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