Sunday, July 18, 2010

Pirate ship week 4

Apart from a few supports to give some shape to the bow, the front third of the ship is finally ready to be decked and planked.

The crow's nest took a lot of work, with some complicated angles to cut, but I'm pleased with how it's turned out. With all that weight up there, lifting the mast into position was a team effort. Thank you, Ali!

In case you're wondering, there will be a rope ladder up to the front of the crow's nest from the raised fore deck. Not nautically correct, but a lot safer access than traditional style rigging.

I got held up a bit at that point because I couldn't attach those deck joists until the mast was in place. I needed access to the inside of the tower to tighten up the carriage bolts securing the mast, but when it came down to it I found the bolts I'd bought were just a fraction too short. I could get the lock nuts on a few turns, and I really don't think they'd ever have come undone, but I'm not taking chances. So that bit of assembly had to wait until today's trip to the builder's yard for my next batch of materials.

4 comments:

David Batista said...

Coming along swimmingly so far, Ian. Great job! I can't wait to see the ribs come on.

Stella Telleria said...

:o holy cow! You got a lot done. It's looking great!

Jean Davis said...

Crow's nest looks great!

Botanist said...

Thanks folks, yes, it is coming along. And I appreciate the comments. Your interest and support is great motivation. There's a lot of hard graft still to go!

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