After much dragging of feet and extensive over-thinking...

My postings appear to be coming less and less frequently. This frequency appears to be inversely proportional to my desire to be finished with the pretty short list of open items remaining on Dark Secret. One of the big ones is covered here: Rudder Hardware.

Much head scratching, napkin sketching, and general brain-storming has brought me to the point where I am. Casting patterns have been made for all four pieces of rudder hardware. I think they'll work nicely. I have a list of functionality issues that have to be addressed in order to consider this a success.

1. - Rudder must ship and unship safely, securely, and reliably without tools.

2. - Rudder must operate fairly precisely, but with enough "slop" to allow for the fact that upper and lower fittings are not in line with each other.

3. - Fittings must look proper for this application- yachty enough to be worth the time and effort but rustic enough to appear proper on what was, traditionally, basically a farmer's boat.

4. - Not ridiculously expensive.

I'm pretty sure I have addressed the first three. We'll soon see about the fourth.

As you can see in the photos, there are four fittings - two gudgeons (mounted to the stern of the boat), and two pintles (mounted to the rudder blade). The lower gudgeon (V-shaped with tapered edges) is to be riveted to the lower stem at a point roughly 2" below the waterline. The upper gudgeon is to be screw-fastened to the stem just above the point where it goes from tapered to square. Both gudgeons will be bored for a length of 5/16" bronze rod. The rod will follow the curve of the aft stem from the lower gudgeon (brazed into this fitting?), and pass through the upper gudgeon. Rod will terminate at a point (to be determined) some distance above the upper gudgeon.

The lower pintle pattern shows how I plan to ship and unship the rudder. The "split fingers" allow the 5/16" rod to fit between them. Rotating the fitting 90 degrees grasps the rod securely. The upper pintle is bored for the 5/16" rod. Shipping the rudder will work as follows: with the rudder lying on its side, engage the rod between the fingers in the lower pintle. Rotate the rudder to vertical and drop the upper pintle onto the rod that projects beyond the upper gudgeon. The lower pintle remains free to slide up and down on the rod, but as long as the upper pintle is engaged it can't release the rod from between the fingers.

It's not an original idea. I copied it from other boats (Nutshell Pram, Dyer Dhow, and other small craft) but have not seen it done on a boat of this size. I may have to come up with something to keep the rudder from floating up and disengaging the upper pintle. There might be enough mass in the portion of the rudder that is above the waterline to overcome the flotation of the immersed area. I don't know, yet.

Will I be able to ship/unship the whole shebang from inside the boat? I doubt it, particularly since there will generally be an inflated bouyancy tank in each end of the boat whenever she is used for sailing (for any distance, anyway). The good news is that if I have to unship before beaching I can do so in ankle-deep water. If I have to switch from sailing to rowing while underway the tiller will be lashed in place on center or handed to a crew member.

All in all, I think I'm good to go.

In other areas of the project momentum waxes and wanes. I was fortunate to get a few days of rowing in last summer. Build-up of finishes continues. Gooseneck is installed on the boom. Shrouds are spliced but forestay needs another go 'round at the think tank.

We got a new sill under the barn last summer. Part of that project involved re-building the door opening. The doors are back in the opening but are currently screwed in place in front of Dark Secret. Hinges are being welded and will be installed shortly. At that point I can get her out of the barn and into someplace warm enough to tackle the last couple of coats of varnish. If all goes according to plan (good luck with that), I'll be sailing this spring.

More to come...

Still kickin'

Hi all, Lest ye think I have abandoned the project, here is a quick update on Dark Secret.

I had her in the shop for a couple of weeks in Essex, MA where I have been working. I managed to get a few things off the list. Interior has been painted to final coat. Frames still need a coat or two before the interior is a wrap. Rails are ready for "final coat" (it's never the last one) and topsides have received some attention to get at least one more coat. She looks great, finish-wise. I have lowered the sole panels (aftermost panel needs a tweak at its forward end) as discussed in a previous posting, and have made the blocks to raise the oarlocks. Carpentry-wise there is still a bit to do.

As you can see in the photo, I have pretty much worked out the rig and rigging details. I need to mount gooseneck hardware to mast and boom, finish shaping the yard, and build up finishes on the three sticks. The yard will get wrapped in leather where it crosses the mast, and I'll wrap the inside of the partner with leather (or suede) where the mast goes through.

Sole panels need some kind of a simple hold-down system that doesn't require tools to undo. I have ideas on this, but have yet to execute...

There are some rigging details yet to be addressed: All of the splices at the masthead are done. I need to determine a final length for the shrouds and forestay and splice the lower ends. I have sourced the pelican hook that I will use on the forestay. Note that the rig photo shows the halyard going through a small block hung from a lizard (correct term?) at the mast head. I think I am going to switch to a sheave morticed into the spar. It will help to keep the yard inboard, where it belongs. I'll probably still need some kind of bridle to keep it snug, but I'll launch without and see what I get.

I have procured all of the other needed hardware for the boat, except rudder hardware. I am still scratching my head on this. I have yet to find a set-up that will work for this application. I have a design together for a custom hardware package that is pretty slick, but I don't know if I want to go to the trouble of fabricating the parts. It's a comparatively simple arrangement (once it's installed), but there are seven pieces of metal to fart around with, plus whatever I do for the end of the cross-arm at the rudder head. I have said it before, and I'll say it again - "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing." I'll do up a sketch of the hardware package and post it next go-round. I promise that it won't be a year between postings.

I hope you enjoy the photos. The black and white photo is from an article in Maritime Life and Traditions, #19 on Norwegian faerings. The first half was in #19, the second half in #21. It's a great article and has been a source for answers to many of the questions I have had during this process. At any rate, notice the seksaering in the foreground. There are 13 people in it!!! I have a scan of the article. It's a good read. I'll send it to whomever asks.

In the short term I will be removing the shrink-wrap as soon as I am confident it is done snowing. I'll varnish the rails, paint the topsides, install the interior parts and oarlocks, and I'll put her in the water somewhere and enjoy her before the waterfront gets too busy around here. She'll need to come back out to attach the rudder hardware, but by then I will have worn out my welcome wherever she will have been sitting.

Happy Spring!!!

Living the dream...

It's been a bit more than a year since I last posted, and what a year it has been. The house we bought in Maine has turned out to be every bit of the work we thought it would be and then some. The rental cottage out back is pretty much ready to show to prospective tenants( I need to hang towel bars, varnish the stair treads, and other punch list items, but the interior is, for all intents and purposes, done). The main house remains a wreck. I spent the winter "camping" in two rooms. I left the thermostat set at 52 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing and spent much quality time in front of the wood stove in the kitchen. Thank God we had a mild winter this year... Dark Secret languishes in the barn. She has not received much attention in the past year. I am incredibly lucky and grateful to have a barn where she can spend the winter, but oooohhhhh the plans I had for what I was going to accomplish this past winter. The bottom line is that there are not enough hours in the day. I took a job at Wayfarer Marine in Camden and moved up here full time in October. My incredibly patient and loving wife still lives in the Gloucester house and still does the ungodly commute to Boston every day. We are trying to keep our "eyes on the prize," but neither of us is ecstatic about being married and 200 miles apart. Then again, I think there are days when she wouldn't have it any other way. Despite the lack of progress on Dark Secret, I have not been idle during the last year or so. The house has a new 200 amp service, the barn has received some much needed shoring up (permanent solutions forthcoming), and the previously mentioned rental cottage is nearly done. I have (mostly) painted one side (the most challenging side) of the exterior of the main house. It has been such an eyesore for so long that I thought I would start at the street side for the benefit of the neighbors. So much has contributed to declining property values over the last few years that I figured a bit of neighborhood improvement couldn't hurt the abutters' portfolios. I really hope that I can post some Dark Secret-related progress in the not-too-diastant future, but I still have a HUGE list ahead of me to accomplish before the snow flies next winter. Think happy thoughts for us. It's going to be a tough pull but we know it will be worth it in the long run.

Getting back in the swing of it

It's been pretty busy. Aside from the usual goings on at the boatyard with the covers coming off of customers' boats and the long-awaited closing on the Thomaston house (The portrait to the right is Captain Harvey Mills, who had the house built ca. 1860. Watch for a separate blog site for the house restoration project coming soon), I have also pulled Dark Secret out of hibernation. She weathered the winter with no issues so I am moving forward with the remainder of the list.

Today I cut the mast thwart, morticed the step, and test fitted the mast. The rake is specified at 5" in 10', or 1:24. The height of the mast thwart at the centerline is 17 7/8" from the top of the step, so 1/24th of that is just a tick under 3/4". Once I cut the thwart for the mast (I scaled the location of the cut from the plans), I measured the distance from there to the station and added 3/4" to establish the cut for the mortice. There are a million ways to lay this out, but I find simpler is better.

I think she looks great with the mast just sitting there. I left the mast square from the step to just above the partner. It goes to round where the gooseneck mounts. I have not decided whether to wrap the leather around the mast or the partner. I'm looking for advice on that one.

Speaking of goosenecks, I have spec'ed the remainder of the hardware for the boat. The gooseneck will be coming from Ballantine's Boat Shop in Cataumet, MA. They make a beautiful fitting for use on the 12 1/2 that they build. The rudder hardware will be coming from Duck Trap Woodworking, Duck Trap, ME (more on these fittings in a later posting), and the blocks will be from Rieneck's, Hull, MA. The hardware from this outfit is absolutely jewel-like. Unbelievable fit, finish, and overall quality. The down side is that none of these fittings will come on the cheap. Such is life. A former co-worker once told me, "Anything worth doing is worth over-doing."

Interior finishes are the next items to tackle, as well as finishing the remainder of the spars and rigging. I am going to lower the height of the floorboards. If you look at the drawing of section 7 that I posted earlier, you will see that the sole is shown above the throat of the frame by about 1 1/4". I used this height as a starting point to lay out the panels, but as I mentioned previously, the rowing ergonomics don't really work that well for me. Lowering the sole will drop my knees out of the way for a much more efficient and comfortable stroke. When that is done, I will take her out again and determine whether I need to also raise the oarlocks off the rail.

Dark Secret will remain on Cape Ann until she is done. This gives me something to work on after hours during the week. Friday night to Sunday afternoon will be spent at the Thomaston property getting it ready for occupancy. Once I get the barn floor shored up properly, she'll go up there so I can sneak out for a quickie when time and weather permit.

Stay tuned. I'll be back at this much more regularly now that spring has sprung.

As if I need more to worry about...

Once again, this newest post has very little to do with any real progress on Dark Secret. We are due to close on the Thomaston house early next week. We've been hustling to pull together a bunch of loose ends related to that undertaking, and I continue to do a couple of small side projects to bring in a little bit of extra funding. This will be my last chance to do that for quite a while. Between shoveling snow, putting food on the table, and getting all of the other things handled that need attention, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Dark Secret's rig is progressing. I'm nearly done with rounding the mast and getting out the other two spars. I have finalized a design for the rudder hardware, and have sourced oarlocks that are more appropriately sized for the task at hand. They'll get ordered when I have a couple of nickels to rub together.

In order to keep from going insane, I have been thinking about the next boat to build. I have it down to a very short list of two possibilities. One of the candidates is Pete Culler's "Gracie," a 15'6" work boat designed for the Concordia Company, and the other is shown in this posting. It's William Garden's design # 683. It appears in his "Yacht Designs II" as "24' 6" Canoe Ketch." I ordered plans from Mystic Seaport, and the more I study them, the more I love this boat. She's got a wholesome aesthetic, and a (relatively) high-performance bottom. Mr. Garden makes a few remarks about the rig in the commentary that accompanies the study plan in the book. The boat was designed for an area "with lots of wind." He suggests that a short bowsprit and longer mizzen boom, or the taller main as drawn can be fitted for other areas. I have a rig from a 19' Corinthian that will work wonderfully for the main, and a Widgeon, or similar sailing dinghy, will provide the mizzen. The fractional rig from the Corinthian will necessitate a bowsprit and a longer mizzen boom to put the center of effort where it is shown.

I've been working on a model of her and the stern is a beautifully executed bit of design work. I'll post a photo when the planking is done.

This time last year I was preparing to pull Dark Secret off the building jig. I thought I'd have been done with all of the remaining details by now. Oh,well...

Good news and bad news...

Not much to post this time related to Dark Secret's progress.

This just in from the Careful What You Wish For Department - it looks like we got the Thomaston, Maine house after all. We expended a great deal of resources back in the spring getting everything together to buy the property before foreclosure. We did our due diligence, inpections, title search, paperwork, financing, etc., etc., but were unable to stop the foreclosure process.

At that point, it went into a big bucket of other properties that needed leg work. We were told that there were dozens of properties in line ahead of it and that it would not get any attention in the forseeable future. We offered to move forward with our purchase, but were told "There are procedures that need to be followed."

With winter setting in, they apparently decided that they are not in the business of owning properties like this, so it was put up for auction. We secured the winning bid and are now anxiously awaiting a January closing date.

The up side is that by waiting out the process we were able to get it for significantly less than the previous price; the down side is that we lost an entire summer that would have served to deal with most, if not all, of the exterior weather-tightness issues. This is not insurmountable, but it means that I'll be up on the roof periodically shovelling out one section between a second-story addition and an original dog house dormer. As you can see in one of the photos, snow, ice, and rain will pile up in there and wreak havoc. That entire section will be re-configured during renovation anyway, but we need to avoid damage to other areas that will be remaining intact.

So there will be dedicated shop space in the barn for all of the tools, projects, parts, lumber, etc., but there is a LOOOOOOOOONG hill to climb before we can occupy the house.

I figure I have about a month to finish Dark Secret's spars, rigging, rudder, hardware, and finishes before I get shut down. There is also stuff to get done on the house in Gloucester (Anyone interested in a Cape Ann two-family?). Strider is, unfortunately, on indefinite hold. No time for cruising, anyway.

Wish us luck. Stay tuned for further developments.

Last run before the snow flies...

Dark Secret resides on her trailer. I am preparing to continue with finish build-up, rig construction, and the other remaining items.

Here are a few photos of her underway.

Be sure to check out my new blog on Strider's re-power.

I'll be back periodically during the winter for updates here.

Thanks.