A deck house parade

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?

Look ma, no plans!

We're very proud to tell people that these twin schooners, being built at The Dory Shop by Dawson Moreland and Associates, are being constructed in a very traditional manner including double-sawn frames, wooden trunnels and the like. Our selection of materials is non-traditional in that rather than using locally sourced lumber, as would have been used in the fishing schooners of years ago, we're being very selective and only employing materials that are very durable and rot resistant, ones that can produce a boat capable of sailing in tropical climates as well as the North Atlantic.

One of the most traditional aspects of the build is the fact that we are building from a wooden half hull designed by Dave Westergard and without benefit of any paper plans. Those plans will come later, once these two schooners are completed, with an eye to the day when someone comes along (can't wait!) wanting to own schooner number 3, 4 or 5 in the class.

Now we've always considered the half hull a thing of great beauty, showing, as it did, the lines from which the schooners are being built. But with the hull coming together, Dave thought it was time to take this little lady to the ship modeller's salon for a little make over. Check out the results below.

Crossing the bar

It is with genuine sadness that we write of the passing of Capt. Matthew Mitchell, 93, of Lunenburg.

Capt. Mitch started his long career fishing in dories at the age of 14, he worked his way up the deck to become a highliner skipper out of Lunenburg, 'retired' to spend another 30 years sharing his experiences with visitors at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and was always just the most lovely, kind, generous and encouraging man one could hope to meet.

In December 2009, Capt. Mitch joined Capt. Phil Watson of the Schooner Bluenose II in driving the ceremonial spikes at the keel laying for these twin schooners. He also visited the boatyard on many occasions to check in on our progress.

Our condolences to his family. He will be missed!

Fair weather work

The sun has finally come out and Bub is taking advantage of it to sand the decks of these twin schooners (and also work on his tan!). Meanwhile, Bob got a coat of primer on the rails.

Hanging plank

Continued wet weather has slowed production on our twin schooners in recent weeks but the guys do what they can, when they can. That includes hanging the first Alaskan Yellow Cedar hull planks and drilling the hole for the rudder shaft on Billy Campbell's schooner (Billy wants a tiller on his boat). So don't let the blue sky in this next picture fool you; it showed up for Bub's birthday (which says something about him, I think), but lasted less than two hours and was gone again.

Introducing the new Lunenburg Schooners website

It's been more than a year and a half since we launched this blog to chronicle the building of two classic wooden schooners here at The Dory Shop Boatyard in historic Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. We really enjoy all of the interest and encouragement we've received concerning the Twin Schooner Project and will continue to provide these glimpses of the work taking place in our yard.
But the Twin Schooners are just the first chapter in what we hope will be a whole new era of traditional wooden boat building here in Lunenburg. It's such an important part of this community's history, such a part of our identity; we want to make it a part of our future as well.
And so to tell you more about our plans and vision, our expertise and capabilities, and of course these two lovely vessels currently underway, we have just launched the new Lunenburg Schooners website at www.lunenburgschooners.com
We hope you enjoy it and encourage you to pass it along to friends and fellow sailors.

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