Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Adventuress in the Peninsula Daily News

The Peninsula Daily News ran a story Sunday about Phase 1 of our Centennial Restoration Project. The article gives a good overview of what has been accomplished so far, and has quotes from Julia Maynard, co-owner of Haven Boatworks. Read it here:

Adventuress Undergoes Major Restoration Project

Friday, February 19, 2010

A Restoration Update

Today marked the close of a very productive week in the restoration of the schooner Adventuress.

"It was an exciting time of things coming together," said Aleythea, a volunteer crew-member aboard the historic ship.

A major accomplishment of the week was the installment of the ship's new stem. The new stem was created by joining two separate pieces of purple-heart by a scarf. Interestingly, the ship's original stem was made from a single piece of white oak with a natural curve.

According to Aleythea, the shipwrights greased the area where the stem was to lay, and then it, "slid right in."

Beth, the winter mate during the preservation project, commented that other notable achievements for the week included the installment of the newly fabricated chain plate, to which the shrouds will be reattached; varnish was applied to the upper portions of the spars; sanding and varnishing continued on the deckhouse; and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding began to install the new focs'le bunks.

Work will resume on Monday. For those interested in getting involved, contact Capt. Korie at korie@soundexp.org.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Captain Korie Featured in Northlake Wharf Blog

The Friends of Northlake Community Wharf recently posted a video on their blog featuring Captain Korie! The video is titled: "What it Takes to Maintain a Working Historic Tall Ship." Korie explains some of the work we do every year to maintain the Adventuress, and how important our volunteers are to that work and organization.

Their group is working with the Center for Wooden Boats to create a maritime presence at the north end of Lake Union for the Fremont and Wallingford neighborhoods. To watch the video and find out more about the Friends of Northlake Community Wharf, visit their blog by clicking on the picture below:

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The Work Weekend, a Recipe and a Project Update

What an eventful weekend for the Adventuress' Centennial Restoration Project. Volunteers poured in from all around the sound bringing with them fresh energy and excitement. The food was fantastic, the work engaging, and I couldn't ask for better company; Adventuress' community is so fun, knowledgeable and hardworking.

The food was a highlight for all. Monica, one of our volunteer galley-coordinators, made an amazing bread pudding. One of our volunteers liked it so much that he insisted it be posted on the blog. So, here it is:

Bread Pudding
Create the custard:
Combine 3 eggs per 1 cup milk
Add sugar to taste (roughly 1/2 cup sugar per 1 cup milk)
1 tsp vanilla
Add fruit if desired

Fill a pan with bread cut into cubes
Add the custard to the bread. It should almost cover the cubes.
Put it all in the oven at 350. You know it's done when you stick in a knife and it comes out clean.

Enjoy!

There were so many other highlights of the weekend, a major one being the outstanding number of volunteers that came to donate their time. On Saturday, there were 31 volunteers and on Sunday, there were 21. Together, they logged 299 hours working on the ship! Thank you again volunteers for your dedication and support.

The work accomplished this weekend is impressive. Here is the list from Captain Korie:
  • Scraped entire hull in preparation for bottom paint
  • Stripped and sanded 75% of deckhouse
  • Sanded Aya-She
  • Sanded spars and topmasts
  • Chipped concrete from forepeak frame bays to accommodate our new stem
  • Sanded deck boxes, console and deck table
  • Rebuilt Spar Alley roof
  • Prepped and painted the starboard focsle ceiling
  • Sanded heads
  • Cleaned/scraped cap rails and bulwarks
  • Removed fasteners from old frames and plugged holes with swede nails
The deckhouse was particularly exciting. The sun had bleached the deckhouse's rich mahogany-red into something yellow and resembling pine. But now, by the power of heat-guns, scrapers, orbital sanders, and volunteer-stamina, the deckhouse is returning to its former beauty. All in all, the weekend was a huge success.

There have also been new developments in the scope of the restoration project. Korie and the shipwrights decided to replace the stem! The shipwrights carefully cut away the old oak stem, and have started diligently working on its replacement. They bought 3 huge pieces of purple heart from Edensaw and have been carefully patterning and planning.

That seems like plenty for now, but be watching for future posts on how to install swede nails, bungs, and further updates on Phase 1 of Adventuress' Centennial Restoration Project.

Pictures: Our volunteers hard at work scraping the hull; Shipwright Blaise taking out the stem.