A Quick Update & Thank You Volunteers!

By Zach Simonson-Bond

Alright everyone, here's the quick update: We're almost finished with Phase 1 of Adventuress' Centennial Restoration!

Last week, Haven Boatworks brought in extra calkers to button up Adventuress' seams. They were characters! One of the calkers, Moose, helped to build the tall ships Exy and Irving Johnson. He had all sorts of great stories, lots of good calking advice, and an awesome history. I believe his father sailed with Irving Johnson.

Last Saturday, a determined contingent of volunteers spent the day going-over the calkers work with seam compound and cement. The calkers filled the seams with cotton and oakum, a very traditional method of sealing the planking. For added protection, our volunteers went over the calkers' work with seam compound for seams above the waterline and cement for seams below the waterline.

As for the plan for this week, there is lots left to be done. Asa, our engineer, is working to put through-holes in the engineers locker; the shipwrights are testing the new anchor configuration; and we're putting new concrete in the forepeak. We may also put the bowsprit back in place and start painting the hull!

Looking back on this project, it is really amazing how much was accomplished. As an organization, Sound Experience could not operate without its amazing volunteers; the amount of work that was completed this winter is testament to our volunteers' dedication. So thank you, Volunteers! Whether this was your first year or 20th, whether you stayed for months or an afternoon, we appreciate every single thing you have done for us, and every moment that you've cared for Adventuress. It has been such an honor to work with you all so far, and I look forward to working with you in the future!

The Last Plank

March 23, 2010 - Deborah Bach, a reporter for the online magazine Three Sheets Northwest, featured Adventuress' in her latest article. Her article covers the whiskey plank ceremony which was held last Friday, March 19. The article also describes what's next in the Centennial Restoration Project! You can find the article here:

With a whiskey toast, first phase of Adventuress work almost done.

Thank you Volunteers!!

By Capt. Korie

My oh my. What an amazing work list we

all accomplished this past weekend. Thank you everyone for coming from all over, pitching in wherever you could, bringing us rags and supplies and helping us log an amazing amount of volunteer hours. Everything you did this weekend gets us one step closer to our splash date (the week of April 5th). There is still a lot to be done before that, but this weekend helped tremendously.

PLEA FOR MORE HELP And, just a reminder, we really need more help throughout the work week. Our dedicated live aboard volunteers are slowly trickling out to other spring jobs just when we need hands the most. So, any time you can spare during the week, we could really use you. Before we splash we still need to seam and paint all the new planks, paint the bottom, rig all the lower spars, remove the boat cover. Hopefully, we can also get the new focsle bunks painted and more varnish on our deck brightwork as well before we start to focus on rigging and getting the ship ready for the season start on April 25th. Please contact me if you are able to join us. There will always be a bunk and meals waiting for you aboard. Thanks in advance!

THE WEEKEND IN SUMMARY

Hours towards the Restoration Project: 148
Hours towards general winter maintenance: 128
TOTAL volunteer hours: 276!!

WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED:

• Repaired and tarred headrig
• Leathered gaff jaws
• Prepped focsle bunks and bulkheads for finishwork
• Repaired focsle ceiling vents
• Installed new 12V House Bank
• Repaired Engineer’s Locker ceiling
• Installed and faired bungs for the port planks
• Prepped the starboard hull for repair
• Prepped and painted the port rub rail
• Prepped and varnished the cap rail
• Spot varnished spars
• Prepped and painted the starboard boot stripe
• Prepped the deckhouse and bowsprit for varnish
• Moved spars from storage to ship
• Organized storage containers
• Moved wood and equipment to the storage containers
• Cleaned and organized the deck
• Moved rigging to ship
• Painted engine room
• Painted new fore shroud chain plate
• Repaired and painted chart case shelf
• Scraped the forward bulwarks
• Painted the middle head
• Worked on deck eye backing blocks
  

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE. It was great to see you all again and meet some new folks. Thanks for keeping us on your radar. We need you all this winter more than ever!

LAST REMINDER: The work weekend in April was moved from the 3/4 to the 10/11 because Easter is on the 4th. Hope to see you all there as we make our last big push before the season!

Cheers!
Korie, Beth and the Adventuress crew
http://www.soundexp.org
korie@soundexp.org

Project Update: Planks and Bungs

By Zach Simonson-Bond

Wednesday was a noteworthy day in the restoration of Adventuress. Working from aft to the bow, the shipwrights have been working diligently over the last couple of weeks putting on our new planking. Today however, witnessed the first new-plank to tie into the stem. That means there is now a new strake of continuous planking running from our stem to stern!

Additionally, the shipwrights are over half-way replanking the hull. Of course, it takes a lot of bronze fasteners to hold those planks in place, which subsequently means those fastener holes need to be plugged. We are careful not to waste, so our volunteers have been using scraps that come off the new planks to create the bungs. At the end of the project, our head shipwright, Blaise, estimates that we will have used roughly 1,200 to 1,500 bungs to seal the holes.

Once the planking is on and the fasteners sealed, the shipwrights will begin calking the seams. That is a process I am really excited to learn about and I will eagerly create a blog post for it!

The fo'c'sle is coming along beautifully. The new layout makes that space feel more open and comfortable. I am excited to sleep there this upcoming sailing season. The shipwrights have finished their part, and just the finish work is left before we can use it!

Sadie, our lovable, albeit temperamental diesel stove, underwent an operation to rebuild her firebox this last Saturday. Under our engineer Asa's careful hands, and guidance from retired Dickinson representative, her operation was a success and she is running wonderfully.

That's about it for now. If you're interested in seeing what we do, or getting your hands dirty, come visit any time. We can definitely give you an engaging job! Contact Captain Korie: korie@soundexp.org.

Pictures of the Entire Project

By Zach Simonson-Bond

I was called recently by a good friend who is currently crew aboard the Hudson River sloop Clearwater. She correctly pointed out that I had few, if any, pictures of the entire port-side project. So, here upon request are some of those photos!

What's a Futtock?

Call for Volunteers!

By Captain Korie

Hello Local Adventuress Volunteers!

I hope everyone is having a great winter. We are tackling more projects this winter on Adventuress than I’ve seen undertaken including all new framing in the port forward section of the ship, a new stem, new focsle bunks, lots of deck brightwork and a new anchor configuration. If you haven’t stopped by the ship, come on by. If you have, thanks so much for your help!

I know that we’ve still got 7 weeks left of winter maintenance before our sail date of April 26th, but the crunch is on. There are a lot of great projects started that need to be completed including a big push at the end of the month to get the hull painted and deck put back together in anticipation of splashing on April 1st. Up until that time, we have lots of deck furniture to varnish, blocks to assemble, rigging to tackle and shipwrights to assist. We are slowly losing our wonderful full-time volunteer crew to other springtime jobs and could really use any time and help you can provide. You are mo

re than welcome any day of the week and towards the end of the month we may need some weekend painting help.

If you can come help you can either RSVP to me or just show up anytime!

And, don’t forget our upcoming work weekends: March 13/14 and April 10/11!

Thanks for being such a great part of our community!

Cheers,
Korie

New Planking, Mar-X-ite and the Fo'c'sle

By Zach Simonson-Bond

It's been far too long since the last update. My apologies! There have been great things happening on the ship. On a personal note, I am now working in Sound Experience's office as the Development Associate. I am excited about the change, but it was hard to leave the ship. Still, I'll get to help in a different way, AND it's part of my job is to be a liaison between the office and the ship, which I am very thankful for.

Work is continuing as usual but the end is in sight; we are a month away from going back in the water. Currently, the shipwrights are putting the new sapele planks on the boat. Additionally, they are redoing the port bow-frames and creating a new hawse system for the anchor. I'll be sure to get some pictures on here soon.

As for the Adventuress' other projects, the construction of the new fo'c'sle bunks is being led by Jeff Hammond, a chief instructor from the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. With the help from two excellent boat-school graduates, Amy and Tom, the fo'c'sle is starting to take shape.

Additionally, work has continued on the deckhouse. At this past January Work Weekend our volunteers stripped and sanded the varnish off the port, starboard and aft sides of the deckhouse. We have since coated those surfaces with two coats of a sealer called Mar-X-ite and have started on the new coats of varnish. The deckhouse will look amazing after it's finished.

I have talked mostly about the restoration projects, but a lot has been happening in engineering-land too! Asa, our winter engineer, joined us in early February. He has been doing a number of things since then including routine maintenance on our battery banks, installing a low-psi safety alarm for our pneumatic shifting system, and he will be repacking the stuffing-box and doing a shaft alignment when the ship is back in the water. That should be something to see!

Pictures:

Our new fasteners

We grease the fasteners so they go into the hard purple-heart futtocks better

A plank of sapele

These are called fish plates. They connect the butt-ends of futtocks

Joe welding a plate for inside the forepeak

Brad roughing out a plank with a circular saw