CBC TV: Land And Sea - A Fisherman's Daughter

It's a terrific show. If you aren't familiar with it, then you should be. And now with internet you can watch it on your computer...except on dial-up, like where I live! Nevertheless, find a high-speed connection and take a gander, and good on ya, Land and Sea:

http://www.cbc.ca/landandseanl/

Here's one of my favourite episodes. She is amazingly articulate about life on the water and what it means to be a member of a family where lobstering runs bone-deep:

http://www.cbc.ca/landandseanl/archive/episode_28_2007-2008.html

...great stuff.

The Secret Of The Sea

The Secret of the Sea

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me
As I gaze upon the sea!
All the old romantic legends,
All my dreams come back to me.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach,
Where the sand as silver shines,
With a soft monotonous cadence,
Flow its unrhymed lyric lines.

My soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

--- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

__________

Two grads, a wedding, induction into a professional organization...all for my children - cold weather, illness of a parent. These have made my work on my boat impossible all summer. But now we have snow and it is about to change back... :)

Ellis Boat

Here's a link to the Ellis Boat Company, Southwest Harbor, Maine: http://www.ellisboat.com/ .

These are stunning designs and their pics afford great detail on cabin finishing possibilities.

I sent a email and pic to them in an effort to find out if one of their designs is featured on my sidebar as I had a couple of inquires about it...but I received no reply.

Wood Drier

Today I finished rebuilding my wood drier. Hurriedly built nine years ago, I ran out of space with the addition of my tamarack. Eight feet tall in the front and six in the back it has a twenty-two foot long roof and with the exception of the rafters (which cost $40) was built out of all scrap lumber and metal that I had on hand. The top shelves were built first, three are left to be added below, which is not the order I would have preferred, but rain was on the way and I hurriedly built the top racks and stacked and stickered the cedar and tamarack to get them out of the weather. Tomorrow I will band this wood and let it begin to cure. In another couple of weeks I will wrap the building in plastic, leaving openings at the top and bottom to assist in the curing.

It Is On These Waters...

I am standing at Rice Creek, fifteen-hundred feet above the forest below me, and I am looking northeast, into the heart of the boreal forest. A friend has just gotten out a compass and comments that he is surprised that we are not looking directly north. But that is the mystique of this place. For centuries it has disoriented outsiders, who have considered it barren, desolate, monotonous, one of the vast landscapes that will not reveal itself except in its vacuousness.

The combination of height and distance pulls at me like a vortex...this prominence one of the few places in Canada where a person can see in an instant the full character of this land. And you feel like the panorama could physically pick you up at any moment and suck you right in. It is close to the sensation that one gets standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon...and if you can believe it, even more powerful. But this power works because it is supremely sublime, stretching to the horizon and beyond...a long, long way beyond.

I begin to estimate the miles leading out as the ground drops off, the trees rapidly becoming indistinguishable. It is fifteen miles of bush to Dawson Bay on Lake Winnipegosis, then another fifteen across the water to the horizon. Each mile alone is a distance that is impossible to traverse on foot; bogs, swamps, deadfalls, creeks, rivers. Uneven ground. And even on this windswept height we are covered in sand flies...one of the summer scourges here. These are much worse below. Now I imagine another fifteen miles just over the horizon. And then another...and then another...in the end another thirty-three of the same thing until I run onto the shore of Hudson's Bay, five hundred miles to the northeast. Now take into account the breadth of this forest stretched twenty-five hundred miles wide. And while you can buy a piece of paper with the geographical names of its features, it is best to not rely on these. This place should come with a warning. Maps are too thin. Anyone who has stood where I stand and understood where they are will by necessity regard such a map with suspicion.

It is here, on the waters of this region, that I want to pilot my boat, Indigenora.

Tamarac Milled

Yesterday I milled the tamarack that I felled this winter. I am having thoughts that I should use the tamarack for the hull and save my cedar for decking? It was a very dense and heavy wood. We quarter-sawed most of the log and I hauled home lengths up to twelve feet. I shall have to return to pick up the longer pieces. But first I will have rebuild my wood-drier, which is ten years old and has served me well, but was originally build in haste. I will have to wait for this wood to dry before putting it through a thickness planer.

Locked In Ice

At the beginning of this week there was still ice at the Narrows crossing on Lake Manitoba. By mid-week it had disappeared. Ice still covered the central part of these larger lakes though. Fishing officially opened last Saturday. But spring is quite late this year. We received snow two days ago and the forecast calls for more at the beginning of the week.

Ten Coats Of Engine Enamel

Block Primed

The warmer weather (above freezing) has allowed me to begin my outside work.

This week I got my block primed. The prep involved meticulously cleaning it for grease, crud, and rust. By the end it was glistening. The cleaning required a solid day of my time.

Transom Plywood Glued

Upon considering in greater depth my bowing the transom of the Indigenora, I decided to not do so. The complexity of the angles and the jigs needed to bend the transom, as well as the need to build a steamer and to bend not only the outer planks but the inside framing as well…it was more than what I wanted to do and more for what the plans called.

Laying the two halves of the transom bottom against bottom (two 3/8" G1S patterns), I mixed East System epoxy using the West System pumps. I coated each sheet with a brush. Then I mixed the epoxy with enough Cab-o-sil, an inert thickener, to form a mayonnaise-like consistency, and spread it on one side of the already coated transom. Bonding works better if the wood is already coated with epoxy. The joining of the two sides works best if the epoxy is still fresh and not dried. Placing the panels face-to-face I aligned their edges and then placed weights on them to bring them into full contact with one another, leaving the good sides out. From time to time I walked along the transom’s edge in order to insure adhesion.

Epoxy is exothermic. If left in a mass it will heat and cure faster than if mixed faster and/or spread thinly. Also, if it is mixed rapidly it will cure more quickly. Slow hardener will cure the epoxy in mass in 18 – 20 minutes…but if spread thinly it can last an hour and a half.

Epoxy that has come in contact with skin can be first washed with vinegar and then soap to clean. Hardener itself is water solvent and can be cleaned with soap and water.

Transom Cut

Today I traced the transom for the Eagle on a 3/8" piece of G1S CDX plywood. Then I clamped another piece behind it and cut out the transom. Unlike all of the other stations I did not subtract for the thickness of the planking along its edges. The reason that I did not do this was two-fold. First of all the transom sits at a 12 degree angle and therefore needs to eventually be beveled. Secondly, wanting to put a bow in the transom I believe that it will be easier to glue up the transom and then to trim it, rather than to try to get the measurements even close and then to bevel the rest. Tomorrow I shall try to find some way to trim two one-inch, eight-foot boards as a gluing jig. The finished measurement of the transom measures 34 1/4" x 94 1/4" at its widest points.

Transom Fir Plywood

Today I purchased two sheets of 3/8" CDX G1S fir plywood. These are for my transom. I shall have a closer look at Sr. Jose Reis' pics of his transom, but I very much like the idea of both curving it as he did, as well as laminating two sheets together to form a single 3/4" curved sheet. Like him I, too shall plank the outside.

Epoxy

Double Eagle by Lessard

Last week I was in Edmonton, Alberta. I was looking for plywood with which I might finish off my station forms and transom. But at the price of marine okume that I found there I decided to used exterior douglas fir, which I can obtain locally. I shall use the method of Sr. Jose Ruis from Brazil, who built his transom in a curve and who reinfored it with planking on the outside. Instead of a single piece of 3/4" CDX GIS plywood I shall use two sheets of 3/8" CDX GIS and glue them together. And I shall use planking to further firm them up. My great discovery in Edmonton was that of finding the business, 'Boatcraft,' located at 6316 106th St.. The owner, Don, is the second generation of boat builders there and a great resource. He even had a Glen-L catalogue chained to his front register and when I mentioned the Eagle knew quite a bit about it without referring to the catalogue! I purchased a gallon of East System epoxy and two hardeners (dependant on temperature), a pump kit, some wood flour, and a thickener. It will come close to all the glue that I will need to lay up this hull. But now to buy the plywood that I need...

Hooked...

The words of a close friend of mine after he sailed last Friday:

Perfect day.

10 - 20 mph winds.

35' sloop.

Making hull speed at 7 1/2 to 8 knots.

To the other side of Mobile Bay and back.

Once the sails were set I stood the helm for most of the 4 hour sail.

Hooked. No way to escape. Don't want to escape.

Station Form #'s 4 - 6

Today I finished tracing and cutting out station form #'s 4, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2, and 6. The shape of the hull is emerging in my mind.

I have stored them along with the previously completed forms in a shed, lying flat.

I have several more sheets of OSB to buy. And I have to locate two sheets of marine plywood.

Stations 1/2 - 3 1/2 Finished

Every day now I walk by the strips I made a couple of weeks ago and think of laying up the hull.

Yesterday I finished all cuts on station sections 1/2 - 3 1/2. First thing this morning I will transfer the drawings onto OSB for five station sections 4, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2, and 6. I may get around to cutting them out as well as time permits. Weather continues cold - minus twenty at first light.

Here's a pic of a Double Eagle posted by Murat, who lives in Turkey. The Double Eagle is built of marine plywood. It has the same look top-sides as the Eagle, but has a fuller hull forward because of plywood's inability to take the radical curves of the Eagle. What a beautiful boat by Murat!

Glen - L Eagle: Stations #3 - #1/2

This afternoon I was able to mark and cut out station forms for stations #3 through #1/2 for the Glen - L Eagle - a total of 6.

The blueprints show 1/2 of each station form, needing to be reversed on the centreline. With the amount of handling required I used clear packing tape along the edge in order to reinforce it.

Using the material marker worked well on the OSB. However, the outlines for these stations overlapped in one area and required reinforcing on the back of the pattern with masking tape since the material marker eventually cut through the pattern. The advantage to the marker was that when I reversed the pattern I could easily trace it by following exactly along the perforations.

Station #3 1/2 Cut Out...

...and what a monster this hull will be!

Over the past few days I have spent several hours re-reading the plans for my Glen-L Eagle, paying particular attention to transferring its station forms onto the sheets of OSB themselves. I even phoned Glen-L over a particular aspect that I wanted to confirm. (Nice folks!) Yesterday I cut out my first form - Station #3 1/2. It is huge! Three and a half feet tall and seven feet and nine inches across. It is beautiful!

In transferring the plans I tried carbon paper, but did not like the results. Instead I used a wheel that I use for marking leather that I had. Then I used a pencil to trace the marks that this left on the OSB. Each station needed to be cut out allowing for the width of the planking that will be used. I found it easier to trace the actual pattern onto the sheets and then to mark my jigsaw the appropriate width of my strips, thus offsetting the blade.

Today I carry on...

Hull Strips Ripped

Rough-edges trimmed as Eagle planking is stripped

Even with a temperature at dawn of minus twenty-eight Celsius (minus fifteen Fahrenheit) I moved my table saw to an area where I had enough room to begin ripping my cedar boards into strips in preparation for my build.

Seven years ago I hauled a load of red cedar boards home from British Columbia. I purchased these boards as seconds from a mill. They had splits, rotted areas, and unfinished edges. I paid $125 for the entire lot. I owed a friend for a favour and he asked for a dozen boards.

The plans for my Eagle call for boards that are a minimum of ¾” thick (which these are), and one and one-quarter inch wide. Today I ripped these boards to a width of one and three-quarters inch wide. I did this so that I can plane these to a standard width. I am planning to apply a bead and cove to these boards as they are fit. Without the bead and cove the width of the board will be what is required by the plans.

Measuring my final stack of wood this evening in its current form I have 318 square feet of cedar boards stickered and under cover. I shall be receiving more cedar boards from a friend this spring. I already have sixty-eight more square feet than is called for in this plan. But you can never be sure of what you will encounter. I believe that it is better to have an adequate surplus.

Left over cedar strips

I also took an hour after completing my work for the Eagle and ripped all left-over boards to a thickness of three-eights of an inch (three-quarter by three-eights). This created a nice pile of cedar strips which I will use in either building a cedar strip canoe or a cedar strip tender for my Eagle.

It was a great day that started at 10:00 a.m. and ended at 6:00 p.m.. After being one of the coldest winters on record, the weather was beautiful. The high temperature was around minus twenty Celsius (minus five Fahrenheit). We worked in a light jacket. The cedar smelled terrific! I even got sunburn!! The hull has begun!!!

Pic 'n Rip

I was asked if I knew the origins of the boat pictured here. It appears on Rose Island's website (right). I recently received a reply stating that they did not know the maker/design. If you do, feel free to leave a comment.

Yesterday the outside temperature finally moderated. it has been one of the coldest winters on record here - dropping to minus 30 kearlier this week. Yesterday at 0 C / 32 F I was in shirt sleeves using my snow blower to open a way to my wood drier uphill from where I live. Tomorrow I will haul all my cedar out of where it has been stored for the past seven years and rip it to spec. Then I will stack and sticker it under shelter. Then I will turn my sights to the station forms.

Cape Islanders, Lobster Boats, Wesmac and Rose Island

Cape Island style fishing boats were originated on Cape Sable Island at the turn of the twentieth century. They were designed to be among the first inshore motorized fishing boats and consequently had a single keeled (skeg), flat bottom at the stern which transitioned through a rounded hull to a sharp, high bow making it both seaworthy and efficient.








Wesmac 42'


Advances in technology now allow builders like
Steve Wessel (Wesmac) to produce these large step-up bowed boats capable of efficiently cruising at speeds in excess of 35 knots.











Rose Island 38'


Rose Island is an Italian producer of lobster boat yachts with pure and stunning lines: ttp://www.roseisland.it/Uk/lobster38_M3.htm, even if their sense of swank seems a bit skewed when it comes to my own intentions of making a working boat!

Favourite Movies of the Sea #2

Who in the Christ are you? Make a habit of breaking into stranger’s homes? Young mute girl took a wrong turn at the mall?

__________

Lynn Redgrave - Deeply

Regional Fishing History: Part 3 - Dog Island

In Lake Winnpegosis Dog Island is so named because in the summer the local aboriginal community would leave their dogs there that they used to haul fish-freight on the lake in the winter. Passing fishermen would dispose of unwanted rough fish on the island for the dogs to eat when the lake was open. In the fall their dogs would once again be brought to their camps as they prepared for their winter work.

Places like Hunter's Point, Papoose Island, Pelican Bay, Little Rock, Steep Rock, Salt Point, Icehouse Point each tells a story and honours first nation's history.

Next Step: Pressure Testing The Block

Today I learned that the block would definitely need to be overbored. But it is within the specs needed to do this. The next step is to pressure test the block itself.

99%

Cleaning the top was done with a fine oil stone, the top of the block soaked repeatedly in WD40. This does not cut the metal. I was cautioned against using a Scotch-Brite pad on a drill to do so. That this machinist has seen numerous blocks and heads absolutely ruined in this way.

Measurement of the block face was done using a machined piece of square stock and a .0001 and .0002 of an inch feeler gauge. At no point was there more than .0001 of a gap on the face. Maximum tolerance was .0002 and no more. This was GREAT news. The block was not damaged or warped.

The next critical measurement was the bore.

Pistons are made to be .00015 to .0002 smaller at the top than at the bottom (measured across the bottom of the full skirt). This being the hottest sustained area in th bore, the top expands, making the piston sides fully parallel with the bore in an engine at 160 - 180 F degrees. The biggest problem of running a cold engine is of a not fully expanded piston top which is then able to torque on its stroke and will make the bore elongated. When the bores were measured they were found to be .0001 out of round. If they are too elongated then the cylinders cannot be bored out and the newly-rounded cylinders refitted with over-sized pistons...a few thousands larger than original.

The other GREAT news is that the bores were well within tolerances to qualify to be newly bored!

IN OTHER WORDS THE BLOCK IS IN ALL LIKELIHOOD 99% OKAY!!! This is terrific news.

The bottom end of the cylinders need to be checked out. But the bottom ends of most German and Japanese diesels rarely go bad. Main bearings, etc. will need to be replaced.

This is a good, good start...