As we continue the behind-the-scenes planning to return to working in the Longshed we have, at last, been able to commence preparatory work on the timbers for the backbone of the ship.
Some time ago we took the decision to saw blanks for the keel and posts (from the logs that were delivered in January). We have made up a ladder to guide the first cut of the chainsaw mill, to avoid wasting the valuable resource that these logs represent.
The keel log will be cut at the beginning of April and transported to the Longshed so that it can be shaped and finished with axes.
The curved log for the ‘underloute’ and lower stems will get the same treatment. Fitting patterns from the lofting that we did earlier shows that this log is as near a perfect fit as could be wished for.
When all these parts are in the Longshed we will truly be able to say that the actual build of the ship has begun.
Tim Kirk