Folks travelling along
Lunenburg's Montague Street just after lunch today smiled, and in some cases scratched their heads, to see five men walking a deck house down the road.
Their destination? The Dory Shop Boatyard where the house was carefully lifted and placed aboard the westernmost of our twin schooners - the one being built for actor Billy Campbell.
You see, Billy (currently starring in the
AMC hit,
The Killing) and Captain Dan are sailing into
Lunenburg tomorrow aboard the
Barque Picton Castle as the ship returns from a triumphant 30,000-mile voyage around the world. Both are anxious to see what progress has been made on the vessels, and in Billy's case, he won't have much time before he must jet off to work in Hollywood, so Dave wanted a chance for him to see the deck house and also ensure the cabin will accommodate his 6' 4" height.
And so for the last number of weeks, one of our schooner crew, Tony
Chaplik, has been working blessedly out of the rain in a shop just up the road from The Dory Shop.
Tony's the perfect guy to be building these pieces. With nearly 40 years experience as a cabinet maker, builder of fine furniture and boatbuilder, he's inspired by the challenge of the project.
"Making a part and then putting the parts together, whether a chair or a boat or a house, it's very satisfying," says Tony, who started his career in a cabinet shop in Maine. He then worked at the Paul E. Luke Boatyard in Boothbay before spending two years at the prestigious North Bennet Street School in Boston.
The oldest craft and trade school in America, that was "a real hot spot to be," says Tony. "We did a lot of hand work. It was definitely not your average trade school."
Tony went on to operate his own shop, Marblehead Cabinetmakers, which produced fine furniture, cabinetry, exquisite circular staircases and always, always there was boat work.
While operating a sawmill business, he was introduced to master boatbuilder Harold Burnham. He cut practically all the wood for the schooner Thomas E. Lannon and joined Harold as a full-time carpenter on the Pinky Schooner Fame. He also worked at the New York mill shop Big Tree, doing commission pieces, including very fine furniture, doors, windows and trim work for upscale apartments in the city.
Asked what it is that motivates him, Tony shrugs. "I just like buildings things..particularly things that are difficult and demand that they're done right."
Now doesn't that sound like just the right guy for our schooners?
The masts for these 48-foot schooners are being fashioned from spruce trees, and are 50 feet in length and 12 inches in diameter. They're being shaped by adze and are traditional in every respect. Says Captain Dan, "There are 40 and 50-year-old schooners sailing around these parts still with their original masts." That says something about quality!
Gabe made a comment about our "multi-colour boats" today. He was working with Dave to install one of the cap rails, which are fashioned from Purpleheart. Below him on the port side, Eva and Gerald were sealing seams with wax on the hull of the first of the twin schooners that we caulked - green wax no less! - and then applying another coat of grey primer to her bottom. 
Although we never know when the weather may turn, we do know that the local groundhog, Shubenacadie Sam, did not see his shadow yesterday and that's supposed to mean that we'll have an early spring. Just what "early spring" means in Nova Scotia is, of course, anyone's guess.
"The gap's getting smaller!," Bub said, biting into the slice of pizza that was his lunch today (sorry Bub, no secrets in the blogosphere!). And he's right. The gap is steadily closing and before you know it, it will be time for that very momentous occasion - the shutter plank ceremony. A la deux in the case of our twin schooners. Stay tuned! 
Canadian musican David Wilcox sang about "laying pipe all night long," but for the twin schooner gang it's hanging plank all day long. And wow, are they making progress! Check out these latest shots from down in the Dory Shop Boatyard and remember you can click on the photo for an enlarged view.
It seems like forever since we have posted anything to this Twin Schooner blog. And in fact it has been a month and a half.
That changes now that Dave is back at work (and so happy to have a camera in his face as you can see at below) and planking can begin in earnest.
Over the summer, Bub did a superb job finishing the decks, by the way. We also had a couple of hatches made by Kevin at Lahave Marine Woodworking. Constructed of Wana with Purpleheart runners, they're really gorgeous and work like a charm. 
An email over the weekend asked what was up with the lack of new photographs here on the Twin Schooners construction blog. "Is it vacation time?," it asked. 
Folks travelling along Lunenburg's Montague Street just after lunch today smiled, and in some cases scratched their heads, to see five men walking a deck house down the road.
And so for the last number of weeks, one of our schooner crew, Tony Chaplik, has been working blessedly out of the rain in a shop just up the road from The Dory Shop.
