Friday, August 19

Happy birthday Han-Ray! A big one – today he becomes a teenager (sorry Charlie).

OK, the agenda for today is to shape the spars, fit the breasthooks, talk about/demonstrate fitting furniture, and discuss prep work.

The hollow mast was placed on new “v” shaped rests. We then power planed the high corners, which were loaded with epoxy. This is an iterative process of bisecting the angle, rotating the mast, bisecting the angle, until the 8 sided structure now has 16 sides. Switching to hand planes, 16 sides is taken to 32 etc. until definitive facets can no loner be seen. Sanding is done using sanding blocks made of 2” foam insulation. A piece of 36 grit sandpaper is placed on the spar (rough side up) and a block of the foam insulation rubbed on it until it begins to conform to the mast shape. The paper is then reversed and held on the now curved sanding block and sanding begins.  Mast building photolink begins at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/21597525@N00/6064621013/lightbox/  Just hit "older" selection at top to go through the sequence.

The solid spars were marked using a jig. If the opening of the jig is “x”, the space from one side to the pencil is 7/24 x. The distance to the second pencil from the other side of the jig is the same, ie, 7/24 x.

As long as the edges of the jig are on the spar, the ratio remains constant, regardless of the spar diameter. They were then planed to the marks, creating an octagon. The shaping procedure is the same as for the solid spar.

The breasthook teams did a great job. They first made a pattern out of luan. On the pattern, they indicated bevel angle. The rough cut of the blank was done on the bandsaw with the table appropriately angles. Much fitting and shaping ensued. Sorry to be vague, but Brian and I were planing/sanding the main mast.  Here are some breasthook photos.

Geoff demonstrated how to measure and scribe patterns for the boat's furniture. Again, luan patterns and compass scribing. He also demonstrated how to make measurements for correct placement within the hull.  Photos are here.

He then talked about prep work and painting, which takes him approximately one month. High-build primer is applied and sanded and repeated. Paints were discussed. Actually, Rustoleum would be ok, but for the best job, Brightside or Pettit one part polyurethanes should be used. They are rolled on and tipped with a foam brush. Up to five coats, especially for light colors, are needed. Varnishing is no more difficult than painting.  Paint photos.

Our Ness Yawl, with new owner, Ed Storey

Finally, we gave the shop a last cleaning and packed up the Ness Yawl with everything Ed could lay his hands on, including plane shavings for his wife's chickens, or that's what he claimed. Ed then had to frantically look around for a trailer. He eventually found one in Bangor.

Friday night was the lobster cookout, which was nice but foggier than last week's. Han-Ray had a birthday cake and we all sang in a way not soon to be forgotten.

An incredible two weeks. Many thanks to our instructor, Geoff Kerr, for his insightful instruction, his patience, and for never losing his cool (“we can fix it with some epoxy”). We were privileged to be able to work with him. And to my classmates: Thanks for generously sharing your many talents, for your good humor and friendship. You made the two weeks fly by. Keep in touch, and please let me know about your boat building endeavors.

The Ness Yawl Class of 2011

Geoff Kerr, Instructor Extraordinare

Bill Gehring, NY

Charley Jahn, IL

Han-Ray Jahn, IL

Brian Miller, CA

Mark Miller, CA

Ed Storey, boat owner., NH

Aaron Ward, TX

Yenching Wu, CA

Age range of class at start: 12-79!

All photos of the Ness Yawl 2011 class may be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21597525@N00/collections/72157627358772597/