1930 Schooner MISTRESS

This was the first piece of finish work that went below and I have to tell you, I was very concerned about it.  You see, it is Australian Oak, also referred to as Lace Wood, a beautiful veneer with lots of texture and figure.  I knew it was Skip’s desire to use many types of wood down below and this first one made me nervous.  It was so busy I thought for sure it would make me dizzy.  I was unsure what other wild woods he had planned but remembered him mentioning Zebrawood.  Oh my!  

Skip attempted to reassure me that when the mahogany trim was set into place, it would look fine and not have the same dazzling affect.  I remained skeptical and a wee bit worried.  “What had I done”, I asked myself.  I had let the man loose to use all of his creative talents and now I wondered if letting the artist/craftsman run unabashed and wild, would prove more than I could handle.  I tried to have faith. 

When he varnished it, all its glittering beauty was brought out, full force.  I got on line and ordered cases of Dramamine to prepare myself for my future life aboard this amazing home gone wild.    In the end, Skip was right, but I wouldn’t be able to see it for at least a few years. 

This is all rather funny to me now as I write this because I cannot remember anytime in the past few years that the Lace wood bothered me or caused me any ill affect.  Not a drop of Dramamine has been required to live aboard since we launched MISTRESS.   It really does look good. 

When it was time to carve MISTRESS’s name mid-ship into the hull we decided to use Bookman Old Style for ease of reading so I printed out the letters as templates for Skip.  With a small router and a V groove bit Skip started the carving.  He then finished it by hand with chisels.  You can see the fairing compound under the paint in the above picture.  The hull has been long-boarded to 220 grit, and there are two coats of primer on her. 

The scrollwork took a bit more imagination and the help of another Eastward Schooner owner.  We had the good fortune to meet the owners of Eastward #4 after dropping Tim off at The Ohio State University and taking a side trip to Michigan.  While visiting, Captain Dave and his lovely wife showed us old pictures they had of Wild Goose just after purchasing her.  On the side of the hull was this beautiful scrollwork, which Skip and I took notice of right away.  When MISTRESS arrived in our yard, Skip took great pains to copy all the scrollwork, however, once finished, he realized all four were different.  Over time, they must have changed slightly with each new paint job or repair and we were unsure, which, if any, was right.  This picture I took of a picture of WILD GOOSE, Eastward Schooner #4, before the scrollwork was removed in order to put a goose in its place.  They let us spend the night on her and were most kind to tell us to look throughout WILD GOOSE.  I remember Skip discovering her rock ballast below.  That was cool.  When you ask Skip about THE GOOSE he says he remembers her best as being pristine both above and below decks.  She is beautiful.  

Well luck was with us because it turned out, Captain Dave had made carbon copies of the original scrollwork, had them stored away, and would look for them for us.  He then offered to drop them off to us in St. Augustine when they came to their winter home on the west coast.  Wow!  

When they showed up in Florida, he handed Skip not only the original copies, but the original carbon papers he’d used which were now some thirty years old.  Preserved well, that same carbon paper was used to trace the scrollwork onto MISTRESS so Skip could begin the carving process.  We owe Captain Dave and his wife many thanks for their thoughtfulness.  Over the years, we have had the pleasure of their company on many such trips.  Next time we meet, we sail. 

Once Skip was finished with the scrollwork and her name, he did the cove stripe just as he had done the others, starting with a router and then finished with hand tools. 

It was now time to set her water line and we were fortunate that Rick had just the tool we needed.  A transit is a tool that allows you to sight a level line over a long distance.  Using the measurements taken off MISTRESS when she arrived and an educated guess based on what Skip knew would be done during the rebuild, a point was determined at the bow and the stern.  The transit was used to draw a line between the two points.  Skip then affixed a double line of blue tape.

That evening in just an hour or so, Skip put on a heavy layer of coal tar epoxy under the waterline.  This coating would give MISTRESS a great water barrier and would fill any pinholes in the primer.

Once completed, we both stood back to look at her.  It was amazing how different she looked with her waterline set and the low freeboard was quite evident.  This was the first time we saw the new waterline and we were pleased. 

Something else that happened involved the new stainless steel hawse pipes.  In this picture, you can see a formed hole.  Because the pipes are hollow, Skip decided to wax the insides and filled them with an epoxy mixture designed for high compressive loads.  Once the epoxy cured, he removed the SS hawse pipes, leaving behind perfectly fitted holes giving us a great fit when Skip was ready for the final installation.

 One again, it was time to invite good friends over for a mast party.  It was a beautiful May day.  They lowered the main mast from above MISTRESS and then set it on sawhorses, next to the fore.  Skip would begin working on figuring out what would be needed for her new SS standing rigging and sending out for quotes

They then moved the stairs to allow Skip room for the work he would do on her transom.  Skip would put a drawbridge at the top of the stairs, which reached the aft deck.  This bridge would keep the dogs off MISTRESS now that she was coming along. 

Everyone stood up on the mound and looked at her sheer line for the first time.  Several commented on Skip’s ability to create such a fine sheer when he was unable to get more than four feet away from her hull.  It is now May of 2004 and we believe we will be able to launch her within a year and a half.  I will work full time and Skip will devote almost all his waking hours to her.  MISTRESS has been in our back yard for four years.  Fewer and fewer people believe us crazy.

We then sat in the shade of the pecan trees and enjoyed good food drinks, and many good wooden boat stories.  There was just over 350 years of boat building experience in the yard that day.  Everyone had a great time and we thank all for coming to help-out.   

 By the end of May 2004, Skip has sprayed two coats of Fleet White Awlgrip onto MISTRESS’s port side.  I find it impossible to shoot pictures because of the mirror images, which reflect in the hull, the dog pool, the frames to the building, even the grass. 

We are pleased with the results.  Before she launches however, Skip will brush two additional coats over her. 

Just two days later, a rather intense storm blew through the area breaking a large limb high above MISTRESS’s port side.  Nothing but a small amount of bark was keeping it from crashing down on her new paint job.  Before the wind died down, Skip gathered ladder and line, and headed up into the tree to save MISTRESS. 

By the way, that is Frisky drinking from the dog pool, which often doubled as a soaker when Skip used it to bend hardwoods to his will.

The previous photo showed how high Skip was up the tree.  If you look at his face in this picture, you can see he looks still higher and far out from the center of the tree to the broken limb threatening four years worth of work.  After making a few rope ladders, he was able to get above the broken limb and lasso it, securing it to a larger limb above.  When the limb finally gave way a few days later, it fell a whole three inches.  Skip was then able to lower the limb without disturbing MISTRESS or her new paint.