HM Cutter Speedy 1828 by oakheart - from plans drawn by Bill Shoulders in 1972

[oakheart]

On 3/29/2024 at 7:56 PM, iMustBeCrazy said:

a nice little cutter for your nice little cutter

Thanks Craig @iMustBeCrazy.
I have now added another cutter, based on advice you gave earlier I have made a new cutting jig and got tiny saw to go with it.

 

Then from the drawings we discussed before I made a kit of parts.

 

 

when glued together they make V3 of the companionway.

 

With a bit of gentle sanding it will look okay.

 

Not sure if I will add a hole and a ladder so I can show it open.

 

Tim

Edited April 12 by oakheart

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, oakheart said:

I have made a new cutting jig

Ah, a CrazyCutter ™ MkI-L, looks like it does the job

 

[Gregory]

Companion looks fantastic!

[Thukydides]

Great job, it looks awesome

[oakheart]

Thank you all for the likes and encouragement, keeps a body going.

 

Tim

[Gregory]

11 hours ago, oakheart said:

Not sure if I will add a hole and a ladder so I can show it open.

I think that would be a nice touch.

[oakheart]

Looking at the painting of the cutter "Kite" I posted earlier, I had wondered how the crew would get the boat off the cutters deck.

Taking break from ship building reading a new book that just arrived in the post and there was the answer:

 

By Malcolm Darch in his bookModeling Maritime History

Chapter 3: MARGUERITE-A Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.

A pilot's life was a dangerous one as ships had to be boarded day and night in all weather conditions. This was usually achieved by the cutter hailing the incoming vessel and asking the master to stop his ship and create a lee from the weather.

The apprentice would make the dinghy or 'punt' as they were known, ready to be hauled over the port rail of the cutter (the Bristol cutters having higher rails used a gate).
This was done by removing the ropes or 'gripes' securing it to the chocks on deck and most important of all, tying the bow line or painter forward of the rigging.
The helm was lashed momentarily after the cutter had been sailed into the sheltered water behind the ship, though keeping a good distance away, as the vessel was being blown sideways towards them.
The man who had been at the helm would assist in launching the punt stern first and then return to his station, while the pilot and apprentice clambered aboard the 12 or 13 foot clinker boat and the one oar carried was skilfully used over the transom by the apprentice to scull them to the waiting ship.
A ship's ladder would normally be hanging down the vast wall of wood or steel which rolled menacingly above. The pilot waited for the right moment and would grab the ladder as the ship finished her roll towards him and before she started back up again.
The punt would then be sculled away to be retrieved by the one man left in the cutter who would be attempting to heave his vessel to in the same position as before, enabling the apprentice and himself to haul the punt aboard.
Some punts carried a strop secured fore and aft to which a burton was tied which travelled from the mast head, and this helped recovery. The job of the man left in the cutter was made a little easier by having most of the sail controls led back to the self-draining cockpit which was situated aft of the companion hatch. These vessels really helped to pioneer the way toward designs used by today's single-handed sailors.
The whole operation was extremely dangerous on a wild winter's night, with often the added menace of snow squalls.
 

 

I have only just discovered Malcolm Darch he is a professional model ship builder of some note.

 

I also realised that when I add the skylights to the deck, the boat will need to sit much higher off the deck, I will have to revise the cradle.

 

Tim

 

Edited April 13 by oakheart

[iMustBeCrazy]

21 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I also realised that when I add the skylights to the deck, the boat will need to sit much higher off the deck, I will have to revise the cradle.

Tim, don't forget the pumps.

 

I had a little play with ideas when you first posted your little cutters little cutter. I came up with ZAZ6347 (Vigilant) which has light pencil lines representing boats each side of the main hatch. Now Vigilant was a little larger making this more practical but I drew 18' (port) and 16' (stb) cutters on Lapwing:

 

[oakheart]

52 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

don't forget the pumps

 

I know that had been bugging me, the problem is I wanted to make the model look like the painting which just grabbed me as an exciting image.

Putting the boat off to one side upsets the balance of that look, what do I want from this build?

I want a good looking display, I want to learn new techniques as well, it could do both of those.

What if I just ignore the pumps or move them. I know they have to reach down into the bilges to work.

 

I will leave the boat position until later in the build, then decide

 

Tim

[oakheart]

14 hours ago, Gregory said:

I think that would be a nice touch

thanks gregory @Gregory I think I will add the ladder to the companionway hatch. It adds to the whole look of the model

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

22 hours ago, oakheart said:

the problem is I wanted to make the model look like the painting which just grabbed me as an exciting image.

Yes it's an exciting image, probably more so for me as I can (and did this morning) visualise my Great grandfather on board.

I don't remember why I thought she was the 1778 Kite, perhaps I mixed up dates in my head, but that extra row of planking above the gun ports makes her more likely to be post the very early 1800s. Given the painting is dates ca1850 it is possible the artist as a boy knew Lapwings sister and remembered her fondly. There are discrepancies, the companionway faces aft and the wc and pantry are missing but she carries the right number of guns (well gun ports, she probably didn't carry a full compliment of guns) in the right places. He may have used Lapwing as a model as she was still around at the time of the painting but made changes based on boyhood memories, who knows.

 

Looking at the painting itself, she's running downwind with both the main and square sail set, that would be wrong, she would be unbalanced with the main trying to turn her to port. Look at the helmsman, he's heaving on the tiller trying to keep her on course. The artist understands, this is a chase, every fraction of a knot counts. As you said, an exciting picture.

 

So, yes this could be Lapwings sister, Speedys aunt.

 

[oakheart]

3 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Given the painting is dates ca1850

Hi Craig @iMustBeCrazy  according to https://www.vallejogallery.com/2022/item_mobile.php?page=item_page&id=3130

the  painting was done in about 1950, there is a good write up about the chase there too.

 

Now I must get back to a bit of ship building, I have done my garden work for the day.

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

6 hours ago, oakheart said:

1950

Doh! I even have that in the file name, I blame the migraines. 😩

[oakheart]

19 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

visualise my Great grandfather on board

From what I remember you saying they had loads of other people as passengers, how did they manage on the very long journey?

Do you know which route they took?

Was the weather with them or did they have bad storms?

I remember seeing film of a sailing ship going round the 'Horn' it was a not a comfortable thing to do.

 

Hope the head is better today

 

Tim 

[iMustBeCrazy]

14 minutes ago, oakheart said:

From what I remember you saying they had loads of other people as passengers, how did they manage on the very long journey?

They finished up with only one paying passenger plus the owners family (wife and two daughters) and two servants (this is from newspaper articles and the servants may actually have been the daughters). They were heading out for the Gold Rush so possibly had a full (free?) crew.

 

32 minutes ago, oakheart said:

Do you know which route they took?

I don't actually have any info from my Great grandfather but again from newspaper reports (passing ships took mail and messages and reported sightings, whoever reached port first let them know who was coming and vaguely when to expect them) it was London to Cape Verde then probably Cape Town via the Brazilian coast, then on to Adelaide or Adelaide direct (I think Cape Town). Roughly 14,500 nautical miles in a boat that fits comfortably in my cousins front yard ( a 1 acre block, ~100' wide).

 

31 minutes ago, oakheart said:

Was the weather with them or did they have bad storms?

No idea but probably.

 

50 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I remember seeing film of a sailing ship going round the 'Horn' it was a not a comfortable thing to do.

Supposedly Bramble just going in to Brisbane:

[oakheart]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:14 AM, iMustBeCrazy said:

Roughly 14,500 nautical miles in a boat that fits comfortably in my cousins front yard

 

it was probably better to be in a small ship, this write up paints a grim picture.

https://holfiesfamilyhistory.blog/2014/10/26/to-australia-by-sail-in-the-1850s/

 

here is another article:-

 

https://museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/resources/journeys-to-australia/

 

In their dash to reach the Victorian goldfields in the quickest possible time, many ship's captains adopted the new 'Great Circle' route in the 1850s. Passing far south of the Cape of Good Hope, they sought the 'Roaring Forties' – the strong prevailing winds that blew from the west to the east between 40 and 50 degrees south.

This route involved enormous risks from drifting icebergs and the wild seas generated by frequent storms. It required exceptional navigational skills, as even the slightest error could lead to disaster. The large number of ships that were lost when navigating the narrow path between King Island and southern Victoria led to the West Coast of Victoria becoming known as the Shipwreck Coast.

 

 

 

Tim

 

[oakheart]

Things are moving forward with the deck furniture.

The larger skylight is done.

 

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

39 minutes ago, oakheart said:

In their dash to reach the Victorian goldfields in the quickest possible time, many ship's captains adopted the new 'Great Circle' route in the 1850s. Passing far south of the Cape of Good Hope, they sought the 'Roaring Forties' – the strong prevailing winds that blew from the west to the east between 40 and 50 degrees south.

This route involved enormous risks from drifting icebergs and the wild seas generated by frequent storms. It required exceptional navigational skills, as even the slightest error could lead to disaster. The large number of ships that were lost when navigating the narrow path between King Island and southern Victoria led to the West Coast of Victoria becoming known as the Shipwreck Coast.

The Roaring Forties was only the start, you could try your luck further south in the Raging Fifties or even the Screaming Sixties. Along the edge of the Roaring Forties was pretty much the standard route.

 

Fortunately for those aboard Lapwing she turned north to Adelaide long before reaching King Island or Victoria's south coast.

 

The Loch Ard is well remembered, the gorge she foundered off is name after her (it's the one with the big car park).

[iMustBeCrazy]

47 minutes ago, oakheart said:

The larger skylight is done.

Looks good to me.

[oakheart]

Had some time out from trimming the 'Box' hedges so made a ladder for the companionway with a bit of sanding and tidying up it should look the part.

 

 

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

11 minutes ago, oakheart said:

it should look the part

It does.