In true sailors style, the following is an extract from one of our volunteers, Alastair, recording his first three weeks working on Britannia in his log…
“One of the first lessons I got was how to select appropriate timber for the deck, and an explanation of the difference between quarter sawn and plain sawn planks-only quarter sawn being acceptable for the deck. We went to the wood stack and worked through all the remaining pieces, examining the grain to find pieces we could use. As the stocks are quite low we had to work through a pile of rejects, selecting pieces that weren’t perfectly plain sawn, but where the grain was both close and perpendicular to the surface that would be the top of the deck plank, so it required closer observation than if we had loads of stock to choose from”.
“Next, I fastened some butt blocks with Sam. There is a lot of ingenious use of wedges on Britannia, in places where it is impossible to clamp. Over the years Sam has developed various methods of working alone, so it often happens that I help him with a job such as fastening butt blocks, but get a lesson in how to do it alone as well as how to do it with a team, which is very useful”.
“I have only worked with small boats before, so lots of the materials are different as they are required in vaster quantities, for example roofing tar as a sort of bedding compound. More power tools are necessary -I had never used an electric planer, skill saw or the site chop saw before, and am becoming quite competent with them all. I enjoy Sam’s little tricks (like unwinding a clamp with one hand), and the continual snippets of experience; such as knowing that concrete in the bilges tends to preserve the wood, that any surface tar interferes with epoxy, that the steel nails have high carbon and will “ring” when tapped. He also shares stories of seamanship, and boatbuilding rules to stick to such as “when the snape of the plank is more than twice its width then the hood end must be joggled into the margin” (which refers to not feathering deck planks in order to keep it hard wearing and watertight at the seams)”.
“Last week I was walked through the full process of removing an old plank, spiling the space, transferring the marks onto larch stock, cutting it out, then fairing and bevelling the edges. We are about to steam it, then clamp it above where it will be using wedges to make the curve more pronounced (so it will keep more shape), and then we will dry fit and fasten it or tweak the shape a little. Having only made planks of cedar 3/4inch thick, the 2inch plank felt like a real triumph. I have also been fastening planks along the frames using galvanised steel nails, and screws at the aft end into fashion pieces. We put tallow on the nails and screws to ease the entry into the hard oak. Before fastening a plank that meets the stem, we had to scribe the top and fore edge in order that it could be planed to shape”.
“As Sam has worked with many other shipwrights, and others work on Britannia with different techniques, he will explain both ways of doing one job and why he prefers his method. For example when we removed an old plank, a common method is to split it at the nails and chainsaw it off in sections. Sam’s method is to use a hole saw to access the nails, prise the plank off, then lever out the nails with a crowbar (a tidier method and less likely to damage adjacent planks). I have made and fitted many different sized bungs, mostly for plank fixings but also for bilge stringer bolts and other such holes”.
“Today I was shaping butt blocks from oak stock, which is a surprisingly difficult job, as each one has to be scribed to fit its exact place inside the curved hull, and requires lots of trips up and down making small adjustments; to put it in perspective at my current speed I can make just 3 a day. There is so much to learn, and there will be distinct stages with different skills. Right now there is a lot of work on the hull and frames, later it will be the deck, then cabin roofs, interior, rigging etc”.
“I am very keen to stay as long as possible to broaden my knowledge. It is very difficult to find a way to learn these techniques, with boatbuilding courses costing a prohibitive amount. Before discovering Britannia I travelled to Maine in the USA as I was able to get a free four month apprenticeship. Britannia has been amazing as what I was taught over there was reasonably limited to hand tools and small rowing tender specific to Maine. I was desperate to work with historic boats based in this country, and was really struggling to find a way in to the industry. I am 28 so do not qualify for the official apprenticeship schemes, so I was overjoyed to find another way to get that experience! I am trying to live as cheaply as possible in order to stay here as long as I can, but realistically that will be 6 months, and boatyards often advertise for 5years+ experience. Should Britannia be successful in their funding bid I understand that myself and the other apprentice will be placed on wages that will mean we can stay for the full duration of the build and even launch”.
“There is a great community working on the boat, and room for more as everyone progresses. Having felt like the novice I already feel competent showing other volunteers what to do, and happily work alone on the various jobs that need completing each day. It is very satisfying work, and the skills are widely applicable – I don’t know where I will end up exactly, but right now it is perfect. It took me a long time to get somewhere like this, and I feel very lucky as the pandemic meant I was made redundant from my previous job as a driver. It is the perfect time to train for a new industry for myself and many others. Like the other volunteers on Britannia we were drawn to the spirit of the project and are driven to see it succeed.”
Alastair Hodgen, 25 May 2021
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