Month: August 2020

It was tiny, but mighty

Posted on by John Collamore | Posted in Luna Progress, UncategorizedTagged , ,

This weekends work involved fiberglassing what we have decided has been the hardest part of Luna’s construction. Oddly enough, measuring 72×23 inches, it’s also one of the smallest. The problem is that it contained 17 surfaces, 23 angles, curves, arches, and inverted surfaces. The good news is the poop deck toe rail and transom fashion piece has been completed. All that’s left is fairing and painting. With a little help from epoxyworks illustrations here’s what we faced.

Interior corners had to all be puttied and have a radius built in suitable to lay fiberglass into.
Exterior corner had their edges sanded to a suitable radius to allow the fiberglass to lay smoothly.
Three layers with staggered edges making interior and exterior radius corners.

So here is Luna’s not as clean as the drawing completed transom rail cap.
Luna’s transom toe rail, located at the end of the boat is complete! All thats left to do is fair it in and paint to match.
A side view of the transom railcap. Once the fiberglass was laid on the top we had to round it over the sides, and into all the corners.
From the top, over the stern, into a negative angle, following the transom window curve…. easy- right?

In addition to the transom we fiberglassed the poop deck scuppers and got the beds for the steering hydraulics installed!

Somewhat shaggy looking, the scuppers were fiberglassed. the space is so tight that we have opted to let it dry completely, then trim and fair the edges. It’ll take a couple more steps to complete but they are small areas and will work out quicly.
The steering hydraulic blocks have been bedded!

HOLES IN BOATS

Posted on by John Collamore | Posted in Luna ProgressTagged , , , ,

In today’s Luna update we are going to break away from construction and explain WHY we have certain holes in the hull. Last week we shared pictures of scuppers in Luna’s toe rails which has some folks wonder why holes would be put in boats. Normally holes in boats are bad as they let water in. In some cases we want to move water away from an area or run something through the hole so lets take a look.

So here is a scupper we installed last week. Scuppers are cut in the side of the hull, even with the deck. As water lands on deck from rain or waves it leaves through these holes, which are well above the water line.
Sometimes holes go in below the waterline. Yes, these make us nervous as we know water will want to enter the hull here. In this picture we have two holes. The rudder and propeller shaft fill them. Special fittings with watertight glands mount to the hull and the shafts fit through them keeping the water out.
This is one of Luna’s two gun ports. It’s in its pattern and template stage right now. The wood piece at the lower part of the hole will prevent anything from rolling or falling overboard. The wood at the top of the photo is hinged and will fold down flush with the hull. There is a gap leading forward that is called a freeing port. It is about two inches high and runs most of the length of the deck allowing water to go overboard.
This ones pretty easy to figure out. This is an inside image of a port light. The six bolts hold it in place. The hinge to the right allows the window to open and the wing nut to left locks the window in place keeping water out.
Another special hole in the hull visible on deck allows docking lines to pass through and be secured with a bult in cleat.

So there we go. Some of the holes we deliberately put in Luna’s hull. Check back on Sunday for more construction updates!

8/9/2020 Luna Construction updates!

Posted on by John Collamore | Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , ,

We had another great Luna construction weekend with progress being made on the poopdeck and steering system. We had to spend some time Saturday cleaning up and doing some repair work to the construction site from the recent storm and the following down pour the next day. As we see what other tall ship programs are up to, we noticed a common theme- Maintain systems and prevent rot! If you’re not working on either of these you’re ships care can get away from you really quickly!

We’ll begin with the steering system. Steve has been working on this project for a while including having to design the aluminum tiller arm featured in an earlier article and now fabricating extruded fiberglass pads for the hydraulic cylinders to ride on.

The extruded fiberglass pad and wedges to support the high pressure hydraulic steering system.
Bedded in place! From this angle you can carefully make out the various shapes machined into the rudder post that will secure the tiller and emergency tiller arms. The tiller arm fits onto the keyway and the emergency tiller fits over the square cap
It fits!!!! Here, the cylinders and tiller arm are all fit and riding in position!

Onto the poop deck! Excuse the blue hue, but the tarp is keeping us shaded. To help remove water from the deck we have added three scuppers to each side. Scuppers are openings in the sides of the boat which allows the water to drain instead of pool and cause rot. As we build Luna we constantly look for these potential pooling areas and figure out how to eliminate them, preventing water from getting below or causing rot which is much more than a cosmetic repair.

A close up of the scuppers exterior on the poop deck. The tape line at the bottom keeps us in line with the other scuppers. They are four inches wide and almost two high. The trick is to make them flush with the poopdeck on the inside of the rail and keep them consistent on the outside. Nothing a bit of patience, time and eye for detail doesn’t take care of.
A look from inside. The scuppers edges have been puttied to help direct water overboard. They will next be sanded to smooth out the rough spots, fiberglassed to ensure water tightness, then fared in to give a seamless appearance.

So there you have it! This weekends progress. We’ll be back on board this week and have more to share so check in regularly, share our blog and progress on social media and visit our website at www.colonialseaport.org

Message In A Bottle: CSF’s New Blog

Posted on by John Collamore | Posted in Updates
Colonial Seaport Foundation's New Blog

Hello and welcome back to blogs on the Colonial Seaport Foundation Website. The old printed newsletter has not been published in a few years and became obsolete. As a result, in a world of increased social media presence and social distancing the Board of Directors felt it was, with her launch date approaching,  in Luna’s best interest to update the web site and streamline our social media and education abilities. We will also be organizing our e-mail database and sending out e-newsletters shortly.

The website looks the same but new features have been added! We now have a ships store where you can buy Luna signature coffees, chocolates, shirts, hats, and education materials. The calendar of upcoming events will be a easier to find and search. The blog will be the center point of updates and social media on the website and then be sent out to facebook and instagram. We have even planned ahead and have a couple of pages built, but hidden, to introduce and share Luna’s story once floating!

We can’t thank you, our friends, family, and supporters for continuing to follow Luna’s construction and look forward to seeing her on the waters!