“I think we have enough clamps.”
A call went around the community to get hold of as many clamps as we could and the build progresses with problems being sorted as they arise.
Bob’s team are in the process of laminating the stem and stern pieces with strips of timber being carefully glued together and clamped into the shapes required. Every clamp the bosun’s club has is in use, with borrowed clamps coming from everywhere as the need to hold the timber in place under the enormous strains that the timber is subjected to.
You can’t stop when you are halfway through preparing a piece of laminated timber and work is measured by the output rather than by the time. But there are so many steps between the raw timber and the finished bow piece. Surprisingly, kitchen basics such as food wrap and baking paper are used to separate the laminated pieces from the preparation boards and the clamps as they possess non stick properties.
Ken’s team are underway with the preparation for the hog and the keel. The first thing that Ken said to me when we met for the turnover between the morning and the afternoon shifts, “We could use a bit more room here.” An echo if I ever heard one. We will just have to deal with it.
The pieces for the rudder are being made offsite and oars are now being considered with weight and length being discussed as they will matter when the boat is being rowed. In the same manner the timber for the gunwales, thwarts and such like have been bought and are being laminated in preparation for cutting to size.
There have been a number of visitors recently and we’d like to thank David Staniforth-Smith who was working on the Sailability boats nearby. He dropped in for a cup of tea and stayed to help clamp a piece of lamination onto the board. Slowly the shape of the boat is beginning to evolve from the mounds of timber we have brought into the shed, but it will be a long learning process as we continue the build.
Rick Steuart
