Boothbay Schooner ADA CLIFF 1918 by Jond - 1:48 - three-masted schooner

[Jond]

 

Revision to the beginning and name of build

 

I need to change the direction of the hull started in the first post and alter it to make the schooner the Ada Cliff. 

 

There were two similar schooners built in Boothbay in 1917. One in Boothbay Harbor and one in East Boothbay. Ada Cliff has been recorded to be 149 feet and the Priscilla Alden is apparently recorded at two different lengths.   The local records all show 142, but a Boston based reference suggests 154.  The Ada Cliff was a more standard schooner as per her pictures, built to spec for coal. She became the design basis of several four masted schooners built in the boom years that followed.  There is no remaining half model or drawings for Ada Cliff  that the late Jim Hunt was able to find in his research, but several photos for reference. More on that later

 

I started off using a generic hull form described in the first post below.  I then was able to find more references to the Priscilla Alden. Those references including surviving drawings showed a much sleeker hull.  I have decided to use the framing I made in the first post to build the Ada Cliff and will hold back and start a total new hull later on for Priscilla. That will also give me the opportunity to study more about the disparity in the length.

The following first post will lead  into Priscilla and the next post will bring us back to Ada

 

cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post 1

 

The beginning

 

The beginning to a new project can often be a bit risky.   For me at least I am typically a little tentative.  Will this be small or large scale, plank on frames or bulkhead model or a diorama?  In this case, I want to build a three masted Boothbay built coasting Schooner.   What is interesting is that I rushed into it and started making sawdust before fully sorting out my research.    First of all, I wanted to explore this design because after studying the bigger schooners, and learning firsthand the poor sailing aspects of the “too long” form, I wanted to get to what seems to have been the most reasonable solution.  That is 3 may have been better than 4.

 

Three masted Schooners a quick summary

•       The first 3-masted schooners evolved in the Chesapeake region around 1790

•       The three masts were adjusted to be the same height around 1850

•       1840-1865 full rigged ships looking for speed evolved into clipperships 

•       As steamships took over for long hauls, coasting schooners, with less labor costs, took on coastal routes

•       1865-1880 coastal trade blossomed as the US government required US flag vessels for inter-city trade

•       The coastline favored long narrow fore and aft rigs (like clipper) with small crews

•       Coastal schooner construction grew quickly, and the 3-masted fleet competed with steam ships along the coast 

 

These beauties became prolific in the decades after the civil War.  Then, as human nature and business models dictated, they grew until the sails became too big.   Then the plans changed, and a fourth mast was added to improve the sail handling and keep the sizes growing.  As we know that cycle repeated itself across Maine until we ended up with nearly ten 6-masted schooners and one steel hulled 7-masted schooner by around 1910. Then, except for the World War I short termed boom, steam took over  .

 

 

01a   Looking at the local Boothbay market, we learned that through this period schooners built here were prolific in the two masted fishing arenas. From 1873 to 1903, nine bigger schooners built. In East Boothbay, four masted Schooners were launched from the Adam’s yard in 1890 and 1903.  Jim Stevens, one of the area gurus, put together a story listing 21 3 and 4 masted schooners built on the peninsula. There was a complete void until in 1917, when  it all came back in a roar.

'

01b  In the main harbor in the year 1917 the Ada Cliff was being built at the I R Reed yard.  That year the Mayor of Sommerville, Mr Cliff himself, and lots of investors came, bought that yard, and built four 4-masted schooners over the next few years.   They took the partially built Schooner Ida Cliff lines and simply stretched them 40 feet in the middle and then added a fourth mast.  Anyway, someday I hope to build a diorama of all that stuff. It is not for this build.  What is of interest is that in 1917 the IDA Cliff was a 149 foot long three masted schooner and that was pretty much as big as they got. Just beyond the big roof in the phot, on the other side of the harbor, the Atlantic Company was set up and they built 6 more 4-masted schooners before then end of the era in about 1921.   More on that when I get back my next 4-masted build. 

 

I am now focused on East Boothbay.  I have selected a 1918 Schooner, the Priscilla Alden.  I chose after searching all the names on the list I had and found at Maine Maritime Museum an authentic copy of her sail plan to use as a basis. Their list advised the schooner to be.... Length 142.8’. Traced from Charles Sayle original by George S. Parker, 1982.

 

In that late year she was built at the end of the era of three masted schooners.   Those built later would have been an exception.  Fishing schooners continued to be launched into the 1930’s but three and four masted pretty much stopped in the early 1920’s in the post war era of steam.  The Priscilla Alden comes up in a few publications.  The late Jim Stevens of Boothbay wrote an informative article, Boothbay Schooners in Downeast Magazine published in Sept 1968.  At the end he listed Priscilla to be 142 feet.   I suspect with his working often with the Maine Maritime Museum that they shared sources and that is why they agreed.  It is the length I plan to build. 

 

A challenge was to find a hull plan big enough to use in cad to match up with the sail plan.   Here some artistic license in needed.  I found in the Maine Maritime Archive the hull lines for several three masted schooners.  One, the Kate Hilton  was built in Bath and had remarkably similar characteristics. She was 140 feet, so I chose her and down loaded the drawing.  

 

Maybe a False Start I thought that this data was enough information to go go go

 

 A month in and the local Historical Society has reopened for us hobbyist to come in and do research.  I signed up right away and this week went down to spend time going through several files.  Most important however was photocopied pages out of a book.   The book John Alden and His Yacht Designs written by Robert Carrick and Richard Henderson.  On pages 86-88 there is a set of plans that include, sail plan, lines, deck arrangement, cross section bow to stern as well as an amid ship cross section.    There is enough information here to build anything.   Unfortunately to scan the line drawings, approximately one inch square, and to blow them up in cad got a bit fuzzy mess.  I found the book on Amazon and await a better original for scanning. The problem I discovered however is they declare the schooner to have been much bigger.  WHAT???   We’ll see

 

So let’s start off with the steps I took to rough out and make bulkheads for a good start.

 

Design

 

• 02a here is the sail plan published by the Maine Maritime Museum.   There are dimensions on all the sails. There is a little variance[ between 1-2%] between vertical and horizontal found while measuring the image with CAD. 

 

• 02b   here is the source as printed on the drawing. Key word for me is blueprint.

 

• 03   here is the selected hull plan for Maine built schooner in the same size.   I made offsets from both the sail plan and the bull plan and in scale the difference was the sail plan forward shear line rises about 1/8^th inch higher than the hull plan.  That is close enough for me.  Maybe when I get there, I add that 1/8 inch in…we’ll see

 

• 04   here is the source of the kate hilton hull lines

 

• 05   here is the Jim Stevens chart from the 1968 article in Down East magazine.  It clearly shows Priscilla to be 142 feet.  Of more interest is the low tonnage.   IDA Cliff at 149 feet built the same year in the main Harbor was 25% heavier [ volume that is] as she was made for maximum coal transport.  Priscilla was lighter and most likely a faster sailor.       More on this argument later

 

• 06   here I have laid out the cross sections the rectangle that will be used to support the bulkheads to the building board, making the waterline 4.4 inches above the board.   That will come in handy at the time of marking the water line.

 

• 07   here all the layers are turned on for the forward sections. 

 

• 08   here is what the pattern looks like for one of the bulkheads.  The keel/keelson slot is important to the assembly. I did not sit for a while and add the extra cut line for the planking thickness. It takes me much longer that striking a line by eye .  

 

• 09   the patterns are all glued to a simple Luan plywood from Lowe’s.  They are ready for cutting out . I will adjust later for the thickness of the planks.  

 

All for now

---

 [jd1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Jond
Typo

[Jond]

Post 2

 

Assemble the bulkheads and start the design for the bow and stern.

 

In this posting I share the process to assemble and get ready to build out the transom and bow.  I can take advantage of reusing many leftover parts from earlier builds.   I have several build boards that remain in the attic. 

• 10   in this view we see all the cigar boxes filled with bulkhead stops and screws from my earlier BHOD and Charles Notman builds.  Having these already was nice. But the idea is to prepare all parts first and not as you go.  The other step is to mark a 1/16” inner line on the edge of each bulkhead to allow for the planking. I then quickly and easily sand off this material, so hopefully the final shape of the planked hull is right, I find this process faster than trying to make the line in Cad.  That is a choice.”
• 11   in this view one can see the build board.  When scaling the hull to 142 feet we find the bullheads are at 1.42 inches.  That number like the .70 inches in the vertical grid is nuts to convert to fractions and lay out.  I simply made a full-scale grid in cad and printed it out and pasted it to the building board.  I then cut out a supply of spacers and using the square and a few clamps get it all square in the middle section.
• 12    here is the cad template for the bow stem. I cut this out as the keel in ¼ “poplar.
• 13    here is the template for the stern post.
• 14    here all the station bulkheads are in, braced and the two end posts are set into the keel. the strip for the keel extends both ways to be made fast in the end supports. I chose to cut up all the final remaining stops so after this build I will not have three cigar boxes to store again….smile
• 15   here we are all glued up

 

 

• 16    in this view we see the square aluminum tube that extends the length of the keel with strong clamps to hold it as straight as one can during gluing.  

all for now

[Jond]

Post 3

 

It’s time to decide how long this schooner model is supposed to be.

 

I listed above the information that clearly showed this build had been planned  to be 142.66 foot on deck Schooner. after reading that it might have been a 154 foot schooner, I used  the sail plan from the museum to try to determine the right length.  It had sail dimensions and I measured them all.  The horizontal dimensions, when scaled to 142 feet, were off by 2.5-3.5% consistently.   The vertical dimensions were off by 1 – 2%.  

So, maybe  the paper stretched.  Who knows?   My first thought had been to ignore that MIT catalogue and to go with the 142 as listed both by Maine Maritime Museum and Jim Steven's Downeast magazine article. If I took the maximum, I would add 3% or just over 4 feet.    But 154 feet listed by MIT?  I cannot just ignore it even though the late Jim Stevens of East Boothbay in my opinion had to been right.

 

 

The Book   that stopped me!!  

• 17   oh the book    here it is . it references the hart Museum and on their website they confirm the 154 feet on deck

The sail plan in the book was shrunk for better publishing fit. There is no dimension nor scale indicated.   I put it in cad and scaled it to be like the sail plan from Maine Maritime.  I tried multiple methods for comparing and not much comes out right.  If am right, the plans from Maine Maritime and MIT do not seem to align.  An example was to scale the two-sail plans for the same deck overall length. I then measured separations of the three masts and came up different.  I think I am working too hard and need to come up with a solution before I restart a new hull for Priscilla Alden.   The issue now is what to do with the hull I have roughed out as a start to this build?  

 

Before deciding, I made a few more comparisons. First up was the transom

• 18   here is the Kate Hilton section showing the transom. Roughly a 30-degree angle and 1.5 inches or six feet

 

• 19   here I take the station for the transom and stretch it to the measures 1.5  inches to make a pattern.

 

• 20   here is the section on the scaled Priscilla plan from the book. The angle is roughly 45 and the and the slanted height nearly 2 inches or 8 feet,

 

• 21   Here we see the difference in stretching the transom station to the new height.

 

• 22    I got a great image of Priscilla from the Boothbay Region Historical society

 

My final comparison was to take the photo from the historical society and scale it to the 142 feet. I then traced the profile in green.

• 23   here is the result of the photo traced in green and the drawing traced in dark blue. [ the photo is cut off at the waterline]  They are not the same schooner as the under image of the Kate Hilton hull.

So……..

 Let’s look at the Ada Cliff. She was built at almost the same time over in the main Boothbay Harbor.   She was recorded to be 149 feet. She was a production made schooner made for the coal trade. The owners built multiple schooners.   In my research a few years back with the late Jim Hunt, we understood there are no surviving drawings or half models, around here anyway, that represent any of the big schooners built between 1917 and 1922.  The owners were mostly from Boston, so if half models existed, they probably became artifacts of the various investors.  I am planning to proceed by building the Ada Cliff based on the hull from Bath of the Kate Hilton and the few surviving photos of Ada before launching.    I have already changed the name of the build, so I am determined to make it work.

 

 

Next up I need to adjust what I have to form the new length of 149 feet.

Cheers

[Jond]

Post 4

 

Yes, I am really going to stretch the model to achieve the new length.  

 

I start off with a few images of Ada Cliff.

 

• 24   here from the internet is reportedly an image of her sailing toward us.  It came from a website of a railway modeler who started off to build a model of her.  The string seems to disappear, so I have no idea if a model is out there.  

 

• 25    this famous image is all around the town here in Boothbay. I have a high resolution from the Boothbay Region Historical Society that will allow some blow up investigations.  This photo shows the three masted Schooner Lillian Wooddruff being launched in East Boothbay in 1899. She is proudly perched in the yard of what most recently was the Lobster Dock Restaurant.   As mentioned earlier, the hand me down nature of the design aspect of these schooners [ shipwright to ship wright] leads us to consider looking at these photos and merging the results.  There are features that change but the main elements are consistent.
•  
• Mr Cliff was mayor of Somerville MA and had a house full of co-investors.   One of the reasons I like Ada Cliff so much is the story that she was used for the design of what became four each four masted schooners that followed her in the boom years. There is another view from the land side in an earlier posting.

 

• 26   here is another image of her sailing away. I will be going back to the historical society and will find I am sure more relevant information.

 

Now to grow 7 feet longer

 

I chose to use the same method the investors used when the deigned the first 4 masted schooner as Ada was finishing up.  I will cut in the middle, add 7 feet [1.75 inches] and move the stern aft.

 

• 27   shows the placement of the “cut”.

 

• 28    here we have the magic of Cad allowing a revised layout of the building board.  I simply moved all the stations aft and added in a mid-bulkhead to fill the void.

 

• 29      here I have removed all the stations. A little damage occurred, but I have no worries as they all made it.

 

• 30    here the first half of the revised lay out is pasted in place.

 

• 31    here we see the building board all ready. A little tight on the transom , more study needed there.

 

• 32     here the stations are reset ready for spacers and re gluing.

 

Next up we need to finish the re bracing and regluing to get back to where we were before learning about the BOOK.

 

cheers

Edited July 18, 2021 by Jond
correction on photos

[Michael_A]

Jond, such a beautiful choice of a boat and the historic photos really add interest to the overall project. I am guessing when the schooner was fully loaded it would sit quite a bit lower in the water? I figure your hull is about 36" long at this point? I enjoy these larger scale builds.

[Jond]

Michael

welcome aboard.    The hull on deck when adjusted should be 37.25  which scales to 149 feet.  I try on all my builds , as I focus on the ship building of the town here in Maine, to include what research I can.   I always welcome suggestions and questions.  

 

 

cheers 

 

jon 

[Jond]

Post 5

 

Update on resizing and building the stern.

 

I realized that to properly build the stern I needed to extend the building board. One advantage of this large scale and the stability of the bulkheads is that I saw no movement when I released the aft keel end post.   I simply inserted a scrap piece of pine the same thickness and reset the end post.  

• 33    here we are extending the building board. The pattern for dead wood and sternpost is laid in.  a note is that after looking at the Ada Cliff photos, I decided that the transom was clearly closer to 8 feet than the 6-foot dimension on the older Bath drawings. 

 

• 34    here I used the aluminum box to hold all straight as I screwed the end post back into the building board and the small plywood square splice block.

 

Now I can go ahead and build up the stern.  Since this is a bulkhead model, I can shape a block that is so much easier than the frame building I just did on Ernestina.   I will save that joyous exercise for another build.

 

• 35    in this view, I have taken some scrap pieces of Alaskan yellow cedar that I am using to rebuild my front porch. It is beautiful wood to work with and I plan to keep all the useful scraps for the model shop.

 

• 36    now I added in a transom station and dry fit the parts.

 

• 37    here is the glue up to the transom station.

 

• 38    I have added a 1/16^th piece of sacrificial plywood to act as the template for the future transom planning.   I also need to fair things to fit the planking.

 

Now for the bow stem I simply added in some scrap balsa to help provide a better shape and give more surface to glue the curving planks.   I have done this in pine on previous builds and thought this choice might be easier.  We’ll see.

 

 

• 39    here are the blocks with rough fairing underway.   Not too much sanding.   I then need to carve the bow stem for the rabbit need to receive the planks. the "Bearding line" I think

 

All for now

 

[Jond]

Post 6

 

Complete deck shear line planks

 

I have to admit that I am going back and forth between drawings of schooners and playing with the few photos to make some of the design decisions needed to move forward.   One example is to identify the location of the forward end of the poop deck.   In the 1894 build of the Charles Notman it was unusual and went up forward past the main mast.  That was found to be not a great engineered solution and was quickly abandoned.  The 1917 Priscilla Alden plans that have survived are the general basis of the logic I am using.    All that being said, the point is we are building a bulkhead model and need to be sure to eliminate the bulkheads at the deck level before planking where possible.

 

Using the Priscilla Alden plan, the poop deck ends just forward of the mizzen mast.   The fore deck is raised just forward of the fore cabin.  The foremast is in the middle of that cabin, so one would go forward stepping down to the fore deck.

 

• 40   here we see just forward of station18 we need to add the deck shear plank.   I let the poop deck shear plank run past for now.

 

• 41  up forward the foredeck rises at statin 4.

 

• 42   now I need to fill in and complete the planking between the two shear lines.  Note I left the planking run past  and cut out the bulkhead behind it and left it loose   I can connect and fill in with stanchions much later in the build .  

 

• 43    in this view we see I have placed spacers to maintain the right space between planks so I can fill them in later

 

• 44    here we have completed the four-plank strip making up the two shearlines of the main deck level and raised deck level

 

I probably did the extension of planking for future connection because it will make a much stronger model.  Perhaps a carry over from my radio sail days.  These 1/16” poplar planks will be quite strong.   I do not plan to use resin on the outside because I want to see the planking through the white paint. I am not sure yet how much of the bulkhead I will cut out after I turn the model right side up and start the deck.

 

Next up is to figure a planking plan

[Jond]

Post 7

 

Planking plan

 

This story is lengthening as I have some false starts.  The root cause of the issues is having no real plans I am combining photos with a bath-built hull drawing of an 1884 schooner.   The impact of my false start is the highly visible stern section.  We will get to the oops but first the plan.

 

In my last Pinky build, I went through the lessons learned at the NSJ conference in New Bedford, where we had a  great presentation on planking.  I followed THE process the best I could and had a reasonable conclusion.   My previous large hulls were for RC. That means the hull planking was only a substratum for fiberglass and as three of my builds show, it is fast using 1/8” cedar planks and sanding away.   This time it is a large hull and I want the planks to show through the paint a bit.  That still allows a few errors to be hidden and for a reasonable rate of work.  Sloppy glue will be sanded and painted by example so good old strong wood glue can be used.

 

A major issue will be how to deal with the bulkheads once I complete the outside and turn the model over to start the deck.  So, what are we trying to achieve?

 

• 45  here is a newspaper photo of the Schooner Anna Laura McKenney build a few hundred yards away from Ada at the same time.  She was completed in December of 1917 when a major freeze came to Boothbay Harbor. Everything was frozen. They could not launch her for a month.

 

• 46   the point of showing her is in this grainy blow-up detail of the planking.  This photo shows that the size of the planks are clearly less than 12 inches.   Based on the experience of seeing Ernestina Morrissey being rebuilt on the exact location over the last few years is that 9 inches is a good average to use in the planking.  Thus, for the first conclusion the maximum planks will be 3/16^th in scale.

 

I plan to use 1/16” thick planking without laborious thickness sanding.  The first reason is strength.   I want the opportunity to dig out much of the interior bulkheads in case I take that path.     The second reason is there is so much planking I want to be more productive and less worried about each placement. There is then plenty of meat for sanding. 

 

Next up is figuring out the bands

 

• 47   here we have the table of calcs to figure and simplification of plank production.  If one sees the box its numbers advise the size of a plank for each zone.  It is possible that for most of the planking, since it is so straight, that with more simplified tapering vs each plank spiled we can get there.  I am sure at the bow and stern are will we the take off method and spiling of planks out of ¾ “blanks.

 

• 48    jumping ahead in what became a false start.   I am adding a few tapered planks to the stern.  The transom in this photo is also being planked.   The three bands are separated by twine. This string option was described in the NJR conference, and I have adopted it.  I like that it allows easier adjustment than the use of wood battens.

 

• 49    here we are doing the easy stuff at the bow.   I had to do the other [ port] side twice to get the two sides to come together at the bow sprit.

 

•    50    well here we are post covid back at our monthly guild meeting.  We even had lunch.   My schooner skeleton is there about to get creamed.   It seems using string for setting up bands makes one think there is no fairing going on.  The old-style batten is the way to go they mostly said.  More important was the consensus that my first attempt to put the right size transom on the old, designed hull was an un lofted failure.  I am truly glad they trashed my first attempt.

 

 Some time we need our peers to clobber us.  I am back to the shop and already part way through the restart.  The issue is with the enlargement of the transom [ height that is] I ended up with the two planks that I set on the stern area below the shear planks, reducing to the last station 24 and then flaring back out to get around the transom……oops  that what was rejected, and they were right.

 

Next posting we will document the problem and the fix.  I do not agree with them on the string however as I understand it is not the same process as the batten fairing that precedes it. 

 

Cheers

[allanyed]

Hi Jon,

Your upside down build board set up for a schooner makes a ton of sense compared to using cradles and lifting the model when putting in the lower planking.  Super idea.

Allan

[Thistle17]

Oh, the scrutiny of our peers! You take the feedback with such a healthy attitude. That, plus your skill will see you through.

Joe

 

[Jond]

Alan 

 

good to hear from you

 

I learned the method at Wooden boat school many years ago when I went there with my son for a vacation treat of building two Marblehead racing yachts.   I have used it on several other larger scale builds .  it saves so much effort.

 

cheers 

 

jon 

[Jond]

Joe

thanks for the sympathy    yes we need to show our work and we need the critical eye and open comments to keep us improving.   I have gone past the problem with adjusted stations and will catch up on the log in a bit.

 

thanks

 

jon 

[Jond]

Post 8

 

Fixing the stern again

 

My effort to stretch the plans a bit to make the stern more like the photo of Ada went too far. So, what did I do, what went wrong and how to fix

 

• 51    here in a blow up of one of the photos of the 1899 Lillian Woodruff we see maybe 8 feet [ 2 inches in scale ]and the angle is closer to the 45 degrees than the 60 degrees of the bath Schooner plans.  I made the transom based on this photo. 

 

52     and   

 

 

• 53     looking down and then across we can see the extra dip and twist of the planking that was not faired to the combined new transom….oops  that mistake was picked up by my colleagues.  
•  

So how to fix?

 

• 54  playing back inside the cad plans  I added a rough polyline that split the difference between the original station 23 to the transom.  That blue line is bigger than station 24

 

• 55    I printed that drawing out and pasted it to scrap plywood

 

• 56      here I used the red Cross sections lines to properly align the new piece and glued it to station 24. This effort gives me more station bulkhead to fair

 

• 57    it became obvious I needed to do the same thing to station 23.  In this photo I had removed planking only from one side where the clamps are located

 

• 58    several days later , both sides are done and I am getting back into the swing of planking.  The dip is gone, so I guess we are OK

 

• 59     looking from the bow,  I am now working top and bottom bands toward the middle. 

 

I know from memory I will get to a point of no internal clamping if I complete both bands and then attack the middle.   So more to think about as we move along. I need to figure at what point in the curve do I want to be fitting the last planks where only rubber bands and other similar means hold the planks in place.   I prefer not to pin them but we are painting so maybe that will be OK too.

 

All for now

Edited July 18, 2021 by Jond

[Jond]

Post 9

 

Start the masts and continue planking

 

I found a few years back that I love using Sitka spruce to make large scale spars.  I bought a good supply and will be able to continue that practice. 

 

• 60    I started off this time by making a jig to hold the square cut strips to make that first corner cut. 

 

• 61    here that cut is made. I then carefully adjust the fence and make the three other cuts sliding the cut side on the table.

 

• 62    I chose to do the foremast first as it is the shortest. It fit in the middy lathe.   Yes, I am taking a short cut using the lathe to make round spars.  I agree with eh hand method in small scale but continue my ways.

 

• 63  here I have sinned again by selecting dowels for the other smaller spars.  Once they are shaped, stained, and all and sails are attached, I am comfortable that not using the spruce will be OK.

 

• 64   when it came to the two longer masts I needed to cut the below deck portion first to fit in the lathe.  I remember the difficulty with the bigger Bluenose spars, so being able to fit the rough cut stock in was particularly good news to me.

 

In the meantime, I peck away at the planking. Another sin is I am running longer planks and will cut in joints later. I do this to get a smother sweep.  

• 65   here we are at the beginning of the week getting close to completing the out two bands.

 

• 66    here is a progress update photo showing many of the spars are now roughly shaped and the planking coming along.

 

• 67    I can celebrate the first bands are done and the first plank of the center band is going in place. I hope to get through this stage before the summer outside schedule take over completely.

 

All for now

[Jond]

Post 10

 

Continue hull and spars and research on sails

 

I believe it is important to record where we combine ideas and sources especially when we are making it up as we go.  One of the best books for a Schooner lover is the  wonderful book  The Schooner Bertha L. Downs  by Basil Greenhill and Sam Manning.  A note on the cover also identifies this book as the anatomy of the Ship.    I love that because there is a running argument that a Schooner is not a ship. There are many other drawings by Sam Manning  and other information available through the Maine Maritime Museum of note too.  MMM in Bath, Me is a must stop for those that get up this way. Basil Greenhill has other great books too. Part of the fun of these builds is also the growth of the library .

 

• 68     The Book  retells the history of Schooners and then takes us through every detail of this wonderful vessel build around 1909 in Bath, Maine.  We need to remember that around this period,  the famous 6 masted Wyoming was launched, it was the end of the schooner building boom.   It was 7 to 8 years until 1917 when so many freighters were sunk by the German U boats, that people realized the resource of skilled people, materials and facilities in Maine to build many Schooners.  That combined need and supply source led to the boom in 4 masted schooners that lasted about 5 years. 

 

As I said earlier in the log, the Ada Cliff was used as a model for 4 four masted Schooners.  The only change to the first one was to add 40 feet and a fourth mast to the lines of Ada.  I repeat this because the detail of the four masted Bertha l. Downs is therefore very appropriate to compare with the three masted Ada Cliff.  I will not place lots of details from the book that I use in the log but will declare that masting and rigging is be based as follows.  I am copying the scaled sail plan of the other 1917 Boothbay Schooner Priscilla Alden and then checking it against the Bertha L Downs drawings . For spars and things there is no way to use the other information, so I use the cad scaled drawing for lengths of spars and sails  and the book for everything else.

 

• 70    here is an updated progress shot.  All the spars are roughed out and I am in the second stage of adding yokes drilling holes and thinking about cross trees.  I need to get more photos to determine the extent of painted spars too. 

When I studied the Charles Notman, built in 1894 in Bath, Me., they used jack stays for the topsails and not hoops.   That is similar in logic to using a spanker mast on a ship.  I note that Bertha  L Downs shows hoops on the upper masts so that is a way to go. 

Continuing spars

Now that I am using the details form the book I am able to get going.  First up I found I needed to take down all three lower masts to get to a smaller diameter. Second up is to start making all those little yokes.

• 71    I learned a while agio that to make straight little drill holes it is best to use a mill.  After learning that I found it natural to go over and set it up.

 

• 72     this also helps in glue up to be able to use pins to align the parts   I am using maple for the yokes. .

 

Start of sails

 

Sails take a long time. The first process is to develop a set of templates. That is all I am doing now.

 

• 73     here I have taken measurements from the Sail plan in Turbo cad and laid them out on a sheet of newsprint. I made simple coordinates. 

 

• 74    here is the detailed sail print from Bertha L Downs.   It is fun to check especially as they seem to be similar. When I measure the foresail and fore topsail, they are right on.   The head sails will be different and of course we are missing one mast.

Up next is Planning the middle band of planking

It is time to recheck everything and plan my attack.  As an amateur I can say I am ok if the bands on port and starboard are not perfect.   They are off on one side to the other about a 1/16 on average.  The bow is right on as I could look each time.  The stern is over a 1/16, so I need to fix that .    we will see how it goes next week.  I am sure as soon as July 4 arrives, we will slow right down though, so I do not have major expectations as when to celebrate the last plank.

 

All for now

Edited June 29, 2021 by Jond

[Jond]

Just a few updated photos as I started the final planks just before the holiday break.  Lots of sanding and scaping of glue ahead of me

 

cheers

 

 

 

[Jond]

Post 11

 

Complete planking

 

As most of us have learned the hard way there is no simple answer to hold that last few rows of planks in place.  I have learned to simply improvise as I go.

• 75     here I took a block and passed the string through the hull and clamped it to a bulkhead on the other side.  A little wedge and all is good.

 

• 76    here we are done for the lower section.

 

• 77     There were several areas that I thought to fill before sanding thus confirming my limited ability.

 Now I need to get those bulwark planks in place and not glue them to the bulkheads. I could have waited I suppose but I believe this is the right time to complete them.

• 78    I cut away the top corner of each  bulkhead and then used scrap and clamps top act as temporary stanchions.

 

• 79     I learned before that it is handy to get a prime coat on to better see what I am dealing with at this stage and not wait .  Before the paint that I razor cut along any joints that I filled as I hope to get enough joints showing through the paint to see the planking.

 

• 80     here the top bulwark plank is in place, sanded and primed.

Now to do the other side and add a second coat of primer

• 81to 83   
• 

 

• sanded and primed.   Now comes a few days of going over and adding a little filler where needed, sanding and trying to get a better grade before marking the waterline and painting the bottom. I also need to add many little cuts to show the ends of the planks after a sanding and before final painting.  

Next up I am working in parallel to get all the spars ready

 

All for now

[TBlack]

There are a lot of planks on that craft! Nicely done. An aside, I use wooden wedges to get those last planks in place.

Tom

[Jond]

Thanks Tom

 

it is always fun to get those last few planks installed

 

now the issue to ever get satisfied with sand and clean up to go ahead and paint.   

 

cheers

[Jond]

Post 12 

Think about hull painting and progress on spars

First up was our monthly Guild meeting in bath, City of ships.   

 

• 84     the tug sitting next to the Ada Cliff hull is awesome.   The detail amazing and yes it will motor around a pond this summer.   Thus another discussion of whether to sail Ada Cliff.

The group was kinder to me since I fixed the incorrect stern as reported last month.  They thought my idea of scratching little lines on the planks was nuts, as they would never be seen under paint.  One thought the planking on fast built coal schooners of 1917might not have been too perfect, so why take out all of the dents anyway. It shows there are many choices out there when deciding when to paint and more forward.   
As a follow up, my son visited and convinced me to buy my first airbrush.  It comes in a few weeks, and I will obviously need to practice some before using it.   Therefore…

• 85     here I am going over dents and things with more glazing putty and sanding vigorously after each coat of paint.   The hull is resting though with so many visitors as well I am therefore going ahead with the prework on spars and planning for sails

How to rig a large scale schooner….could it sail?

The milestone reached by completing the planking means many things need to be decided.  I want to share a photo from my 2015 model of Charles Notman.  It was a similar 1:48 scale Maine schooner. The big difference is I definitely built it to be an RC sailing schooner.   Let’s look at some of the decisions made to support that approach and see what I need to do now.  I do not plan to sail this model.

• 86     Charles Notman model foremast details.  There are many things to look at here and then decide if they are appropriate. Also, as all of us learn from our mistakes what improvements can I make 6 years later.

1.    Mast coloring and hoops.  As this was a RC model, I chose thin 1.5MM brass hoops.  They aged nicely and since it is a sailing model maybe OK. 
2.    The mast is Sitka Spruce stained dark.  it should have been dark only in the area of the hoops as the mast was greased there.  Having sailed on Bluenose II and seen many Maine Windjammers the mast is its natural color away from the greased areas.  Some are painted from the boom saddle down and cross ties up.
3.    Sails were sewn muslin.  There is lots of info advising anyone at this scale not to use cloth or sewing machines etc.    Since “Charlie” was a sailor, I still feel that gives it a pass.   I will not use cloth.  I hope to learn how to work with Silkspan on this go around.
4.    Turnbuckles.  I used brass tubes filed to make yokes and small machine bolts for the ends.  Obviously, half of the threads are not left handed, and they do not work.   They were painted Aluminum paint to give the galvanized look.   What I plan to do will be similar, I just hope a little better soldering etc.
5.    Balustrades.   One hundred plus and I turned them with files on a small lathe.  I assume the same and again just hope for a better consistency.  I have also become a little more selective in woods.  

 

So, let’s get started with the rigging plan for a static model. I still hope to get the running rigging right and that is a key interest I have.  We need to be able to keep the understanding of how these big elephant-like rigs worked with such a small crew.

• 87     first up is the boom saddle. I usually sin again and make these out of plywood. Drill the center hole and then sand the outside of the doughnut.

 

• 88     here I show what I am not going to do.  I struggled to find more of the 1.5 mm smash rings and came up with these. They are thicker!  Great for out of scale RC sailor.  They are going into storage.

 

• 89.     here is the start of what I hope works out.  I use 1/64 birch ply and cut strips.  I find the saw strips the bottom layer, so with that I dare not cut any narrower.  I will need to sand them down and I am not sure how narrow it will come out. 

 

• 90     here I have selected two sizes of tube to use for the hoops.   This schooner used them on the uppers as well.

 

• 91    now for all those little bands.  I learned this trick from a clipper ship log last year and it works.  This little box contains what I am told dentists used years ago for making inlay molds.  There are 14 diameters of thin copper tube.  One is on the tapered dowel by the X-Acto knife, I cut the bands by rolling it.  The bands then find a nice snug fit.  Occasionally for the smaller end we need to cheat and add a dab of glue. Once the annealed steel wire eye goes through the spar, all is secure.

 

• 92    here I am drilling through for the peak halyard hardware for the wire eyes.

 

• 93      here I am soldering the little rings to make up the linked hardware for the throat halyard

 

• 94     here we have a progress look as we work our way through the foresail spars.  For look only I put three of the old brass smash rings like Charles Notman and then three partially sanded hoops.  Considering that the hoops will not be bunched below the lowered gaff, but sewn to the sail, I believe they can be a little bigger than reality would dictate.  I hope so anyway.

All for now 
 

[Jond]

Post 13

Closer to painting the hull and more work on spars

I had to laugh at myself as I reviewed photos in the log and found I mislabeled one as the Ada Cliff; that was wrong.   I have several photos in the archive, and I pulled the wrong one apparently mislabeled a few years ago.   The substitution does not change, but reinforce my conclusion, I just thought I should set the record straight. I also edited the earlier posts identifying the other Schooner.

• 95  here is the photo for which I need to get a larger scan to allow blow ups for more details.   It shows the white transom on Ada Cliff. The larger size and closeness to the 45-degree slant agree with both Priscilla Alden and Lillian Woodruff.  All is good.

The waterline painting and spar finishing
One bonus to the above photo is that in the lower left, one can see the keel for the first four masted Schooner has been started.  The yard alternated building one after the other for the following few years. 
Back to painting the waterline, I see here in the photo that the sharp rise in the transom may be more of an angle than I achieved using, and then then modifying, the Bath built Schooner drawing.  In my preliminary check, the waterline will not be quite so low on the rudder.  That would suggest that despite my efforts the shear of the transom does not yet swoop upward.   I hope to be forgiven once again if that pans out.
The following image and blow ups are from the launch day newspaper photos, now available at the Boothbay Region Historical Society.   They will be the basis of my attempt to make this all work out to be representative of the actual Schooner.

• 96     this view is the overall shot.  After I lay out the waterline, I need to determine if another bulwark plank may be needed to get the rise in shear at the stern.  I hope not, but only time will tell and only the few readers of the log will know….smile

 

• 97    In this blow up we get a sense of dark and light for treatment of spars. The mast in the hoop area is darker that other photos. The Boom Saddles are clearly white, but the yokes are natural.  The hoops are a lighter color; perhaps they’re ash or white oak strips.

 

• 98  This view shows all the bow sprit and its rigging and trim. Also, the anchor shape and size are clear. This view at this point will help me identify the right waterline.  It is clearly a big drop or better se=aid the bow shear looks high.

 

•    99    here are the fore and main top masts.  All of the spars seem to have remained natural.  The cross-ties look to be dark. As they as typically made of oak, I assume this work was all painted black.  The iron work is clearly black, not galvanized.

 

• 100  here is the Mizzen top. It gives a clear view of the rigging and will be helpful at that stage. Now it just confirms the dark finish.

With these photos not at high resolution I still believe I can move forward finishing the spars and finishing and iron work.   Before I get into the rigging process, I hope to get higher resolution photos and pick some more detail

 

Back to work

 

• 101     here I am setting up the two types of blackening I am trying to perfect.   I am using the kettle with Sparex for pickling and Brass Black for brass and Liver of Sulphur for copper. The first fittings are on the spanker boom.  I am leaving them loose until the mast is stepped and I line up the sheet band. I dare not fix it in now.

 

• 102     here is the brand new, never used spray paint set up my son recommend for the amateur that I will be. I need to break in to avoid the issue of brush strokes with acrylic paint.

   

• 103     here is an update photo of the spar building program.   I keep working on the different areas. I need to get the lower masts finish right and then the hoops on.   Once that is done, we begin the crosstree building.    In the meantime, there is a lot of brass and copper iron work to do.   I have sanded the hoops to where they still have some strength.  At some point I need to stop and go forward.  I still need to look into getting some veneer that is flexible enough and stable enough and then find how to cut narrow strips.    The birch works ok but a paper think it slides under the saw fence.   May If I keep scanning logs in the how to do I will find on on making better hoops using wood.

All for now
 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Jond

[allanyed]

Absolutely lovely work Jon!!

I especially like the that you have spent a ton of time researching your project.   Based on the questions we see here at MSW of late, it seems research is becoming more and more a part of the scratch builds and the positive results are evident.   The only problem with research is that sometimes there are days when I enjoy it as much or  more than making sawdust.   

Allan

[Jond]

Allan

 

good to see you dropping in.  I have been away a bit sailing and doing that wonderful summer thing.    I was off to the Historical Society last week and found some more images.  I also couldn't find some I know they have, so more to do on that one in the fall.

 

I agree the research is much of the fun.  Also staying with the theme of Shipbuilding in our harbor lets me find more and more cross referencing.  

 

it's all good.  even if I build an ugly Schooner, I will gain a great library.  I just ordered the book you recommended for the sail making.  I 'll update after I read it

'

thanks again

 

jon 

[Jond]

Post 14

I am going to paint the hull!

There are maybe 10 coats of brushed on and sanded gloss white acrylic. One issue is that white paint is slow at covering red glazing putty.   I am using up the gloss as it shows defects more clearly.   I think I am done with that stage, the priming, I may want to go with a satin finish and few more thin coats.  I am trying to end with a smooth brushed on method and save the airbrush for next winter when I have time to learn how to use it.  
 

• 104    here is the hull at this stage.  The light pencil dashes show where the waterline will be located using the Bath built model information.  Checking against the photo 77 above I was happy where it is on the side. I was not yet comfortable overall especially at the bow and stern.

 I did a little more checking in the bow and stern area.  I went back to the Historical society and got a few more photos that helped with the following review. [ low tech as it may be]

• 105    I placed the bow photo in excel and made a simple rectangle that measured the exposed bowsprit.  That is also a known dimension from the rigging plan after scaling.   The second copied rectangle is located to show that the distance down to the waterline is the same, roughly 4 inches or 16 feet.  That makes the anchor about 9 feet.

 

• 106     does the same thing at the stern.  The result was to lower the waterline about 2 feet [ ½ inch in scale]. 

 

Now it is time to play again.   I will soon be cutting the hull off the building board.  What type of stand makes sense?   I love the models that use acrylic or other media to replicate the sea.   That gives us a view of the schooner above and below water.  In Bowdoin I used colored bubble Acrylic, I let the viewer see the sea bottom too.  I will start with that option available. I can always abandon it later if it become unwieldy. 

 

• 107.     here are two cradles made from Station 9 and 15. On the table is a new print out of the plan view. I went through in cad and measured every station at the waterline to give me a point to start cutting out the Luan Plywood.  

 

• 108     here after several hours we have the water surface as depicted by Luan plywood. The cradles could become supports for the water surface as well.

 

• 109     here for review I have turned all right-side up and share the look I love to make.  The bottom is clear under the water level and the hull proportions are much more pleasing to my eye by being only above the water. If I change to acrylic, it is even better.   I then must consider the size and how big the display might become. I also fear the cost of the acrylic. It was hard to find for Bowdoin and $$$

 

• 110     the possible bow shot

 

• 111.     here we go with the first of probably several coats of bottom paint. I am still a low-tech guy that paints and sands and paints and sands and paints eventually gets to a surface I can live with. 

All for now
 

[Jond]

Post 15

 

Milestone we are off the building board!

After numerous coats of paint, I have started getting ready for the next stage.  That means figuring out the deck.

 

• 112.      I have taken the plan from Pricilla Alden [ the only one I could find] and set it to the 149 foot scale.  I then measured all the key elements to use as a starting point as I lay out the deck.  Since Priscilla was built in the same town in the same year, I feel good about finding it.  I have a few glimpses of the deck in photos that I will use when I get that far.  The basic layout however was quite common.  The large print out is to the model scale. At the full size I can use it as a background for layout when building the components.

 

• 113.     first up are the deck beams.  I have done this many ways and thought this time to make a jig and then shape all the beam tops for the right camber.   Only 6 beams need to have the bottoms done as they may show if I decide to have loose hatches or where the deck is raised.  The others I leave straight. According to the Bertha book, exposed hatch beams were 14-inch, so that was the goal.  Just over ¼“ deep.  All beams are ¼ “wide as that gives the best support for the decking. I am putting in enough beams to build the model and not researching to have every beam and all the different sizes as I did when doing plank of frame on my last Schooner.       

 

• 114.    here I have made up all the deck beam material I will need so I can go quickly when the time comes.   Next I will study how and where to build the clamps .

 

• 115     I have made more progress on the spars. My goal was to work parallel, so when the time comes, they are ready.

 

• 116    here I have sorted out the different coloring I am using for my attempt to replicate the masts.

Now a drum roll.  I have decided to stop painting the hull and move on.  I obviously will do some damage and touch will be necessary, but I feel I did enough for now.

 

• 117.     here we are with tape off and the waterline touched up.  I have purposefully kept everything in a gloss for now.  Most models are displayed in low light and for now I like the highlights.  I can always tone it down if I change my mind.

 

• 118.     and Ta dah!   The building board is gone……

 

• 119.     and here the rough-cut removal of the bracing that interfere with the build.   There is a lot more detail work as I lay out the clamps for the deck beams.  This first cut was with a utility tool. It was crazy to use but efficient.   I only put one small hole through the planking for my first touch up.   

All for now
 

[Jond]

Post 16 

 

Deck frame and fix up shear line

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was not totally confident that I nailed the shear line while working upside down.   Well, I found my prediction was right when I started checking things out.  to get things closer to right, l did the following repairs.

 

• 120 f.  irst up was to compare the two schooner drawings and photos for the angle of the bowsprit.   The consensus was 18 degrees.  So here it is fixed with a shim.  Filler and paint to follow.

 

•   121    here I added a plank and tapered it aft. This added plank gets us to the top of the bowsprit.

 

• 122.    I have talked a lot about the changes made to the stern to replicate the photos.  Here a full plank was needed to make it all come together. 

 

• 123    Now we are in a long stage to build out the deck. I need to be sure the mast fits right etc. I scaled up the deck plan from priscilla to use as the basis. 

 

• 124      this photo show the bulwarks on the main deck. I will share the research that gave me the combination of continuous pin rails next time. I need to fit it, remove it to paint it dark and the bulkhead white before final installation. 

 

•  125.    Here is a progress update.  The main deck beams are in, the framing for the deck houses and hatches started and the bow sprit in place.  As I mentioned before I have milled up deck material from scrap Alaskan Cedar I had left over from a front porch project.  It is laid out in 3/8” wide strips read for trimming down to the two plank widths I will use.

I wanted to share a detail I picked up from the Bertha book.   It agrees as well with some photos I have, and I will get into next time. Most of the time we are used to soldering the little tube and pin on the outside of the gudgeon and pintle. Therefore, there is little cutting into the rudder, and it sits back a little from the stern post.  

 

• 126     here I have followed the instruction for the large size rudder to replicate the band going on the outside of the assembly.  

 

• 126.   There is more undercutting of the rudder to make this work as the pintle is totally within the rudder.  That approach tightens up the space between the rudder and the Stern post.   The rudder and stern post must have some combined taper/ rounding to avoid binding.

 

all for now
 

[Thistle17]

I realized this AM I had a brain cramp when I wrote this earlier. I now have it as one of my "Follow" the build reminders. I have fond memories of Booth Bay as i spent sevral days nearby in the Pemiquid Point light house monitoring recordings of Navy equipment being tested off shore. I thought i lost the coin toss to go out on the retrieve vessel for the equipment until I picked up my partner in Booth Bay. He was literally a light shade of green after sitting out there all day in those sea swells.

 

Your doing a masterful job.

Joe

Edited August 16, 2021 by Thistle17

[Jond]

Joe

 

Thanks for sharing your fun experience near here.  I have spent many hours over there on the next point watching breakers and even a few whales off the Pemaquid Lighthouse.

 

FYI there is a long story of how our town was renamed from Townsend to Boothbay.   It occurred in that foreign state of Massachusetts. They were part of Maine back then.  The town fathers wanted to incorporate and sent a crew off to the far away courthouse to register. When the crew came back the town had been given a new name of Boothbay.    There is no definitive reason why.    There was a family known as Beath who owned a lot of land.  One guess is the court insisted on changing Townsend and asked for a major feature.That was the Bay.  In the end they named the bay perhaps after the family, but no one could spell it.      

 

anyway thanks for your kind words.  

 

jon 

[Thistle17]

Jond even though I was born and brought up inland my heart is in New England. My mom was from Providence, I lived in Portsmouth RI for a time and my son lives on Cape Cod so we visit often. My first trip to Maine was so memorable and has remained with me. I remember we stayed in Darmariscotta and I  recall the town closed up at 6 PM back then (60s). I looked at their web site and it certainly doesn't look like that now! Hope to get back to your lovely area soon.

Joe

Edited August 16, 2021 by Thistle17