Don's Santisima Trinidad by OcCre

While this is not the forum for this, I wanted to let you guys know why I have not been as active on the site.
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Don, you are fine. This forum can make room for things like this. Ships are built with human hands and the hands sometimes has to be patient with the pain the rest of the body feels.

This is just a great reminder that we are all subject to "things" in life and the ships are as much a part of it too.

One of the reasons I set up this site is to be able to feel free to express things and not for the forum to have a "detachment" of ship and person.

Donnie
 
My sentiments exactly. I find model building a type of therapy it takes my mind away from from the frustrations of of every day things and the world and directs that frustration to the models (only joking).

Looking forward to your next series of photos Don.
Regards
Eric
 
Thanks Donnie and Eric,

It had been a tough couple of months for me. Just a short recap:
1. Got 11" of rain in Mesa. Damaged part of my house. Spent time repairing it.
2. After the rains came, we got a gazillion mosquitoes. They were everywhere even inside the house. Was a very difficult time.
3. My diabetes went south on me. Took awhile to get it stabilized again. Life was a roller coaster ride for me. Not fun.
4. My Agent Orange issues have grown. After getting an adviser and digging into the history of the thing, I have over 300 pages of documentation covering medical, military and so on. All of this has been exhausting. Hopefully I can present my case next week.

I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel and should be able to begin working on the ST again. I have missed working on the ship but have been buried with all these other issues.

Thanks again,

Don
 
Hello Don, wishing you luck with the agent orange subject.very sorry to hear of the house damage,mosquitoes etc,things seem to come in threes,The Admiral and I send you and the family prayers and wishes of wellness,hope to see you back soon miss your log and comments Edwin.
 
Edwin & Gary,

Guys, thanks for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. I guess what doesn't kill you will make you stronger but I must admit I am tired. I am really looking forward to working on the ST again.

Will be back soon.

Don
 
Don,

Glag to hear you are doing better. I just got through reading all of you post. What a fascinating build. I too am new to wooden ship building. I have been building plastic models for over 30 years. I have always wanted to build a wooden ship as well. My wife just bought me the bluenose II. So I thought I would start with that. My real goal is to build the USS Constitution.

Great job, and I will keep looking for more updates.

Ray
 
Ray,

Hug your wife and be prepared to get hooked. Working with wood and the scale of these ships is fascinating. If you can find any documentation on the ship, get it. It will make the model that much more real. Take your time. If you have questions, ask. The guys on this site are more than willing to help, including me. I should be able to get back to my ST soon. I am buried in this VA claim that I mentioned. It is quite involved. I think I have over 300 pages of creditable evidence to present to the VA. Took quite a while to collect data from 40+ years ago.

Anyway, review the instructions and the build logs of others that are building the same ship. That way you can visualize what each step should look like when you finish that part. Pay attention to concerns of others. It will give you a chance to resolve it BEFORE you start. I know it saved my butt a few times.

Glad to see you aboard. Have fun!!

Later,

Don
 
Hey there,

I am sorry I have not posted anything since November 2014. My health has taken a tragic turn for the worse and I have been unable to work on my ship. Along with the lung surgery and the diabetes, neuropathy has set in my feet and hands. My feet are numb making difficult to walk. My hands ache most of the time making it difficult to hold things for any length of time. Plus my hands shake from time to time making detail work on the ship next to impossible to do.

Since the surgery, breathing has become a major issue for me. My right lung is not as efficient as it use to be so I have very little stamina and tire easily. Something that would take me a few hours to do can take a few weeks now. This is very depressing.

All the VA knows to do it give me drugs for the pain and drugs to calm me down. I have refused to take either. I have enough problems controlling my blood sugar and blood pressure without dumping more chemicals in my system.

So I am not sure how things will go for me in the future. I am going to try to work on the ST again. I need to do something to keep my brain active.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know what happened and why I have been stalled on the ST.

Later,

Don
 
Hello Don,Really happy to see you back you made my day,a few days ago I said to the Admiral it was time to write to you,your hobby may help you get through the days a little easier,Kind regards to you and your family with prayers.Edwin
 
Don,
I really hate to hear about all your struggles. I can tell by reading your post that you really must be in a lot of pain and discomfort most days. I am sorry to hear about all this. I certainly hoped that you would have been much better by now. I am here though pulling for ya.

I know we all would like to see the ST come back on the forum pages again, but you know, YOU are the most important part about this, not the ship. I think that we all want to see you improve for yourself and your family, the other stuff is just stuff. Focus on yourself and I don't think it will hurt for you to take pain medication. That is what all that is therefore to help take the edge off of things.

Donnie
 
Donnie,

Thanks for your thoughts. The problem with the pills is they mask any new problems. I have to do daily self examines on my feet now to make sure nothing additional is going wrong with them. While it is not good to be in pain all the time, I at least know when something new pops up. I don't know that there will be any improvements for me. The neuropathy has gotten worse over the past 10 months. So all I can do is deal with it. I have heard of one drug that allows the nerves to regenerate BUT some of the side affects can potentially screw up my heart and the diabetes. Two things I already have problems with.

To add to my problems, the VA has become a real issue in approving my claim. I spent months developing what is called a Fully Developed Claim only to have them lose part of it after I turned it in. Fortunate for me I had anticipated something like this and had multiple copies of the report made. So I turned in a second complete copy of it. My next step will be to contact Senator John McCain if this keeps up. He is very strong on correcting the problems with the VA, especially in Arizona.

I miss working on the ST. It was the one thing I had really set my sites on doing in my "golden years". I am going to give her a try again but I am not sure how successful I will be. One thing for sure, it will be slow going.

Well gotta go.

Don
 
Ahoy Mateys,

Well whatta you know? Old Don is still alive. It has been a tough two years. My health has gotten progressively worse but using the Veterans Administration philosophy; if you throw enough drugs at a problem, it will either help you or get you to a point that you don’t know you have a problem. In my case, it has been a combination of both plus a lot of mental and physical therapy.

It troubles me that I have not been able to work on the ST. I have somehow parleyed finishing the ST into a reason for living plus my dog broke his foot a month ago, so he needs me.

DSC00302-1.jpg
We have been trying to answer the question: Which one of us is alpha dog? If I follow the rules, Jake (my dog) should be put in a cage so he will not hurt his foot running and wear a Queen Elisabeth collar for 6 to 8 weeks so he will not chew his cast off. I managed to convince him not to chew on the cast and his foot is just too sore to run on. So no cage and no queen’s collar. I think we are both much happier for the effort. Still don't have an answer on alpha dog.

Anyway, since this is not the forum for this, on with the ST.

DSC00260-1.jpg
I have been studying the galleries on my ST and have decided I don’t like them. Some of my concerns are:

1. I am not sure the cabins should be white. I have seen some where the ceiling is white and the walls are some wood color. Others; the entire
cabin is in wood tones.

2. All those windows on the port and starboard sides and I have walls blocking the view. Seems to me the walls should be removed.

3. The cabins are too bare. I need more goodies in there.

While I realize you are not going to see much of it once the stern plate is installed, I still think I could improve on what I have done. I have looked at 50 or so renderings of 17th and 18th century captain’s quarters. The general consensus has been wood tones. Since there is little documentation on the ST, I guess it can be whatever I want; within reason.

I am thinking blow off the walls, go wood tones and add a few more goodies.

Anyway, it is good to be back, I hope. I am limited on what I can do with my hands but I think I can function. Just will take a little longer.

Later,

Don
 
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Hi Don. it is good to see you back again. Go with the wood look but make it a light colored wood
Regarding the collar, I had carpal tunnel operation done on both hands and was offered the collar, I knocked it back saying the operation was on my hands and there is nothing wrong with my head.....actually let me go away and think about that for a while!! (hysterical laughter)

Regards
Eric
 
Don,
it is great to hear from you again. I think you have gone beyond the norm with the gallery. I think you would be the only one that I know of that has attempted such a feat with this box.

Donnie
 
Eric & Donnie,

Thanks guys. I think I can do better with the galleries. At least with the color and a few more goodies. I have looked at this off and on for the past two years and finally feel I can do it. I can see it in my mine and think I can turn this vision into tiny pieces of wood. With all the therapy, I don't shake as much as I use to. I need to accomplish something besides waking up every morning.

If it doesn't turn out, I can always put it back the way it was. First, I will deconstruct the galleries, then take out the side walls. From that point, I will know for sure. Hopefully I will have some pictures by Friday.

Later,

Don
 
Hi Don. The galleries look good and I think you can safely take down the walls because, certainly on the Victory, they were designed to be quickly removable in the event of rigging for battle. It is said that the panels could then be used as makeshift stretchers! I posted some pictures in the 'Real Ships For Reference' section of my visit last year to both the Victory and Trincomalee. If you scan through those there are some photos of the cabins of both ships which might prompt some ideas. Keep well and regards to Jake.
 
Thanks Graham,

Very interesting. I was not aware that the walls could be removed and used for another purpose. In my case, for this build, I will be happy if I can remove the walls and make it look natural. I was more concerned with the walls being there for protection in a fire fight. If the walls could be removed ( like on the Victory) and used as a stretcher, then they would not be much good for protection anyway.

Thanks for the input. It is quite helpful.

Later,

Don
 
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