Maine’s First Ship Winter 2017

Annual MFS Meeting March 18 Special points of interest: Maine’s First Ship’s ance into MFS. The Freight In addition to voting  Annual Meeting Annual Business Meeting is Shed Alliance has been a on the officers — Orman scheduled for Saturday valuable and effective part- Hines, President; Jeremy  Become a docent! March 18 at 1:30 pm in the ner with MFS for the past Blaiklock, Vice President;  Student-built skiff raffle Bath Freight Shed, followed several years. The MFS Dan Burchstead, Treasurer; by a look at Virginia’s pro- Board has been discussing and Allison Hepler, Secre-  President’s Message gress. She is over half- and finalizing details for the tary — members will also  Annual Gala dinner planked, and is eagerly look- past several months and be asked to approve chang- ing at a pile of hackmatack look forward to the mem- es to the organization’s By-  Knees arrive—can deck- knees to be installed as part bership’s input on this big laws. The proposed changes ing be far behind? of the deck. (See story on step. If passed, an ad hoc update the by-laws largely in  Ship carpenter needed page 5.) transition committee will terms of new committees for summer program Members will also implement the change. that have been established be asked to consider folding Please come with questions since the by-laws were last

the Bath Freight Shed Alli- and comments. updated.

Educator carpenter sought for MFS summer program Newsletter produced MFS is looking for tors and volunteers. courtesy of the Publicity a carpenter, pref- The position Committee: erably with boat- is approximately 8 building experi- hours/day Monday Roger Barry, Lori Benson, Allison Hepler ence with a pas- through Friday for 2 sion for educating one week sessions middle school stu- July 10 through 21. dents in tradition- 20-40 hours of prep- al boat building aration time is nego- skills. MFS builds tiable. This position educational pro- pays $25/hour. MFS grams around the is an equal oppor- construction of tunity employer. Virginia, promoting Applicants

woodworking should send a cover skills, history, and letter and resume to leadership in mid- Maine’s First Ship, dle school stu- P.O. Box 231 Bath, dents from the Midcoast to build wooden boat related ME 04530 or email region. projects. Additional qualifica- [email protected]. The successful ap- tions include a good rapport The deadline for plicant will work with up to with students and excellent applications is April 7, 2017. 10 middle school students communication skills with visi- Page 2 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia President’s Notes planed to fit the plank frame, re-clamp the plank Each plank is care- above and then a caulk- on with wedges and metal fully picked out of the ing plane is added onto boat clamps so that it has large pile of rough cut the top 2/3rds of the a tight fit to the one planks by the plankmakers edge. above. RB Omo, Dick Forrest, Finally, it is The plank is then Roger Barry and crew to blessed by Jeremy or ready to be drilled for the determine if it is of the Rob. Oops! you need to trunnels with a one inch right length, that it has a drill out those knots drill bit, and the locust curve that will fit the one with bark around them trunnels are driven home above it, either a smile or and fill them with a plug. with the commander’s a frown as Rob would say. The plank is then mallet. Each of the trun- The shape of the soaked in the river for a nels are then wedged on plank above is then trans- few days or, if it is the outside of the ship and ferred to a board and that green, it can be put di- inside. Finishing one of shape is applied to the rectly into the steamer three planks in a row, or new plank, a process for 2 ½ hours. strake, is quite an accom- by Orman Hines called spiling. The width is Then it’s “All plishment taking several A few warm days are start- then marked off on the Hands” to help carry it days from start to finish, ing to melt that 8 foot high new plank and cut to to the side of the ship and with twenty some- wall of snow between the shape. and attached with thing strakes or sixty plus freight shed and the boat Once cut to clamps where it is left planks we are only at the shed. Planking is moving shape, the plank is planed to dry to shape. Once it half way point so far. along at a steady pace with to the 1 & 3/4 inch thick- has set up we take the Our dedicated at least one fitted on each ness on the 20 inch plan- plank off, make any crew of Virginia volunteers day. There is much more to er. After the thickness is needed shape adjust- are all feeling more like the planking process than planed, the top edge is ments and add tar to old ship hands with each meets the eye. the water tight bulkhead day, calluses and all. Sad news for Maine’s First Ship community John W. Bradford: In Memoriam arrived November 10, news that John Bradford had passed quietly during the night in his Yarmouth home with his wife Dee Dee at his side. He was a founding member of Maine's First Ship, devoted to public education and reconstructing a replica of Virginia. John worked tirelessly to make Virginia come to life. As the first director of the vessel committee, he produced the definitive book VIRGINIA, An In-Context Design of Maine’s First Ship in 2011 which is our main reference for reconstructing of Virginia. John was also a very capable participant in the archae- ology at the Popham Colony devoting many hours to the careful excavating of artifacts and doing research on the colony and Virginia with Dr. Jeffery Brain. In recent years, John also taught a course at Maine Senior College, entitled "England, France and the Wabanaki: Cultural Chaos in Seventeenth Centu- ry Maine." John leaves a big hole in our hearts as a good friend and devoted member of Maine’s First Ship. Page 3

Order of First Families of Maine donates to MFS A representative from the donation,” said Hines, especially since Order of First Families of Maine MFS also recognizes the efforts of recently presented MFS with a Maine’s first European settlers. generous donation of $750. Ac- “Building Virginia is a testament to the cording to the organization’s web- colonists’ efforts to establish a foot- site, OFFME, as the organization is hold in the New World.” known, “honors those hardy and Application for membership enterprising early ancestors who in the Order is open to men and concentrated their efforts, labor, women 18 years of age or older who and skills in building the enduring are “lineal descendants of an ancestor greatness of the State of Maine.” who was a resident of, owned land in, Founded in 2003 by The or was the chief proprietor of a busi- Reverend Robert Todd Giffin, ness between 1604 and 1652 within Founder, who served as President the boundaries of present day Maine.” General from 2003-2007, OFFME The donation to MFS is part currently has over 145 members. of the Order’s mission to be involved tives of this Order within our coun- Jeffrey LaRochelle pre- in “charitable and educational efforts try.” sented the check to MFS Presi- and to support patriotic, genealogical, For more information, see the dent Orman Hines this past Octo- literary, historical and social activities organization’s website, http:// ber. “We are very grateful for this that further the purposes and objec- offme.homestead.com.

Docent training May 13 Join other volunteers interested in talking to visitors about Virginia and Maine’s First Ship. Docents are critical to the success of MFS. Greeting visi- tors from close by and from all over the world is exciting and fulfilling. Don’t worry if you feel you don’t know enough about the history and archeology, or the ship Virginia. There are plenty of materials to answer any question. Come for a training, or for some a refresher, on Saturday May 13 at 1 pm at the Bath Freight Shed. You’ll see additions to the exhibit and an update on progress of the ship Virginia. All are welcome! Spend part of your summer amidst the smell of freshly fashioned planks and the aura of the past all around you.

Own a skiff built by summer program students

MFS is raffling off one of the 12’ skiffs made by students this past summer. Tick- ets for the Bevin’s skiff, designed by the Alexandria Seaport Foundation are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20. The drawing will be held at the Annual Gala Dinner in May. The overall length of the skiff is 11’8”, with a 4’6” beam, a maximum capacity of 450 pounds, and made of marine grade plywood. Page 4 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia

Summer student boatbuilding returns to MFS

Maine’s First Ship has announced its Volunteers are also working annual summer student boatbuilding with the students on the history of program, which is open to middle Virginia and the colony who built her. school students. The program is de- “Virginia’s connection to our own signed to offer maritime histo- students a ry excites the chance to devel- students,” says op and hone Merry Chapin, woodworking board member skills related to and member of wooden boat- the MFS Educa- building, includ- tion Commit- ing working on tee. “They are Virginia along- also excited to side MFS’s vol- be working unteer ship- near Virginia.“ wrights. This is 443-4242, or email Camp is the eighth year [email protected]. Interested held in the Bath of MFS’s sum- people of all ages can also stop Freight Shed in mer program by the boatshop on Wednesdays downtown for middle and Saturdays and speak with any Bath. This year, school aged of the volunteer shipwrights. Stu- there are two students. dents can download an applica- one-week summer sessions being There is no cost to the program, and tion from the website after April offered: Session I is July 10-14; Ses- interested students and parents 15, www.mfship.org. sion II is July 17-21. Each session is should contact Maine’s First Ship in its Monday-Friday 8 am until 4 pm. new office above J.R. Maxwell’s, phone

MFS connects to local, national history associations tion recently, as they shared Works, spoke at Woolwich’s Veterans Day their archeological and histori- event this past November (photo courtesy cal knowledge of the Popham of Wiscasset Colony and Virginia, both the Newspapers). original and the one that MFS He has also is constructing, and Maine’s agreed to First Ship. They will also be speak at speaking to the national meet- Woolwich’s ing of the Daughters of Colo- Memorial Day nial Wars in Washington DC in commemora- April. tion this year. In another example of Crew mem- MFS connections leading to bers of the other venues for local collabo- Monsoor have Orman Hines and Rob ration, Captain Scott Smith, of been regular Stevens were hosted by the Lin- the Michael Monsoor, currently volunteers on coln County Historical Associa- being built at Bath Iron Virginia. Page 5 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia

Block-making is more than meets the eye

by Jim Nelson Virginia’s rigging work this winter has centered on making blocks (what landlubbers would call pulleys) those ubiquitous and cru- cial parts of any ship’s rig. Virginia will need four sizes of blocks to handle 1/2”, 5/8”, 3/4” and 1” rope. As simple and innocuous as the blocks might seem, their construction is surprisingly in- volved, requiring many stages of cutting, shaping, routing, gluing, pinning, sanding and finishing. It makes it clear why block-making was a trade unto itself throughout the Age of Sail.

Knees arrive from Nova Scotia for Virginia’s decking

David Westergard, from Tusket Nova Sco- tia, delivered hackmatack knees last month. The knees will be used for the deck struc- ture of Virginia. Shipwright Rob Stevens notes that one of them has already been installed, as a replacement for a futtock. Funds for the knees come from 2 sources. The first is from the Fritz Mueller Fund, created in memory of a long-time friend of Maine’s First Ship. Fritz’s connection to MFS came by way of Jamestown, where he had been a volunteer there, along with his wife Christa. The other source of funding came through the Davis Family Foundation, which awarded MFS $26,000 for deck structure materials. MFS has the decking material already, and is sitting in a barn of John Morse’s in Phippsburg. Page 6 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia

Topsham white pine and ash timber for MFS thanks to neighbors and sawyers

harvested ash to turn into belaying pins. Rob Stevens sent a list of the masts, spars and sprit that were still needed. Steve approached Dennis to learn more about the har- vest. Dennis Pat Maloy helps shipwright Rob Stevens and Bosun Jeremy Blaiklock explained that (Above) Belaying pins inserted into a proto- lift a white pile log onto the trailer for transport from Topsham to type pin rail to refine the size and propor- the Bath Freight Shed yard. Mixed hardwood beyond Rob Stevens he had already transferred tions for more than 50 production pins. include green ash logs to be turned into belaying pins. Photo credit: (Below) Belaying pins turned from ash do- Steve Spaeth the products nated by Pat Maloy, and Dennis and Jane of the harvest Menard. Photo credit: Steve Spaeth. to Pat as part of the contract to cut Topsham residents Jane and the woodlot. He encouraged Steve to Dennis Menard decided to clear the contact Pat to see if some of the woodlot behind her house. They wood were available. contracted with Pat Maloy, a logger When Pat learned more from Lisbon, to fell and remove about the Virginia reconstruction, he mixed hardwood and white pine decided to donate the pieces that trees. Steve Spaeth, a neighbor of would help to build Maine's First Ship. the Menards and a Maine's First Ship He said that he looks forward to a 'crewe' member, saw the logs and cruise on the river when she sets sail. remaining trees and wondered whether some of the harvest might Pat Maloy's business contacts: http:// be used for construction of the Vir- maloysyardcare.com/firewood/ (207) ginia. Steve wanted some freshly 353-8416

Maritime History Lecture series Jim Nelson - 17th century piracy Jeff Miller - 17th century navigation tools and techniques Harald Prins - Native/colonial relations Rob Stevens - How to build a 17th century pinnace in the wilderness Page 7 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia

Treenails: the wood holding Virginia together

by Rob Stevens nails, or at least being nice to the fas- ness, and frame width would be We are fastening the Virginia teners he would find an auger that was sized according to the length of planking with treenails, pronounced just the right size. The fastener would the vessel. In our by shipwrights “trunnels,” which are, dip the auger in linseed oil, pine tar, or case, because Virginia is less than as the words states, nails made of tallow and twist the auger about a 100', we are using 1" tree- wood. People have been nails. The treenail would fastening with treenails ever have one end chamfered. The since they put two logs to- other end in early days gether to make a raft. Orig- would be slightly larger and inally the treenails would be in later days would be a larg- cleaved out of billets of er square left over from the wood such as white oak or treenail lathe. The treenail black locust to get the would also be dipped in lin- strongest run of seed oil, pine tar, or tallow wood grain. Then, using a and inserted with the annular drawknife or axe or a simi- rings of the wood 90 degrees lar tool and maybe a shav- to the run of the plank. This ing horse, the trenail-maker way, when the treenail takes would shave the rough up water, it swells more stock into round wooden against the end grain and half bolts. Various advance- as much across the grain of ments to the tools used to the plank, which could cause make treenails resulted, in the plank to split. the end, with patented Dave Foster taught treenail lathes in the me that a treenail should 1800's. drive in an inch a blow. Less Before turning the than that and it might split. treenails, the trenail- More than that, and it was maker would hope the treenail stock dozen times and pull it out so the too loose. Dana Story of Essex, would be dry. After turning the tree- chips would not clog the auger and Massachusetts, said that 1 1/4” nails they would be stored in a dry repeat until it was through. He would and under treenails should take spot in the shipyard and at the end of resharpen the auger about every 50 810 blows. the day the unused ones would be holes drilled. And when he found the After the treenail is driv- returned to that dry spot. auger that was just right, he would en, the ends are split perpendicu- Often on large vessels, there hide it at the end of the day. lar to the grain run of the plank were workers called hole borers ______on the outside of the hull and the who drilled the treenail holes "The treenail, when you drive grain run of the frame on the through the plank, frame, and ceiling it with a beetle, will probably only get an inside. An oak wedge 3/8" by 2 for a long treenail. Regular treenails inch at a time, that is the old way of do- 1/4" and 1/32" wider than the went through the plank and the ing it, and it seems it is a good way of treenail is driven into each end of frame, and blind treenail holes did doing it., and it is if a good strong man the treenail. The function of the not go all the way through a frame. handles the beetle and uses his full wedge is not only to tighten it in The hole would be drilled with a strength on it the same as they did in the the plank but also to make it wa- shell bit, nose auger, and in later old days." tertight. years a ship treenail auger. The borer --Mr. Rustad. One, two, three, and would often drill a hole 1/32" or ______four wedges were driven histori- 1/16" smaller than the treenail. If he cally. They would be driven was also the one driving the tree- Treenail diameter, plank thick- across the grain, in a cross, trian- Page 8 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia

Treenails: the wood holding Virginia together (Continued)

ground out would influence could be carried. For that reason, the what type of wedge the - Royal Navy experimented with not shipwright would use, or if he using treenails in the early 1800's and would use a wedge at all. decided to start using them again. ______Author’s Note: I’m grateful Treenail drivers- often the most for the work done by Michael worthless men in the yards- McCarthy, in Ships’ Fastenings, and JR sometimes slight their portion of the work" by driving fas- teners slack. -Michael McCarthy ______

The use of tree- nails versus iron was argued over as long as boats were built. One of the arguments in favor of treenails is that treenails are gle, or a square. Also the split head cheaper to buy. Driving of the treenail in some shipyards was the treenails doesn't dam- caulked with oakum rather than a age the wood fiber like wooden wedge. A third method was iron does. Iron rusts and a treenail plug, a square oak wedge expands, loosening, which with a 5/8 - 3/4" head 2 1/2" long to can allow the planks to a point. When the treenail plug was move and leak. However, used on the outside, a regular flat it is more expensive to wedge was used on the inside. The drill and wedge the tree- last method is no wedge at all. When nails. Treenails can rot Virginia was built, shipwrights in the under certain circumstanc- south of England were likely to use es such as when used above the wa- Adams, in The Maritime Archeology of no wedge or caulk with oakum. De- terline in freshwater vessels. Tree- Ships; Sam Manning’s excellent draw- pending on whether the vessel was nails badly sized and badly wedged ings; and the amazing work of the to be used in warm climates or how can weep. But in large vessels, the folks at Vikingeskibmuseet in Roar it was to be used, such as bumping weight of the iron fasteners was Ege. over a bar with a heavy load or enough to limit how much cargo Page 9 Maine’s First Ship: Reconstructing the pinnace Virginia

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Annual Gala Dinner features Jim Nelson — Save the date May 2 Join us for MFS’s annual gala dinner on Tuesday May 2 finally takes to the water, she will be more than just a fine at J.R. Maxwell’s in Bath. Featured speaker this year is tool for education and a link to Maine’s historic past. She will Virginia’s rigger, MFS Board member, and former tall become part of the large and active fleet of tradition sailing ship sailor Jim Nelson, who will be talking about vessels operating in the United States and around the world. “ “Tall Ships Now: Virginia’s Place in the Mod- Tickets will be available from the MFS office on Front ern World of Traditional Sail.” Street (above Maxwell’s), by telephone 443-4242, or by email Jim will discuss the rebirth of traditional sail [email protected]. in this country, the current state of the fleet and suc- MFS is also looking for Silent Auction items. Contact cessful programs that can serve as a model for Virgin- the office. ia’s future. According to Jim, “when the replica Virginia