Essex Shipbuilding Museum, Schooner ISABELLA Journal.

ISABELLA JOURNAL

Welcome to the ISABELLA Journal where you can follow along with the crew as they build the boat. Weekly entries and photos will highlight progress on the construction of this traditionally-built Essex schooner. [skip to latest entry] [page 1 2 3 4]

Prolog
In July 2005 master shipbuilder Harold Burnham (left) and boatbuilding enthusiast and educator Randall Robar (right) were awarded a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. These grants are given to help communities preserve their cultural heritage.

In the case of Essex, MA to continue its century’s old shipbuilding industry, which was once one of the major shipbuilding centers in the country. Harolds new project, the 38’schooner ISABELLA, is the vehicle for teaching these traditional skills.

The Master
Harold Burnham‘s family ties to shipbuilding go back to the seventieth century. He spent his youth watching and learning from Essex's master shipbuilders and is now the last of these artists working to keep the tradition alive.

His commissions include the 65' schooner THOMAS E. LANNON, a charter vessel in Gloucester, the LEWIS H. STORY, a 32-foot representation of a period Chebacco boat and the 62-foot replica of a War of 1812 privateer, FAME that is berthed in Salem.

The Apprentice
A refugee from public education and the corporate training world, Robar brings his skills, passion for education, and life-long fascination with boats to the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, where he enjoys challenging, motivating, and teaching kids from age five to ninety-five.

When he used to have spare time, Robar built a small day sailor and was refitting a 31’ sail boat when he was told to cut that out and teach people something meaningful at the Museum.

Week 1: Sept 5-11
Actually, the project started weeks ago when the customer, William Greene, approached Harold about building a boat. After a preliminary drawing and cost estimate of the boat, Harold got a deposit to go ahead with the project, and ordered the wood and lead keel.

Harold’s been working on this boatbuilding project for weeks now; I’m just starting. Suddenly, the few small plywood boats I’ve built don’t seem to count. I have lots to learn.

Week 2: Sept 12-18
Painted the loft floor in the second story of the barn. This is a plywood-covered floor where the full-size lines of the boat are drawn out. The last vestiges of the previous boat project disappear under the white paint. It’s onward with this new project.

The lofting floor is like a giant piece of graph paper where the individual squares are 15 and the paper is 20. The floor is strewn with battens, awls, tape measures, metal rulers, and pencils.

Week 3: Sept 19-25
The boat is now 90% defined. Harold has been up most of the last three days (and nights) working on the lines of the boat. Books and bits of paper are everywhere. There are historical books, reference books, and even a book of Fitz H. Lane paintings showing schooners.

Harold scuffs back and forth across the floor. One of the stations (where a wooden frame will eventually go) isn’t coming out right. After measuring the points that make up the line, he then checks using the half-model. More measuring on the floor. Finally –got it!

Week 4: Sept 26- Oct 22
We must saw up the logs as more are scheduled to arrive over the next few weeks. We need to get the existing logs milled and out of the way. Some of these logs are 20’ long and 30” in diameter.

The person cutting the wood, the sawyer, is one of the most important jobs. The sawyer looks at every piece -its shape, grain, size- and cuts the log so that the least amount of wood is wasted. He also needs to know what the log will be used for –futtock pieces to make up frames, planking, stem, keel, etc.- before he can cut it.

Week 5: Oct 3-9
More milling wood. Harold cuts while I help move the logs into place and “buck” or cut up the slab wood into short pieces with a chainsaw for firewood. Only the heartwood of the tree is useable.

Aaron Snyder, a veteran shipwright, works on getting the yard cleaned up and ready to build the boat. He also starts making the masts and spars.

Week 6: Oct 10-16
The lead for the keel arrives. This thing is heavy, real heavy. About 6000 pounds heavy. It is slowly moved into place next to the river's edge using simple machines -rollers and levers -and just a nudge from the yard truck!

The rest of wooden keel pieces will be fitted to the lead, which will add weight to the bottom of the boat and help to counter-balance the weight of the mast and sails above the water. This makes the boat stabilize.

Another load of oak and locust trees is delivered.

Week 7: Oct 17-23
Harold squared up the lead keel using a powered hand plane. Lead, although a metal, can be cut using regular wood working tools. You can easily pound a nail into the lead, for example.

Aaron works on gluing up the individual fir boards, which will become the masts. He cuts long tapers on the ends of the boards (scarfs) to provide more gluing surface when gluing them end-to-end to create one long plank. These long planks are then glued on top of each other to create four layers. The resulting laminated beams are 8" x 8" x 40' long. Later they will be shaped and rounded. He uses every clamp in the shop!

Week 6: Oct 24-30
Harold starts to make the stern post. This is a large, vertical piece at the very end of the boat; the rudder will hang off of it. He cuts the shape out with a chainsaw, then smoothes the sides using a powered hand-plane. He works on one angle, one surface at a time until the piece is completed.

Ben Wedlock, another crew member, works on putting together a new boiler for the steamer.

Week 9: Oct 31- Nov 6
The stern post is raised into place. It looks like a piece of sculpture and is beautiful to look at in the early morning sunlight.

Work on the keel progresses. Aaron and Ben make patterns taken from the loft lines and cut out other pieces of the keel and "dead wood" -the area in the angle between the keel and the bottom part of the stern post.

These pieces of wood are bolted together with 3/4" bronze rod, which has been cut to length and threaded on each end.

Several coats of linseed oil are added to help preserve the wood.

Week 10: Nov 7-13
Almost 100 people come on this warm, picture-perfect November Saturday to take part in the keel laying ceremony. This is a centuries-old tradition and marks the first major milestone in a new boat building project. The initials of the guests of honor are written on the keel, or timber backbone of the ship. After a few words by the owner and builder, everyone grabs a marker and signs his or her name on the keel of the ISABELLA.

As a special bonus, Harold and the crew also raise the first frame!

Week 11: Nov 14-20
Frame making now starts in earnest. The first step is to take the shape of each frame off the loft floor. These patterns -or molds- are cut from a thin piece of wood. With the mold in hand, Harold climbs around the stacks of wood looking for the right pieces to use in making up that frame. Each piece of wood is looked at for its size and particularly its grain. Wood grain is extremely important. Ideally, the grain of the wood will curve to match that of the finished frame. This makes for a much stronger frame.

It is amazing how much time is spent each week cleaning the shop and yard, putting tools away, and bucking up firewood. Cleaning up is an unending chore!

Week 12: Nov 21-27
The crew is busy building frames. This one in the picture to the left sits on the shop floor, waiting to be added to the keel.

Frames are made from several sections, called futtocks. There are two layers of futtocks for each frame. This way, where two futtock ends come together, they can overlap another futtock on the other layer to give the frame strength. These are double-sawn, oak frames -the same technique used in thousands of schooners built in Essex.

The futtock sections are fastened together with wooden pegs, called trunnels (short for "tree nails").

Week 13: Nov 29-Dec 4
OK, so it wasn't glamorous or anything, but I've always wanted to "raise a frame."

It's one of those quintessential boatbuilding experiences. The frames are fastened together on the ground (or shop floor). Then someone hollers "Frame up!" which is code for 'everyone to drop whatever they're doing and help lift this large, heavy u-shaped frame onto the keel and then up vertically. Four people can pickup and maneuver a frame for the ISABELLA. (For a comparison, check out the background of the graphic at the top of this page -whoa!).

Week 14: Dec 5-11
"I want you to build the transom jig," Harold said to me a few weeks ago. "Excellent," I said. "No, problem. By the way, what's a transom jig?"

The very back of the boat, the transom, will have a convex bow to it. The boards that make up the transom need to be pre-bent to this curve before they are attached to the boat. The transom jig is a simple lattice structure over which the planks are bent-in this case 10' long with a 9" height.

The picture (right) shows the jig with several oak planks steamed and clamped onto it. When cooled, the planks will retain the curved-shape.

Week 15: Dec 12-18
Not all the work is done directly on the boat. For example, the masts were moved across the creek to the large shop at the Museum where there is more space to work on them -and even a trifle bit of heat.

Dave and Rick have been busy shaping these two 40' long poles. While it may seem strange when trying to make a big rounded stick, the first task is to smooth and square up the laminated beam into four straight, 90 degree sides. This is to make sure the mast will be straight and not curved to one side. From four, they go to eight sides, then sixteen, and finally to thirty-two sides. Final rounding is done with a large inverted sanding belt powered by a small rubber tire connected to a heavy duty drill (the black-rimmed wheel assembly on the floor). You definitely need to wear a dust mask when sanding with this thing!

This is a long process involving many steps by the result will be a beautiful, perfectly straight, rounded and tapered mast. (For a sense of scale, you can just see Fritz standing at the far end).

Week 16: Dec 19-25
Oddly enough, it's really not about a boat. It's about people. People who build the boat and those who sail them. It's way too easy to forget this.

Thankfully, Harold didn't. So he threw a holiday party for the crew, family and friends. We gathered up in the loft Friday evening. Plenty of food, drink, ping pong, and easy conversations. Agh, life is good.

Week 17: Dec 26-Jan 1
Here she is at the end of 2005. Keel, stem, most of her frames are together; masts are made; planking boards, bronze rod, transom planks are in-stock; the steambox has been improved; some new tools make jobs easier.

The core crew is assembled and used to working together. There is a routine. (And let's not forget the new wood stove now in the loft where we can go to warm up)!

Imagine what another few months will bring?

[read 2006 entries]