ZEEHAEN 1639, 1:37.5, Dutch fluit from Dutch Explorer Abel J. Tasman by Marcus

[flying_dutchman2]

Thanks for the well wishes Uwek and Steef66.
Marcus

 

[Uwek]

The Zeehaen, a Dutch fluit used by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. But first some historical background information of a Fluit.

Shipbuilders, skippers and other curious people, from near and from far, travelled to Hoorn in Noord Holland to look at the new ship. A prominent merchant, Pieter Janszoon Liorne, had turned his view of the ideal merchant vessel into reality. By the end of the sixteenth century there existed a ship type called a fluit, which had some specific characteristics.

Seen from the side a fluit looks just like any old three-masted sailing ship. The mainmast and the foremast have square sails and the aftermost mizzenmast has a triangular lateen-sail occasionally supplemented with some smaller sails on the bowsprit and mizzenmast.

The particularities of the fluit’s hull become apparent when seen from above or from astern. From above the outline of the hull appears as a rectangle box with slightly rounded corners. Seen in cross section the sides of the hull slope inwards, so-called ‘tumble-home’, which result in very narrow upper works. The rounded lower parts of the stern are crowned by a narrow flat transom, giving it a pronounced pear-shape. It might be that this shape, which stern-on gave the impression that the after works looked something like a thinly shaped glass, a flute, is the origin of the name.

The Dutch fluit was a classic merchant ship of the 17th century. It was built to be economical in operation, carrying the largest cargo and smallest crew possible. The rigging was designed to be sailed and operated with proportionally small crews (12 to 13) , and its narrow upper deck was designed to evade Danish customs dues when passing through the sound in to the Baltic, where duties were levied according to the size of the breadth of the deck.

There are several reasons for building a hull of this shape. Keeping the center of gravity low is perhaps the most obvious. The idea that the hull shape of the fluit was adjusted to cut costs probably derives from the general reputation of the Dutch merchants at the time. Creating a ship type that kept costs to a minimum becomes just another way to confirm their superiority and skill when it came to making profit.

The fluit was a total success. From the end of the 16th century to the mid 18th century fluits were amongst the most common type of merchant vessels in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. In the Dutch Golden Age, 80% of the ocean going vessels were fluits and were built at an average of 400 to 500 annually. They were easy and cheap to build thanks to standardization of design as well as a technological improvements, such as the sawmill, which was invented by the Dutch.

The fluit was a ‘multi-purpose’ vessel, a ship that with slight adjustments could meet a wide range of demands. Even if the term embraces a range of ships which share some important characteristics, there are variations with important differences. The size of fluits varied considerably. The smallest versions, sometimes referred to as the boot, were 86 feet at most (around 24m), whereas the largest versions were 140 feet (just over 39 m) and larger. Variations of the basic concept did not only affect the size, but included some special features connected to the trades in which these ships were used.

Noortsvaarders or Houthaalders - Woodhauler was developed with ports in the bow and stern for loading long beams and timbers, They were of about 300-350 tons, with simple hulls and an armament of small guns.

Ostervaarders, especially designed for the shallow harbours of the Baltic Sea.

Fransvaerders, Spaensvaerders and the Straetsvaerders, so called because they were used in the trade with France, Portugal or Spain and the Mediterranean (through the straits). From the exterior, they differed from the other varieties through the beakhead

The Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC, (United East India Company), employed a number of fluits.

Fluits were also used as whalers which are easy to distinguish in depictions as they have davits on the sides for lifting whaling boats.

Next, a biography about Abel Tasman

Hallo @flying_dutchman2
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

[Steef66]

Happy birthday Marcus

 

[shota70]

Happy birthday Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

Thanks for the well wishes, Uwek, Steef66 and shota70

 

[flying_dutchman2]

Finished the little boats in 2022 and 2023

 

[flying_dutchman2]

Added sails, oars, the sticks that belong to the windlass in one of the boats.
Tied it all together and will be placed on the Fluit once the masts, sails and rigging is completed. The little boats were difficult to make and the next ones that go on the Heemskerck (War Yacht and sister ship of the Zeehaen) will be made differently.
Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

Crowsnest's are finished. Still need to add pictures of the finished product.

 

[flying_dutchman2]

I did a drawing of the anchors in the scale I needed, painted and added a ring (finished product will get a picture as well.
Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

This summer I started working on the blocks. Using TurboCAD, I took the block plan from the book and used the measurements for the scale I am using.
Copied both the front and side of the blocks and filled the page for printing.
Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

Here is what I mean with filling the page with the blocks.
Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

Cut square and rectangular dowels from walnut on the bandsaw and glued the front of the block on one side and the side of the block on the other side.
They are now ready for drilling using a 1mm diameter bit.

In January of this year, I purchased Guttermann Mara for rope. The colors are Tan and very dark brown. Using the ropewalk from ModelExpo made all types of thickness of the rope. Pictures will follow.
Marcus

 

[Steef66]

Great to see your updates again Marcus. Happy to see you working on the ship again. Welkom terug.

 

[Uwek]

I am looking forward to see your block production ..... very interesting

 

[flying_dutchman2]

I am looking forward to see your block production ..... very interesting

I took the idea about block making from Rob Napier's book, “Reconditioning an Eighteenth-Century Ship Model, Valkenisse Retourschip of 1717,” (Sea Watch, 2008) relates his experiences with repairing and rerigging a rare 300-year-old Dutch model belonging to the Museum of Fine Arts.
Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

As promised, some finished pictures of the above items.
The crow's nest complete with deadeyes. The 3rd picture shows the deadeye incased in metal wire ending with a hole which is for the hook required to hold part of the shroud (don't know what the actual name is).
Marcus

 

[flying_dutchman2]

The Sheet and the Best Bower anchor.

 

[flying_dutchman2]

The following pictures are from The Lake County Fair, Indiana. I am a member of the Northwest Indiana Woodworkers Association and every year we show our woodworking items (scrollsaw, Intarsia, Carvings, Items from the Lathe, etc). I get all the cut-offs from these guys and they give me some large pieces of wood, (cherry, walnut, hard maple, butternut, alder, basswood and much more). All my scratch ships are created from the wood I get which otherwise would be thrown in the burn pile.

The big ship is the Fluit and the smaller one is a Boyer.
Marcus