It works here. 6 here I have blackened the windless parts. the paint helps the paper become more solid looking. I found that black magic marker is better than paint however on both the paper [ second coating] and dowels. It does not thicken the dowel. I also used it on the brass clips. All is still loose here though I did make and glue down the engine room topside /skylight. I have no information, so I am following Harvey for what I assume is the engine cooling water return across the deck to be sure is stays above the water. I’ll talk more about the windless when I figure it and the two chains out. It is tiny at this scale. 7-9. here I show my rube Goldberg method of using my midi lathe to sand down to shape a mast that is longer than it. The railroad rail anvil is a family heirloom. I then stepped the rough mast just to take a look. It is shown to be absolutely plum in the drawings, so here we go. The last closer view shows the pumps going in and the bow sprit in place. There is still much to do here, and I am unsure of the mechanics of the rest of the deck workings. I a using the drawing section which is reasonable, and I will do my best but remain unsure as the photos are not complete and the system is not like our new England set up. It is fun to learn though Cheers

8 complete rails and plan deck work Thank you everyone for your likes. It helps keep the fire burning. This is a partial update to record completion of the cap rails and this phase…. “ the hull” . It’s kind of like topping out of a building. I suppose i could get a miniature Xmas tree and set it on the rail. I had a nice glass of Single malt and now we move on... 1,2,3 these images show the completion of the cap rails. It was pretty straight forward, as I used the rest of the milled poplar and cut out three sections for each side. Next up will be to complete the deck furniture but first I need to plan it out. I think there are three parts. First all the stationary stuff, Then the mechanical stuff then all the rigging stuff that is best to get on deck or the rails early. 4 I scaled the 1950 Model Shipway deck plan using TurboCad then cut it out to lay on deck. I then used light pencil lines to mark where things will go. I then will be using this plan and the long cross section to get dimensions. 5,6,7 these views show the progression of making up blocks to represent the stationary element. Some of these I will trim down build back up with cladding. 8-9 are just further along as the cap rail is now all painted and the 10 stationary deck pieces are laid out with some early shaping. I see in the photo I have a few more of the iron brackets to add in as supports for the shelves too. I need to get them done before setting any deck stuff. None of this first phase includes the mechanical equipment. That is a tough phase to follow as I quickly leave my comfort zone trying to make chains to actually fit on wheels etc. I am thinking about it though as I look for material. All for now.

15 reset the top masts with missing rigging, as sails go through early production. 1 this view shows me carrying on from the last update, I have added the missing foremast bands and blocks for the foresail and the hoops for the fore topsail. She is back together there at least. 2 shows the main top mast disassembled for the same treatment 3-4 these views show us all back together. Going forward, I have reached the time when I need to set the stage as to how I would like to display this model. Surely as she was racing. 5-7 show three views of her that influence the intent. One option I have considered is to show the historical event where she lost her top formast in the first elimination race against henry Ford. I have researched that incident and learned that the mast did not fail but came unstepped. They rerigged it on the fly to to set horizontal but loosing both he top ails and the fisherman sail they had to retire. I will not try to do that but simply refer to the story of her closeness to glory. 8-10 these views show the production line of sails and spars. 11 this view shows an interesting option. I included the three racing photos also to document that no anchors were present while these guys raced. Thus, I may lash one to the deck, but will not hang one over the side. a final question will be how many crew do I need......I am not sure the typical collection of 4 or 5 will be enough. cheers

John Your sequence or getting the running rigging all in place and tied down before ratlines really comes through with these images great job! jon

Thank you for the recommended sources. I down loaded the Norwegian article and just ran through it. lots of great images to go over more closely. i have those model shipway plans as that is my basis. hopefully my pins are in the right places! I ordered the book too. As I have said before, I will have an incredible library one of these days. becoming very complete. cheers Jon

Wow what a great study on the rigging . I will be following every post as I am totally out of my comfort zone with Norwegian rigging. Great work and I look forward to your progress Cheers jon

John thanks for reminding me of all those coils to make near the end. they are just like ratlines. got to do it though 🥴 cheers

Julie thanks for dropping by. nice connection to reuse of good old material. I am sure there are many old LL Bean boots around cheers

Gjoa 7. Complete rudder and bulwark "shelf" This week I have been able to get a few things done. I am about the middle of this stage and planning for the next one. 1-4. these four view show getting replacement drill bits, so I can complete the last pintel, and the laying out of the tiller by scaling a drawing. I have a few sheets of pear wood that are great for this type of detail work. The third and forth view show installation and the trimmed-out transom. I keep learning the hard way how critical it is to stabilize things like brass strips when drilling tiny holes. I have broken many drill bits. 5 this view is a group of new poplar strips I milled to use for both the bulwark shelf and cap rails. 6-9 show the progress of the shelf 10-11. these views show all the belaying pins are in and the steel rod shelf supports are going in. I am thinking to keep the brass pins brass. I know they should be darker but I like the look. Next up will include the cap rails. And planning for deck furnishings

Thank you wefalck for the incite to the slot. I am sure you are right about the rubber boots too. Let me introduce you to a famous Maine boot first made in 1912. These are the L L Bean boots that even today are extremely popular. We in Maine all where a version of them around here over the next several months. The lined ne for snow and the unlined are especially popular in spring. I will admit however our outside durations do not approach the conditions of these brave explorers or fisherman either. cheers

John You need also to thank the Norwegian builders that chose it. I think it would be very practical on a fishing vessel. Think of all the mess while working and little holes by each rib and one trap door for fish guts on the typical Gloucester fisherman. Perhaps this open slot means more water on deck when healing over in a blow, but the crew all wore rubber boots anyway.

14 getting all the spars ready for sails Over the next month I hope the 8 sails will get made. In a parallel effort they need the spars for lashing and all the running rigging lines that need to go on before installation. Example would be the boom tackles or topsail clewlines, that are much harder to install on board, should go onto sails before they are rigged. A halyard could go on the sail or the gaff before but I find it easier after for the peak halyards to a gaff. During the holiday, the sail patterns were made, and dry fit for adjustment. Since dimensions were taken from scaling photos, I was not surprised that every sail needed something trimmed; usually cut down. 1-2 show the patterns all made and after adjusting held in place for a look see. They were taken off as soon as the photo was taken. 3 -4 show that the top masts need to come back off [cutting and removal of dead eye lashing on top mast shrouds and other stay lashing needed. Dressing of the masts include bands and blocks at the top of the lower masts, hoops for the upper masts and more running rigging needed to be done before reassembly. This effort was understood to allow the timing for the sail making process that my daughter likes to do when she comes for vacation. Otherwise, the complete dressing of the spars would have been completed first. 5,6 ,7 show my selected process to make top mast hoops. I like to use 1/64 birch plywood strips for larger hoops, but found coiled packing tape over saran wrap on a Dowel of the selected diameter works well. I use a simple razor blade to trim off say 10 or 12 hoops. They then get coated in varnish and some need a little AC glue to tighten up the ends. This roil of tape will outlast my work by a century. The uncut tape stays on the dowel so I have about 4 diffewrne sizes waiting for the next job......sound familiar? 8,9,10 show my low-tech use of a mini mill to drill more accurate holes. Three images are the pear wood I chose for the jaws getting drilled for monofilament simulated bolts and the gaff band holes. View 4 is a foresail mast peal halyard ring getting drilled to hold a halyard block. all for now...first snow is predicted, let's see if it happens

6b continued review of planning for work on deck Thank you again Wefalk. I continue on a fun search. Continuing to review images and to try to determine what to build is a fun part of this work. I may not get it all right, but at least I try. The first two Museum photos from the net: 1-2-3 here is a view over the deck from the bow. Second is a blow up of the port side mid deck and bulwark at the museum followed by a cropped version. In this image, the inside face of the raised ribs is oiled or stained or whatever. The rib sides only are painted white with the inside of the bulwark strakes. Then there is a continuous oiled “shelf” with black iron supports on many but not all the frames. I assume the shelf doubles as the pin rail where needed. The 1950 plan I have concurs with this assumption. The third image carries to the transom. My plan is to follow this approach. We’ll see how it goes. 4-5-6 view of deck from the stern with blow up and cropped version showing again a stained face of rib and no small deck between the stem and cat head. This view also confirms my choice to use a darker wood for the deck material. Anyway the journey is fun and learning the stories that go with this build is more to my purpose. I read Amundsen’s book and now am reading Sverdrup’s adventures. I find it hard to imagine living on one of these boats for 3 years. Progress 7-10 here the bulwark goes in plank at a time. In the first two images I use strips to create the continuous scupper, The 4th image shows starting the delicate job to paint the inside of the bulwarks and sides only of the ribs white,

13B Standing rigging done I have been working to get the standing rigging and spars all done, so as my daughter comes for Thanksgiving, we might have fun making sails. Her friend flew in from Arizona, so we have two helpers…oh boy. 1-3. The first three images are overall views just to record we are done. The main back stay on starboard is aft as we will display the schooner sailing on starboard tack. Without any sails up and sheets and preventers holding things down, it is the only line holding it all rigid. 4 -5 show the foremast starboard side all secured. next up of course are the ratlines. 6-7 show the bow sprit. This sprit was only added for racing. The foot ropes need to be completed. I have the furling tie offs. A detail I learned about while visiting Bluenose II. The planks to catch the sail and the preset lanyards to secure the sail make lots of sense. This rig is a racing rig as the scene to be set is the first elimination race against the Henry Ford , October 13,1922 When not racing the bowsprit was not even rigged as she was launched to be a knockabout schooner. 8. just a tease as the first sail is progressing through the assembly line. I need to finish up all the spars, so they are ready when the sails get done. This sequence of rushing to secure and fasten everything is not a great sequence if rework is to be avoided. Once the patterns are done and test fitted for adjustments to allow sail making, there will be some disassembly needed. that will come in the next update. cheers

Dear Wefalck It is always an honor to get someone with your experience to drop in. I appreciated getting your thoughts and have spent the Holiday both eating too much turkey and musing on the idea of chromium oxide green paint. I went online to look it up and could see that your call is surely righter than mine. Over the last few days, I have surfed the net looking at many more Gjoa images. Here are a few from my growing collection that led to where I am.... and I am actually “sitting on the fence”. 1 here is an image of the artist paints of chromium oxide green. I can just see the 19th century coming off the page. 2 here is another outside image of the museum painting....without funny lights 3-4 here are two internet images of paintings that show green and reddish strakes. In one clearly light green in the other is in shadow. 5-6 here is a black and white image from San Francisco. I believe it was as they were loading her on to the ship to return to Norway. That paint was clearly fresh, but considering this second Getty internet image from 1903, might have been more right....thus my fence sitting. So what to do? My limited experience with the likes of Mystic Seaport and other US museums is to trust their selection. I agree with you that in pictures with the museum lighting are interesting to say the least. So as of now I am not set in stone but tentatively moving ahead with my two colors. I want to be clear it is not because I feel I know anything about Norwegian painting 1880-1900. I look to the Fram Museum choices and attempt only be reasonable to follow their work. I would love to visit there but wow it is there! Was the San Francisco white paint the correct image...I have no idea. I could still paint over the red strakes. I suppose I could get the more historic green too. Thanks for your insight. I always welcome advice. If you really think I should get a tube of chromium oxide green however, I could do that. Next up is to discuss the on deck painting scheme. jon