Build Log: HMS Endeavour Captain Longboat

[Jeff W]

Hello there, finally got around to post some photos of my first project and my work area. It took a long while for me to get to this point in the build ... a lot to learn and very cautious ... once again thanks for the advice and resources, has been invaluable.

 

[Jeff W]

 

[Jeff W]

I have also spent a lot of time admiring different builds and appreciating how meticulous people are with their projects (more than me building) and so trying to be the same as I move ahead.

 

[Jeff W]

 

[Jeff W]

 

[Jeff W]

 

[Jeff W]

 

[Jimsky]

Very accurate for the first build, and nice progress. I will keep an eye on your build.

 

[Uwek]

I can fully agree here with the words from Jim - very good built

 

[paulv1958]

Very well done, its s great starter kit & the scale it easy to work with. The final result is excellent little boat. one of AL 's good kits.

 

[Jeff W]

Thanks for replys A couple of questions , should I indicate nailing everywhere on the model? and do the decking timbers extend the length of the boat or should I indicate sections of timber?

 

[Charles QC]

Is that an A.L kit??
Well those type of small boat are difficult to do as you have to be careful of the planking, as inside and outside are visible and you did it first class

 

[Jeff W]

Thanks for the reply and the compliment Charles, yes it is an A.L. kit.

 

[Jeff W]

Today I finished remaking and attaching the gunwale covers. The gunwale covers were originally one piece each for both sides of the boat but did not fit the way they should, so I divided each into 3 sections to enable realignment (I could have done it better I think, I rushed it a bit unfortunately and forgot to align the joints over a bulwark and the joints aren't all as tight as they should be..oh well next time). Anyway, got the seats in and the mast base structures in. I modified the main mast base structure to be the same as the front one so it doesn't sit on the deck, seemed odd to not make that adjustment. It wasn't as easy to do as I thought either, well more time consuming if anything. Now approaching the fitting out of the boat and making the oars, so that will be interesting.

 

[Jeff W]

Made the oars.



Also installed the oar locks, not satisfied though. In wondering how the oars were actually used with said oar locks, I did some digging about the internet, and found that they are actually called thole pins and oars were loosely lashed to them to enable rowing and safeguard the oars from being lost when unattended. The diagram below illustrates this. Well it appears such a configuration was not used for this boat along with a number of other issues detailed in this AL kit.

 

[Jimsky]

Hello Jeff. Here is what Wikipedia said:
rowlock[1] UK: /ˈrɒlək/, sometimes spur (due to the similarity in shape and size), oarlock (USA)[2] or gate (Australia) is a brace that attaches an oar to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum, and, in doing so, the propulsive force that the rower exerts on the water with the oar is transferred to the boat by the thrust force exerted on the rowlock.

On ordinary rowing craft, the rowlocks are attached to the gunwales. In the sport of rowing, the rowlocks are attached to outriggers (often just called "riggers"), which project from the boat and provide greater leverage. In sport rowing, the rowlocks are normally U-shaped and attached to a vertical pin which allows the rowlock to pivot around the pin during the rowing stroke. They additionally have a locking mechanism (properly known as "the gate") across the top of the "U" to prevent the oar from unintentionally popping out of the rowlock.

Originally, rowlocks were two wooden posts or thole pins that the shaft of the oar nestled between. Single THOLE PINS may be used when the oars have holes cut into the loom which then sits over/around the THOLE PIN. (Captain Dennis Robinson FNI, Master Mariner)



hope this will help.

 

[Jeff W]

In Karl Heinz Marquardt's book "The Anatomy of the Ship Captain Cooks Endeavour" are plans of four small vessels that were taken on the HM Bark Endeavour, namely, a longboat, a pinnace, a yawl and a skiff (all of which I am considering reproducing on an AL Endeavour kit I am keen to get started on soon). A copy of the longboat plan from this book, see below, shows that there was actually a dual thole pin configuration for each oar lock location. As you can see there are other anomalies when comparing the kit to the plan. There is a windlass (14), a stern-sheets bench (7), footwaling (8) - which has no spacing as elsewhere (16), and transom knees (5). Curious to also find there were 3 different sail configurations that were used for the vessel, it appears they were able to interchange the sails and masts of all four vessels! Interesting. There are a few other design differences, anyway, maybe that's a matter for a scratch build for someone, hmmm.

 

[Jeff W]

Hello Jeff. Here is what Wikipedia said:
rowlock[1] UK: /ˈrɒlək/, sometimes spur (due to the similarity in shape and size), oarlock (USA)[2] or gate (Australia) is a brace that attaches an oar to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum, and, in doing so, the propulsive force that the rower exerts on the water with the oar is transferred to the boat by the thrust force exerted on the rowlock.

On ordinary rowing craft, the rowlocks are attached to the gunwales. In the sport of rowing, the rowlocks are attached to outriggers (often just called "riggers"), which project from the boat and provide greater leverage. In sport rowing, the rowlocks are normally U-shaped and attached to a vertical pin which allows the rowlock to pivot around the pin during the rowing stroke. They additionally have a locking mechanism (properly known as "the gate") across the top of the "U" to prevent the oar from unintentionally popping out of the rowlock.

Originally, rowlocks were two wooden posts or thole pins that the shaft of the oar nestled between. Single THOLE PINS may be used when the oars have holes cut into the loom which then sits over/around the THOLE PIN. (Captain Dennis Robinson FNI, Master Mariner)

View attachment 116667 View attachment 116668

hope this will help.

Thanks Jimsky for that explanation, most appreciated, certainly fills in some gaps in my knowledge for sure! Was trying to find that info without much success. One question I have is that with the twin thole pins did they use lashings for the oars on those as well?

 

[Jimsky]

Thanks Jimsky for that explanation, most appreciated, certainly fills in some gaps in my knowledge for sure! Was trying to find that info without much success. One question I have is that with the twin thole pins did they use lashings for the oars on those as well?

I don't think so... I believe the lashing didn't require. Think about it, it will make moving oar quite difficult (if not impossible at all). In the case of 1 pin, the rope help avoiding loses the oars. Two pins will hold the oar in-place. One of the methods, when hole made in the oar then inserted in to the pin mounted on the boat.

 

[Jeff W]

Hello, it's been a while since I've posted anything because I've been employed at long last. But I have been pottering along with the longboat build when able, although there have a few tense "moments" (actually hours), especially with the rudder hinges which led to a couple of items hitting the desk and subsequently bouncing off a few other things! finished it though, but not according to the instruction manual...the rudder as provided didn't align with the "stern post", holes in the brass straps provided were badly positioned, straps misshapen, snapped, too long, too short, timber split, etc, which all led to some growing frustration through repeated attempts, ehhh....need I go on Anyway, I decided to make some amendments to the kit after-all, according to what I mentioned in previous posts, with I think were pleasing results. So I made dual thole pins for each oar lock, a windlass, transom knees, a stern-sheets bench, non-spaced foot waling which required removing a spurious thwart anyway, and transom knees for what should be fixed thwarts which would be considered load bearing. I also attempted tree nailing which didn't altogether turn out as I originally intended, the scale is very small, I probably shouldn't have done it or maybe I should give it another go, what do you all think? Anyway here a couple of shots of where I am up to at the moment.

Kind regards,
Jeff.