Syren Disaster - moved by moderator

[Tigerdvr]

This afternoon I was working on the starboard hammock netting. Everything was going smoothly, I was in the groove. A happy time. Then I reached for the glue bottle and as I brought the bottle past the Syren's bow with my eyes on the target rather where my hand was moving, my hand caught the bow below the figure head. The ship launched out of the construction cradle and flipped away from me landing upside down about eight inches away. All my shocked little eyes could see was copper plates.

Fortunately my heart surgeon did a great job last year so I was alright. I took a deep breath and gently returned the brig to the construction cradle. After checking everything, the only damage was the port side stern chaser had broken loose, an easy fix.

All the other details are intact, thank goodness. I guess the little brig is built strong.

I will definitely be more careful in the future.

 

Cheers, Harley

[realworkingsailor]

Thankfully it's more of a

 

 

Rather than an

 

Andy

[lamarvalley]

Lucky man Harley, lucky man. I mean really, no one wants a crash but I think you could rename the thread the "Syren Oops". Lesson learned and not too tooooo costly eh? Imagine if she had landed 8 inches away .. in mid air then... disaster central! Oh lordy... Look away sir... look away!!!

[Trussben]

Glad the damage was not extreme! Murphy was not with you I guess!

 

Ben

[druxey]

Whew! It's amazing what can happen in a split second of inattention or distraction. That, I'm glad to read, was NOT a disaster this time.

[4whelr]

Having dropped my ship, it was not nearly as far along as yours, I know that feeling of "OH NOOOOO"!

Glad yours was followed by, "WHEW, thank goodness it wasn't any worse"!

Happy to hear the damage wasn't worse and it is an easy fix!

Eddie

[NAZGÛL]

Oh, glad it didnt get worse!

 

/Matti

[popeye the sailor]

I did that with the Gothenborg.......a few cracks here and there,  and broke the bow stem clean off.   glad to hear the damage was minor, luck was on your side 

[hamilton]

I guess "phew" doesn't really cover it! I've had my share of mis-steps - hand getting caught in rigging, normally....always a cause for alarm, even when the damage is minimal! Lucky your incident didn't case more mayhem

hamilton

[Rustyj]

Oh I'm so glad there was just minor damage. Whew. My Syren decided to take a

unscheduled trip and landed on the bow. Snapped the fully rigged bowsprit,

head rails, bumpkins etc.

 

[augie]

As you can see, we've just about all had our moments of terror.  A blink, cough or distraction and .......BAM!  Heck, Knocked off my dolphin strikers weeks after rigging the bowsprit.  What a mess.

 

Glad the damage to your baby was repairable.  

[lb0190]

Such a close call! I'm glad the damage was minor.

[michael mott]

Glad your minor lapse of attention did not result in more surgery! Yes we all have these moments knocked the gaff onto the floor today, fortunately it landed on the unfinished leather glove.

 

Michael

[S.Coleman]

Maybe some sort of magnet system to hold the ship ridged while in the cradle to help with accidental knocks. As others have said " it dose happen every now and then" Glad nothing major had happend.

[dafi]

My vic alost once took an escape towards the left through the small gap between window and the banister as I was using still the original heller stand ...

 

... I immediately gave it a solid heavy slipway where it is well fixed to avoid further fugativ tendencies ...

 

800_victory-rope-walk_7689.jpg

 

800_victory_1_7606.jpg

 

One lucky ranging shot from fate is truly enough! No need to challenge it twice.

 

XXXDAn

[DSiemens]

That is the worst feeling in the world watching your ship turn in the air knowing that only doom awaits.  Good think she turned out ok.  

 

I've dropped my ships a couple dozen times but at my scale they typically don't take much if any damage.  I have on occasion though lost a well placed poorly glued anchor or cannon to Davy Jones Carpet.  

[hollowneck]

I'm glad the damage was only minor.

 

Everyone who has been in this hobby for a while has had an "oops moment!" My worst (so far - as to not invite the shipwreck Syrens), came when I was loading my Mercury into the back seat of my car. I'd measured the opening carefully. No problems; the complete, rigged model will sit nicely on the rear seat, on a cradle. I even cushioned the ride with pillows on either side of the hull  (yes, my wife knows I borrowed them). 

 

I got to where I was going (a ship club meeting) just fine. I carefully removed the pillows, threw them in the trunk. I was feeling confident, smug even. Made it this far from home, what can possibly happen? I'm certainly not going to drop it. In a split second of inattention, as I carefully slid the ship off the rear seat, the top of the main mast clipped the door frame and the topmast down to the top snapped right off! Rigging went limp. Many will know what this looks like. I actually closed my eyes for a moment and winced, wondering what repair job awaited me.

 

I took it into the meeting and with zen master steadiness (I held my breath), I carefully placed the end of the broken mast where it snapped-off and I swung it up and leveraged it into position. Voila! The mast centered itself on the break, the split wood aligned perfectly and all the rigging went taut. There wasn't even a break mark on the mast and - believe it or not - I didn't have to glue anything. Not one line needed attention (of many).

 

It's 2 years since then and I haven't touched the broken mast since and I believe only one person knows what happened: me. I'm sure this doesn't happen that often. And, yes - I do thank The Force every so often for my good fortune.

 

Ron

[tarbrush]

Harley,

the picture you included of your Syren is stunning!  I found your build log now and am really impressed and glad you didn't suffer worse damage with your recent ooopps.

 

It happens to us all for sure, That Murphy guy never sleeps and he has so much fun at my house.

 

I have thought about posting this story since it happened but was never sure where to post it, it fit so many of the different topics.

It could have gone under, worst thing that has happened to you. But no, it wasn't worse than than the time I cut the tip of my index finger off.

Or it could have gone under, things you hate to do, who is the most untidy builder,  why do builds fail.  It was a perfect storm.  A perfect Murphy storm.

 

I was working on a model of the galleon San Salvador. One bug-a-boo of modeling to me is drafting frames.  Hate it.  I had drafted the frames from the stern to mid-ships and was in the process of making the frames.

 

My admiral came in to the shop one day and looked at the 20 gallon fish aquarium over my build bench and mentioned that might be a disaster waiting to happen.  I think, "nah"  but it begins to worry me so I decide to drain the aquarium and move it out of my shop. 

Naturally you move everything away from the area before you begin to drain the aquarium.  After bailing out most of the water I am carrying the aquarium, when my untidiness catches up with me, trip spill.  Where?  Of course, onto where I moved the frame drafts to.  Lovely. What are the counter tops in my shop made of?  Medium density fiberboard, which just loves to soak up water.  It was truly a dismal moment.

[clipper]

I had been prepping the hull of my Billings SEADLER model. a ship the same size as their Danmark. I had primed, sanded primed again etc etc and was ready to start spraying the final coats. I came home with my new Badger airbrush kit, compressed air tanks, thinners, paint, masking tape, everything in fact to complete this phase of the build that I had lovingly created thus far. On arriving home at my grandmothers large house where my mother and siblings also lived, I was stunned to find that the completed hull (less paint) was not on the shelf to greet me as per usual. My dear aged mother gesticulated wildly to the bathroom and I ran in guessing what scene I was going to meet. There was my moronic 26 year old twin brother kneeling at the side of the FULL bath prodding away at the hull of my model trying to make it stay upright. this model had open portholes and every time it tipped over I had visions of the internal parts of the hull soaking up water. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Not only was the idiot completely oblivious to the risks involved (mainly springing of planks)but he had the audacity to suggest feeing some of my fishing weights through the portholes to make it sit better in the water and not tip over. In abject horror I grabbed the model and a towel and hastily dried the model as best I could. Fortunately no lasting damage had been done but I was left with the knowledge that my twin was not quite the full package so to speak.

tony

[david]

I think at one point or another everyone building Syren has damaged some part of the ship. Reaching for the glue bottle is of course a classic and is almost a rite of passage. I have so far been lucky as the breakages were clean and easy to repair.

[Kevin]

god i hope i dont drop my Victory, it is heavy enough it would go through the concrete floor and bury it's self

[marktiedens]

Been there ,done most of these things.2 items of caution - don`t do rigging with long sleeves on & be carefull going through doorways.

[uss frolick]

In honor of the Siren's fateful final cruise, you could say that you "Met the Medway", or "Pulled a Parker", after the British 74 that captured her, or her late ailing captain who died at sea.