Testing Med's metal

It was more than a year ago that the team at Dawson Moreland & Associates, builders of these new Lunenburg Schooners, were contacted by New Hampshire-based blacksmith Med Chandler with an intriguing offer.

Med, whom we'd met at the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic in 2010, wanted to give us a full set of his hand-forged caulking irons to 'road test' on our twin schooners.

A former tall ship sailor who started blacksmithing at The Fort At No. 4 living history museum at Charlestown, NH in 2003 and honed his craft while working on traditional vessels like the replicas Discovery and HMS Bounty at the Booth Bay Shipyard, Med recently established his own forge.

He specializes in maritime work including traditional tools and hardware, but also makes handsome fixtures for land-based lives as well. Check out Ship's Coy Forge at www.shipscoyforge.com

Med and his wife Mo took some rare time off last summer to visit the twin schooners and The Dory Shop while attending the Lunenburg Wooden Boat Reunion. At that point, we'd used some of his irons to caulk the decks of the schooners. But the real test of his metal (see, I didn't mean mettle after all!) is taking place right now!

Working away in the grey

There's no such thing as spring in Nova Scotia. I'm not saying that to complain. It's just a simple fact. Spring here is a fiction, something Canadian Tire talks about in its commercials so you go out and buy a new lawn mower (and true enough, the grass is growing). But in terms of those bright, sunny, get outdoors and soak up some warmth sort of days - sorry, they don't happen or if they do, they are these cruel one-offs that leave you hungry for more when more isn't available.

And so the gang continues to work under grey skies, often dripping some form of precipitation down upon them. When it's fit (and realize that description is subject to individual interpretation) the gang continues to work on caulking the decks. Tony's also been building the moulded sills for the cargo hatches/skylights.

One exciting development this week was the arrival of a package from Med Chandler, the ironsmith/proprietor of Ship's Coy. Forge in Lisbon, New Hampshire. We met Med at the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic, CT last year. A former crew member of the replica HMS Bounty who undertook his blacksmith training at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, Med has a keen interest in traditional tools.

"In this day and age there are not many sources for the high quality tools that were used 100 years ago," says Med. "The originals are getting harder and harder to find in a fair price and quality. So I am now focusing on supplying builders and sailors with the tools and hardware that was once available so we can do the same work as they did.

Check out his website at http://www.shipscoyforge.com