2016 Blog Posts
December 27, 2016 Well! The big news is we successfully turned Schooner Huron Jewel’s hull over right side up. With a good crew of five, using jacks to lift up one side and chain falls to lower the other side down, we took our time over two days and made … Read More
VIDEODecember 7, 2016After working on and off for about a week to build “square wheels” and clean out the boat house, we were ready to roll Schooner Huron Jewel’s hull over so we could begin working on the interior.In this time lapse video we roll over the course of two … Read More
November 19, 2016 In this month’s update for Schooner Huron Jewel, I will summarize what has been done so far. Just over a year ago in the fall of 2015, we poured concrete and built the building in which we would build the schooner. Then over the winter I built … Read More
October 27, 2016 This month’s work was delayed a little by the Rebelle Rally Jeep project, but a new volunteer, Tom, did a fine job putting the core and outer skins on the rudder. Fiberglass should be going on that in a few days. I fabricated a quadrant arm to hook … Read More
September 25, 2016 We’ve been making progress on the schooner this past month, scraping and sanding and laying more fiberglass cloth on the hull. The keel is growing: 24 layers of hard yellow pine boards and only 2 more to go. Fifty pounds of lead went inside the aft part … Read More
August 25, 2016 This last month was busy; I spent a number of days sailing the Schooner Manitou down in Traverse City. When I was home I spent my time fairing the hull. Fairing is the process of making the surface smooth by sanding high spots and filling in low … Read More
July 26, 2016 This last month we planked Huron Jewel with 2” x 6” tongue and groove Douglas fir boards 16 feet long, applying epoxy to their edges and where they crossed the frames and bulkheads. There is a time lapse video of the three days spent planking online at … Read More
VIDEOJuly 17, 2016For three solid days during the week of July 4th, Captain Hugh and Julie along with 14 friends planked Schooner Huron Jewel.In this time lapse video we plank Huron Jewel with 2″ x 6″ tongue and groove Douglas fir boards 16 feet long, applying epoxy to their edges … Read More
June 26, 2016 Things have been moving along on the schooner project. All the longitudinals (sheer clamps, chine logs, and engine stringers) are in; fairing the framework so the planking will lay properly has begun and the centerboard trunk is almost complete. We laid the second and third layers of … Read More
May 26, 2016 The weather has warmed enough so that I’ve been able to get some gluing done. Epoxy will cure at 40 degrees, but a special formula has to be used and if allowed to warm too much, it quickly becomes “5-minute” epoxy. All the bulkheads are now made and … Read More
March 26, 2016 Well, the schooner is coming along despite the cold weather. A friend helped me put the bulkheads up (the sections that divide the boat into compartments) and the stem (the bow timber). The longitudinals such as engine beds, the chines that join the bottom to the sides, … Read More
February 22, 2016 It’s been cold so not too much has progressed, other than ordering planking lumber from Sunes Do It Best lumberyard, and ordering some lead ballast and fuel tanks. Also, I’m starting to restore an old 41″ teak ship’s wheel. It weighs 62 pounds and is quite an … Read More
January 22, 2016 It is finally something like winter here now so I’ve been concentrating on design details and parts specifications. The temperature is too cold for gluing so it’s a good time of year for inside work. We ordered an anchor windlass (used to hoist the anchors) the other … Read More
A few years ago I started thinking about building “The Next Boat”. The current boat is in good shape, sails well and has been a lot fun for 17 years. It grew (see Metamorphosis in the May 2015 Digest) in the planning stage from 18 to 20, 22 and finally … Read More