Atlantica by Wintergreen – Scale 1:30 - POF - sail training ketch - a smack of English heritage

[Wintergreen]

Well, I probably have to eat my hat for being so bold to state that the ice age soon would be over. I don't know if our weather news makes out of Sweden, anyway, the current state is that there is about 20cm/8" of snow in my garden. Temperatures has been in the -5 to -15 ballpark for the last weeks. There was quite a hola balo in the southern part of my country a couple of weeks ago when about 100 cars and lorries got stuck on a highway. They had to send in the forces with band wagons and stuff to evaquate people, leaving the vehicles for later. Just sayin.

 

Despite that, there has been progress on the planking saga!

Port side fully planked bar the bulwarks.

And some closeups before sanding and making it all pretty.

I've continued with treenailing port side and will soon be over and done with that too. Then there are three strakes on startboard before the sanding can begin.

That is for another day.

Pax et bonum!

[Jim Lad]

Very nice progress, Håkan!

 

Re your weather, I've heard it said that when the temperature gets down to zero, Swedish people put on a long-sleeved shirt in case it gets cool later on! 

 

John

[Wintergreen]

Thanks John!

That's about correct re the clothing. And at -10 we dig out our long-johns and ponder wether we should take the overcoat or just stay with the hoody 😄

The thing with Sweden is, it is a looong country. So people up in the north usually think the rest of us ar sissies when we complain about the snow being 2" deep.

It is of course complicated. One thing is that people down south are not used to drive in snow, so when it actually snows they are all over the roads and beyond. Where I live we get snow every winter more or less, and I enjoy driving in snow with the occasional corner drifting. Now I'm driving a new Toyota RAV4 and it is bullet proof when it comes to slippery roads. It makes other cars and drivers look like road snails ( there is probably a better english term than that). Don't be fooled though, I do drive carefully and seldom above my ability. Haha.

[FlyingFish]

Looks like you are close to getting the 'whiskey' plank in - or maybe you have some akvavit waiting to celebrate? Looking very good Hakan!

[Wintergreen]

Thanks Andy 🙂 

No aqua vit for me thanks. I prefer the strong distilled yelloish beverage from the highlands or the green island any day of the week.

Althoug I've tasted aqua vit a couple of times, it is no joy in drinking that stuff. I mean, just take a look at Will Ferrell explaining Swedish Xmas and singing "Helan går" (quick song to down the drink): https://youtu.be/wjcGAKU23Q

 

That said, it's the wisky plank for me. But it will have to wait until startboard side is done.

Cheers!

[KeithAug]

The planking is really well done Hakan - the hull looks very professional. As for the workshop - I have been giving mine a miss as the wall thermometer says 4.5 centigrade. It has been a bit cold out side but temperatures bounce back to plus 6c today, so the worksop may get more affection this week. 

[Wintergreen]

Finally, the end is near!

 

For the planking, that is. I am not a doomesday vigilante...

The wisky plank will soon go in. Yay! 🙂 

Port side is sanded, which the sharp eyed viewer can see. I thought that by painting the hull prior to sanding it would be easy to see the progress.

That turned out to be true. However, I did not dilute the acrylic paint very much and used it quite generously. Bad choice.

It led to clogging up the sandpaper. Of course; I probably could have thought that out before hand. But I didn't. So, when sanding the starboard side, I will not paint until the very end. With diluted paint. 

 

[Jim Lad]

A real day of celebration, Håkan!

 

John

[Wintergreen]

Thanks John!

Yes, it feels good. The wisky-plank goes in tomorrow. 

I caught a bit of a cold, so it is not only the sandpaper that's partially clogged up at the moment. 😕 Otherwise it would have been done today.

 

[KeithAug]

17 minutes ago, Wintergreen said:

partially clogged up at the moment.

I recommend Macallan Double Cask 15 year old. 

My son is in Malmo on Thursday and Friday - giving a medical lecture. Has the weather warmed up yet?

[Wintergreen]

11 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I recommend Macallan Double Cask 15 year old.

That would of course be nice. But at £140 it is slightly over budget... I'll search the liqouer cabinet for something appropriate instead. There is a selection of blended and single malts actually 😉 

Btw, has NHS validated that recomendation? Just curious 😄 

[Wintergreen]

To answer you other question @KeithAug, yes, the temperature has risen above freezing. It is that glorious 2-5 Celcius, with mostly overcast sky. Perfect weather for cranking up the heat and do some modelling. I called in sick today as well. Not very common standard by me. But I have one of those high demand IT-jobs and thought it better if I just called it quits instead of messing something up. To draw bamboo for treenails doesn't take that much thinking 😉 

 

[Mirabell61]

Very nice planking job Hakan,

 

Nils

[Wintergreen]

Thank you @Mirabell61.

I think it will be even prettier when sanded 😉

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

I think it will be even prettier when sanded

Hakan - how thick are the planks - remember the intention isn't to revert to the lampshade plan

[KeithAug]

8 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

There is a selection of blended and single malts actually

I hope it's not Lagavulin. Islay whiskeys all taste like cough medicine to me. It's all those phenolic compounds from the peaty water. I remember some very bad headaches from my sailing trips to Port Ellen.

[Wintergreen]

@KeithAug, the planks are 2.1 mm, plenty of wood before the fallback to lampshade needs to be engaged.

 

And about the cabinet, I can glad you then that the current state of the cabinet is 1x Irish and 4x Scottish plus a couple of VSOP brandies for the wintery days. No Islay malts as long as the eye can see. However, despite your own experiences I like a decade old Bowmore.

But head-ache you say, could it be the weather?

In Sweden we (not me, not fond of it) have theses "Kräftfest" (cray fish parties) in August. On the menu is the Aqua vit, crayfish and white bread (like the french baguette). The funny thing is that people seriously blame the headache on the crayfish, not remebembering how many "snaps" they downed 😄 

[KeithAug]

I spent a rather uncomfortable afternoon in the large bay just off the Bowmore Distillery. It was rather windy and the bay (although shallow enough to anchor) doesn't offer much protection. About 8pm we abandoned the anchorage and set off on a very cold trip to Port Ellen. What I remember most was the cheese and fresh chilli sandwiches that were served just after our departure. They made a cold, overcast and miserable evening quite bearable. We arrived at Port Ellen too late for the pub.

I much prefer the Speyside whiskeys - much more mellow. I do have a bottle of Chivas Regal 12 years in the cabinet but blended whiskeys can't really be counted as proper Islay spirits.

Edited January 30 by KeithAug

[Wintergreen]

Calling in sick has its advantages on modelling time... but it does not help the revenue, so I'll go back to work tomorrow. Feeling way better today than yesterday. I even fell asleep mid-day yesterday. I normally don't do that. "What so special about that? I do that every day", I hear you say. Well, I'm not THAT old yet. 😄 

 

Thanks for all the likes in my humble build log.

 

Wisky plank is in!

And all treenails are in.

Hull i sanded, painted, and sanded down through 100/120/180/240 grit. Yes, there are seams still open. Yes, you can see individual planks. Yes, it is not a museum quality piece. In fact, I will try to weather it a bit to go with the less than meticisously perfect hull. 

And I thought this image looked cool:

Look @KeithAug, I did not turn it into a lamp-shade material!

Next up... hm, two things, 1. rudder shaft and rudder. Need to find the drawing and print according to scale. And 2. Drill for prop shaft. Needless to say, they will be done in reverse order...

Pax et bonum!

[KeithAug]

It looks pretty good to me. As a lamp shade it is a fail.

[FlyingFish]

Congratulations on the Whiskey plank Hakan - Looks wonderful. You have earned that dram!

[Wintergreen]

Thank you gents!

Keith, I am glad that you finally dropped that shady idea 😉 

[Mark Pearse]

That's wonderful Håkan

 

It's a very nice hull shape, the water exit lines are sweet.

[Wintergreen]

Thank you @Mark Pearse, too kind 🙂 

 

So, drilling for the prop shaft then... or probably arboring, right?

It seemed from the plans that the shaft is parallell to the keel. That's convenient. So I dreamed up a small contraption to get hight and angle (mostly) right.

With a sharp drill bit I bore away. 

It came almost at right height. Lucky me I'm not installing an engine. The surface where it surfaced is the mizzen mast step. There was a neat little cavity to step the mast in. That cavity is a fair bit bigger now, and makes for easier stepping. You have to look on the bright side of life 😉

If you think that the interior has somekind of shine to it, it is correct. I brushed on a layer of lacquer, water based. Another thing you can admire is the tight to no gaps between the planks. It seems I made something right during planking 😄 

 

(no, I am not being humble today. This cold I got really doesnt wanna give in, so I trying my best to keep the spirits high. No @KeithAug , not THOSE spirits!)

 

 

Pax et bonum

Edited February 1 by Wintergreen

[Jim Lad]

I bet there was a lot of double checking of the alignment before you started drilling, mate!

 

John

[Wintergreen]

8 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

I bet there was a lot of double checking of the alignment before you started drilling, mate!

 

John

John, part lucky, part preparation and part a long true, sharp drillbit.

With the jig I got a good aim longitudinally. Elevated aim could have been better as it shows. But I am not too concerned about that.

[KeithAug]

14 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

It came almost at right height.

The more you practice the luckier you get.

[Wintergreen]

7 minutes ago, KeithAug said:

The more you practice the luckier you get.

That's a quote from the Swedish alpin legendar Ingemar Stenmark, who upon the question why he always seemed to be "lucky" ie not bailing out during runs and so, replied with "I know nothing about luck. But the more I practice the more luck I seem to have". 🙂 

[wefalck]

I am always amazed watching videos of full-time construction how they manage to come out at the right location, when they drill deep holes ...

 

I think in the old days they used augers or 'canon-drills', rather than spiral drills. The former have less tendency to wander.

[Wintergreen]

I agree @wefalck, if you haven't already, look up the Tally Ho rebuild on youtube. The documentation is superb and I was especially impressed when one of the shipwrights drilled holes for the fastenings for the chainplates. All holes were at different angles and he managed to hit spot on every time. 
I learned from a fellow of mine, his job is to drill in concrete, that using drill bits (or augers) with four flanges(?) makes for straighter holes. Which confirms your thesis also.