The last day with a skeleton crew

The last few standing.

Day 16 The last full day

Bella applies epoxy to fiberglass sheets

Pauline takes great care in her work.

Clayton carves the Brooks shield for Graham.

Fiberglassing day, oh boy!

BFF's

Liquid boat.

Smoothing out the epoxy.

Messy work.

Attitude.

Drying time

The deck is finally all glassed over.

Connor has the right stuff.

Open House

In the boat

Day 15 the deck is on, the mast is round, mostly.

Day 15 

Rounding the boom

As we are reaching the end of j-term, we are working harder than ever.  Today we went all out, and in the end it paid off. The dungeon boys finished the main mast and continued their progress on redoing the bowsprit after their first failed attempt at making one.

On the boat, Tommy leads Cole and Clayton (the “Hobbits”) as they installed the whole deck in one day. The deck is made out of plywood and is nailed to the deck braces and beams we had installed earlier on.

Floor boards by Wagner

After the deck was installed and cut to the perfect size the boat looked ready for the water.  It was amazing to see how much we had accomplished as a, “family.” 

Unfortunately we are not finished with our masterpiece. We still have to install the floor and the bilge of the cockpit as well as fiberglass the topsides and make the rudder and centerboard. We will continue work at double speed and hope we will be able to accomplish our goals in the limited time we have.  - Alesandra

Nice enough to work outside.

The take over is complete!

What's on your mind Connor?

Henry's happy dance!

Day 14 On the home stretch!

Marty adds planks to his boat

It was yet another glorious day in the books. 

While the less skilled builders are constructing the planks designed for the deck of the boat, Marty and myself meticulously handcraft an authentic model boat, identical to the life size Lobster Smack. Though a model is believed to be easier to construct than the original, it is in fact far more tedious. Each delicate piece must be aligned perfectly or the boat will not fit together. This requires steady fingers and incredible patience. Marty and I will continue the project until finished.

The return of Peter 

Henry with the hand plane

Bella and Alesandra decided to put down the brooms and trash bags to make a wooden Brooks shield in honor of Graham.   They appear to be making progress with fantastic results.

In the basement, Connor, Sawyer and John relentlessly shave away at the mass with the hand plane. The quality of their work is enviable.

Graham and his big chisel

Working on the Bowsprit support

Clamps, Clamps and more clamps.

Widening the rudder post opening.

Here at the boat-building center, slacking off is a rarity. Each and every member has a responsibility to fulfill his/her obligation, nothing short of perfection. Thank you for reading.

-Peter 

Connor brings the spar into round

Day 13. Snowy Saturday

Day 13

Andres with chisel while Cole Blogs

When I signed up for boat building I didn’t know what to expect.  The first few days where much different then normal school, as it was a much more hands on experience.  Instead of picking up a pencil and writing, I’ve been measuring lengths and cutting wood. While not only learning about the parts of a boat, and how to construct one, I have gotten to use and experiment with power tools, like the router, lathe, sawzall, etc.  Our three main rooms, the garage, the dining room, and the basement house certain tools, each specific to the work in that room.                                                

The garage is where the boat is, and most of the power tools.  It’s always a smart idea to grab a pair of eye protection or earplugs before you go in.  Most of the sawing happens in the garage; with so many power tools working at the same time the power often shorts out.  A thin layer of sawdust seems to hover in the air, coating your hair with dust.

Our Fearless Blogger

The basement, aka the dungeon, is where the spars are. The spars are the wooden beams of the boat.  The mast, gaff, boom, and bowsprit are all types of spars.  They hold the sails up. The smell of epoxy is noticeable from the top of the staircase, and the loud noise of the power planer almost always seems to be coming from there.  We call it the dungeon because the basement is dark and musky. This house was built almost a century ago, the basement staying the same since it was built.  The walls are made of stone, and cobwebs cover the ceiling.                                                                        

Final Paint before a bathtub launching.

The dining room is definitely the most calm. As I write this, I’m sitting at the one small table in the middle of the room.  The table is covered in small tools, from the several different sized hand planes to the electric power sander.  A light country melody is always playing on someone’s phone.  The smell of superglue seems to drown out everything in this room, from the model boats being built. The small models are a dinghy and a Muscongus Bay lobster smack, covered in a layer of green and black paint.                                                                                                                                      

This course has been a great change from my normal school routine, I’ve gotten a chance to learn a new skill, and broaden my view of craftsmanship.  This is something I would love to continue.  This course is a completely different aspect on life; wooden boat building is like an internship.  (Cole Millington)

Side deck supports nearly finished.

Tommy bites nails, tools and screws!

Preparing for Pirates.

The perfect ribbin!

Connor continues to bring the spar into round.

Taking shape.

Henry with the biggest chisel we've seen to date.

Is that Mr. Haile skipping rope?  It's not all work after all.