Lettie G. Howard schooner by Cap'n'Bob - 1:48 POB - Finished

[captainbob]

There comes a time when I am building a model that I start thinking about what to build next.  I had been thinking of a schooner so I started a web search and when I saw the HEAR drawings of the Lettie I knew she was my next build.  I plan to build it with the break in the deck as was typical of the Fredonia model schooners.  The HAER drawings do not show the break so more research was needed.

 

If you look at the drawings you will see that the Lettie was warped and one side was lower than the other and the stern was askew.  In redrawing the lines I straightened it out.  Hopefully the way it was when it was first built.

 

 

Here is a brief history.

 

Dimension as built 1893 as “Lettie G. Howard”
Length: 74.6 feet
Beam: 21 feet
Depth: 8.4 feet
Tonnage
Gross: 59.74
Net: 56.76

 

Dimension as rebuilt 1923 as “Mystic C.”
Length: 75.4 feet
Beam: 20.8 feet
Depth: 8.5 feet
Tonnage
Gross: 52.24
Net: 47

 

Designated a National Historic Landmark, the Lettie G. Howard is the last existing clipper-bowed “Fredonia model” inshore fishing schooner. Named for Captain Fred Howard’s daughter, the Lettie G. Howard fished near the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine. Built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts by Arthur D. Story, her hull was oak framed, planked with pine held in place by treenails. She originally carried topmasts on both fore and main masts.

 

E.E. Saunders and Co. of Pensacola, Florida purchased her in 1901 and fitted Lettie G. Howard for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery. She was rebuilt in 1923 in Bay Point, Florida and renamed “Mystic C.” Changes included the removal of the break in the deck, and the addition of eight inches of false keel depth along 36 feet of the keel. Documentation after the rebuild also noted slight changes in overall dimensions. In 1924 she was fitted with a 36 horsepower auxiliary engine, necessitating a new stern post and rudder. Sometime later her topmasts and bowsprit were removed.

 

She was sold to the Historic Ships Associates of Boston, Massachusetts in 1967, who mistakenly renamed her Caviare, believing she was that former Gloucester schooner. The South Street Seaport Museum purchased her a year later and returned her to the original build name “Lettie G. Howard.”

 

Lettie G. Howard was included in the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which documents historically significant engineering, industrial, and maritime works in the U.S. The project is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Lettie G. Howard was documented in 1989.  The HAER high resolution drawings are on the Library of Congress web site at 

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing:%20ny1621&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true.

 

The South Street Seaport Museum completely restored her between 1991 and 1993. Now in her original 1893 appearance, Lettie G. Howard is outfitted to accommodate trainees on educational voyages. In 1994 the U.S. Coast Guard certified her as a Sailing School Vessel, allowing her to carry students of all ages as a training ship.

In January 2012, Lettie G. Howard was dry docked at Mystic Seaport. Subsequent inspections found extensive rot in her keelson and foremast step, and she was put back in the water until enough money can be raised for the necessary repairs.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Cap'n'Bob

[TBlack]

So, Cap't. Bob, you're off on another adventure! No cobwebs on you! That link was very informative, and the drawings are quite detailed right down to showing the planking on the deck. But I didn't see that they included the step. Not difficult to include if you can figure out where it goes. Finally, 1:48 is going to seem huge after that last effort!

Good luck with this, Tom

[Elia]

Cap'n'Bob,

 

This is great news! I've seen those plans and have thought that they would make for a well documented scratch build. I'm pulling up a chair next to your shipyard's ways and await your progress.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[michael mott]

Bob my chair is right next to Elia

 

Michael

[captainbob]

All are welcome. I only hope you will be entertained by this build.

 

Tom you are correct but when she was rebuilt the break was added and there are pictures that show where it is.  Meanwhile here she is under sail.

 

Bob

 

 

Edited April 17, 2014 by Cap'n'Bob

[Jim Lad]

Now that will make a very nice looking model, Bob.

 

Are you going to build her with both topmasts and no engine?

 

John

[Sailor1234567890]

This will be a nice build to follow. I do love a  schooner.

[captainbob]

John, I like the looks of her in the picture, so no engine and only the main topmast. 

 

Daniel, thanks for stopping by.

 

Bob

Edited December 13, 2013 by Cap'n'Bob

[tarbrush]

Lettie G. is a real beauty Bob,  I am looking forward to following your build of her!

Edited December 14, 2013 by tarbrush

[captainbob]

John, glad you could join us.

 

Bob

[augie]

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is a proper sailing vessel.  She should look terrific @ 1:48.

 

Thanks for the photo Bob and best of luck on this voyage!

[captainbob]

Thanks, Augie,  and welcome aboard.

 

Bob

[Sailor1234567890]

HMMMM, her jib is backed. I wonder why they haven't tacked the jib over to the starboard tack?

[Jim Lad]

Bob,

 

To my eye she looks a little unbalanced without the fore topmast, but you obviously must build her the way that looks best to you - she'll make a fine model either way!

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

super looking build Bob..........this should be a fun build 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Just to bring the narrative up to date: Lettie G Howard is back from her four month refit in Main and is tied up once again on pier 17 in lower Manhattan-right by the Brooklyn Bridge- with her spars back in place. in Main a new keelson was built, made of purpleheart. This month the South Street Seaport Museum announced a partnership for the vessel with the New York Harbor School and she is expected to be sailing again in the spring. So things are looking up for Lettie. The museum is still of VERY shaky legs though and things could still get dire, but this time last year the damage from the hurricane made it seam like the whole seaport district could have been bulldozed and today there is a plan for Lettie's future and skilled, tenacious people in place who are determined to make things work down there.

Edited December 13, 2013 by JerseyCity Frankie

[the learner]

Wow what a fantastic set of plans! limited research and I feel a full build coming....I can see why you picked it.

 

My frist kit build was a market schooner fantastic ships and I  really enjoyed building her, But this will be a lot nicer looking build!

 

 

 

[trippwj]

I'm in - have been following your research with great interest!

[captainbob]

Daniel, you are right, her jib is backed but at the time of this picture she was “outfitted to accommodate trainees on educational voyages.”  What can I say?

 

John, I have a ways to go before I have to decide.  I’ll have to see what it would look like.  A couple weeks ago I read that some historical group, I don’t remember who would not allow them to add the fore topmast.  I don’t remember why.

 

Thanks, Popeye.  Stick around it should get better.

 

Frankie, Thanks for the information, that’s good to know.

 

Nice looking schooner, Guy.  Hope the Lettie comes up to such standards.

 

Wayne, glad to have you aboard.

 

Bob

[pete48]

Hi Bob , I got here on time . I am looking forward to watching this build. Looks like you picked a beautiful boat

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[captainbob]

I’ve been busy drawing the lines so I can start building. For those who have looked at the LoC drawings you know the two sides do not match, so I decided to try to average them, figuring that as one side went up the other went down.  I could have started with the table of offsets and averaged the two sides but putting that many numbers into Excel, converting them all to inches and then averaging them to come up with new offsets was a task I did not want to get into.  So I started by redrawing the lines given, averaging them as best as I could. Well I made the drawings and laid them over the inside drawings and they looked good.  Now it’s buy the wood and make sawdust.

 

Pictures soon, I hope.

 

Bob

[captainbob]

Thanks, Pete, and welcome aboard. The more the merrier. 

 

Bob

Edited December 14, 2013 by Cap'n'Bob

[Jim Lad]

Good to hear that the sawdust is flying, Bob.  Looking forward to your first photos.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

of course I'll stick around......nothing short of total coolness can come of this one 

[Bedford]

A lovely schooner there Bob, I love the square riggers but there is something special about a good looking schooner isn't there.

I will tag along too.

 

Steve

[Small Stuff]

THy Bob,

 

that looks as an interseting project I'm going to board, too.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2013 by Small Stuff

[captainbob]

Steve & Stan, thanks for stopping by.  Haven’t had a chance to get to town yet for the wood.  Hopefully tomorrow.

 

Bob

[captainbob]

Finally!  I made sawdust today.  I cut the parts out on the skill saw now I need to go back and sand to the line, but it feels good to get started.  I should mark the date somewhere, like in the records of ships where you see, “KEEL LAID ON:” Dec 18, 2013.

 

I decided to go POB for this boat.  You can see my CAD drawing on letter size paper in the picture.  The box with the 2” inside gives me the size to enlarge to.  If anyone wants a copy let me know.

 

Bob

 

Edited April 17, 2014 by Cap'n'Bob

[klimi]

I wish to you a lot of fun with this build.

 

Pavel

[themadchemist]

I thought I smelled sawdust.

 

I just love the fore and aft rig of a schooner. That's one of the issues on my DSotM build is whether to increase the canvas. I love the jib sail but on the DSotM the fore mast is too far forward and would require adding a jib boom. Although I'd love to do that the rigging would obscure the figurehead. I'd planned a bluenose but really like the Lettie G Howard as she's a beauty and somewhat less built. Nice Choice of topics to build, Sir. Can't wait to see how she finishes out and at the rate your building Cap'n'Bob, she'll be done by March.

 

So for those of us that are learning, what does "her jib is backed" actually mean.

 

I calculate at 75' and 1:48 she should be a nice sized build around 18". I do question if she breaks the rule of building what you can singlehandedly sail thouhgh. So I'll sign on as a student to learn sailing if you need the extra hand. I know one thing, We'd have FUN