The WoodenBoat Show : Part 1

I managed to get to the WoodenBoat Show in Mystic on Friday and wanted to share a little bit of the experience with you. It's really a show that is targeted at a very wide audience. There were boats ranging in size from less than 10' to over 100' with all manner of propulsion.

I had some things that I definitely wanted to see at the show and did my best to see those things. My first? To see the Charles W. Morgan on the hard where she was being restored. When she was in the water, it was really hard to imagine her full size. Another interesting fact that I've been unable to verify was that she was built in 70 days! She had a draft of 17' unladen according to the staff member who was talking about her. Here she is in her glory with her copper bottom removed to expose the planking:


One of the major reasons that the Morgan is out of the water is to repair the "hogging" of the keel. Hogging is the deflection of the hull of a boat's bottom where the middle is higher than the ends. In this case, apparently due to a combination of the buoyancy of the ends of the hull and strains of the rigging loads. Here's a great picture that shows the curve in the keel timbers:


Another thing that I was very enthusiastic to see was Sam Johnson's bronze casting demonstration. He has been teaching about the subject for many years and provided a great overview of the process and showed some interesting things he's cast and problems during the casting process. One of these days I'd like to take Sam's class at WoodenBoat or over at Mystic Seaport. Here's Sam with a hot crucible of bronze just before the pour. On the ground is a cope and drag that has casting sand prepared for pouring an oarlock.


Here is the oarlock broken out of the mold - still hotter than Hades at the moment. Trimming, filing and polishing will still be required.

The weather was a bit "iffy" to say the least. Cloudy with intermittent light showers. I figured that I'd better see those outdoor things that I wanted to see before it started to rain. I started with the docks.

More tomorrow!