Location: BlogsCherokee Blog    
Posted by: Tom Daniels 6/11/2008 9:31 PM
Ever wonder what a raw boat looks like?



There you go.  One boat kit.  Some assembly required.  Instructions sold separately.  

Our wood was donated by Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, and it all came down on a truck this morning.  This is a lot of wood, and we unloaded it all by hand.  The crew of 4 shipwrights  had the help of 2 MoY volunteers, and boy did we need them.  Just for the record, the museum volunteers are indispensable.  I can't tell you how much we depend on them.    

It took the 6 of us about 2 hours to unload and do an initial sort of this monster pile. We'll have to move some of it again, but for now we're just happy to have it here.  What you're looking at is white oak (very top), sitka spruce (just below it), wana (a very stable wood, similar to mahogany), and silver bali (a beautiful yellowish wood, it looks like a cross between mahogany and cedar).  We'll use the wana for the backbone and floors, and plank with silver bali.  The ribs (also called frames) will be oak.  

When we got our breath back, it was back to lofting for the day.  Not a bad counterpoint to hard, dirty work... close, finicky work.  



Each pencil line represents lots of checking, double checking, and negotiating.  All this time spent on the front end will save us oodles of time on the back end.  Not only that, but it will guarantee that we'll end up with exactly the boat we think we're building.  This makes the owners happy, the builders happy, and most importantly, the rules committee for the 6 metre class happy.
Permalink |  Trackback
Comments (5)   Add Comment
Re: The boat arrives on a truck    By Basil Carmody on 11/20/2008 11:11 AM
It would be interesting to know more about the Wana and Silver Bali woods you're using.

A Google search provided nothing on Wana. For Silver Bali, I found some enthusiastic comments about it on the WoodenBoat Forum.

The key information is to relate them to the scantlings of the International Rule which require a minimum weight, for properly seasoned wood, of 38 lbs. per cubic foot for the Wana and 35 lbs. per cubic foot for the Silver Bali.
Re: The boat arrives on a truck    By Basil Carmody on 11/20/2008 11:12 AM
You mention your goal of making "the rules committee of the 6 metre class happy".

In fact, there is no such committee. The only entity that has the power to decide things for Sixes is the Annual General Meeting of the International Six Metre Association (ISMA). ISMA has a technical and classics committee, but their role is only advisory.

Up through the 1960's, the major surveying organisations, Lloyds and Veritas, were the "keepers" of the International Rule.

It was they that decided if a boat "classified" under the "R" class. To be classified, the boat had to be surveyed several times during construction. Lloyds and Veritas could make or break a boat's ability to race as a Six.

Since they no longer do this, ISMA has implicitly adpoted a policy of using the honour system for classic re-builds and replicas,i.e. like Cherokee.

Honour, however, isn't a free commodity. If someone were to build a boat in secrecy and then declare on his honour that it corresponds to the classic rules for Sixes, it would pose a problem of credibility and legitimacy.

To be credible, a builder's implicit declaration on his honour needs to be re-enforced by a practice of transparency. He should state his "as built" construction specifications and procedures and back it up with good documentation. In this way, he establishes the legitimacy of his Six

The previous high point in the documentation of a Six re-build was that of Jill, by Rockport Marine in Maine, last year. Detailed step-by-step photos were circulated to all interested members of the Six Metre community.

Your blog take the transparency criteria to its highest possible level. It is really the top. It sets the standard for all other re-builds and replicas.

I hope that you'll convert your blog into book form and have it published. It might have to be a private printing. Litorale, in Helsinki, run by Pekka Barck, who is also co-author along with Tim Street of the centennial book on Sixes,"The Six Metre - 100 years of racing" is specialised in this type of private publication.

Just to be safe, in case a book version doesn't appear, I'm transferring your blog to a Word document which I'm printing and which is already one of the most cherished books of my library.
Re: The boat arrives on a truck    By TomDaniels on 11/21/2008 1:51 PM
Thanks for the comments, Basil. I'll see what I can rustle up on wana & silverbali. The silverbali is a pretty oily wood, and that can make it tough on power tools as it tends to leave lots of residue on blades. However, that same oily quality makes for excellent rot resistance, so there you go. No free lunch.

Thanks for the attaboy about morphing this into a book. The midwesterner in me says, "well, let's just see how things turn out first." :-)

Thanks for the clarifications on the nature of six metre rule oversight and enforcement as well. The great thing about putting information out on the web is that there's always someone who knows more than me out there to help make things more clear and complete! I'll try to get a few more details in here about the way that we've worked with the classics committee to make sure that the materials we're using will fall within the rules.

Re: The boat arrives on a truck    By Basil Carmody on 12/1/2008 1:37 PM
I happen to be a member of the classics committee. Maybe your contacts with the committee go back to before my election in June 2007.
Re: The boat arrives on a truck    By TomDaniels on 11/21/2008 6:02 PM
Since David is the project manager, he's been the point guy for all rules-related contacts. I'll ask him about the folks he's been working with.

Your name:
Title:
Comment:
Add Comment   Cancel