Hudson River Sloop Clearwater » Captain’s Log

Clearwater Education Sails

Clearwater Editor — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:10:15 +0000

In this third installment of the Captain’s Log, we get a taste of the flavor of Clearwater’s education sails and hear how Captain Nick Rogers became a tall ship captain and an environmental educator. Again, many thanks to Arthur Jones for sharing his film making talents.

Come See Us on the River!

Clearwater Editor — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:39:54 +0000

Here in the second of the series of video updates from Captain Nicholas Rogers, see highlights from Clearwater’s first passenger sail of the season, our “Power Sail: A Summit for Solutions” that took place on April 6 off Indian Point. During this working sail, government officials, nuclear, seisimic, and environmental experts, as well as regional stakeholders, worked to address our need to move from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Also see the sloop’s arrival at 79th Street Boat Basin in NYC and check out the ”person overboard” safety drill. Captain Nick introduces the 2011 Clearwater sail season with his invitation to “Come see us on the river!”
Many thanks to Arthur Jones for sharing his filmmaking talents!

Preparing to Set Sail for 2011

Clearwater Editor — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:24:53 +0000

As Captain Nick says, “Welcome to the end of our winter season, and the beginning of our spring season!”
The first of many video updates from Clearwater and Captain Nicholas Rogers. Watch as the Clearwater crew makes preparations to get ready to set sail for the 2011 season! Many thanks to Arthur Jones for sharing his filmmaking talents!

Back in the Shipyard

Captain Samantha Heyman — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:44:12 +0000

It’s been a long season, full of crazy weather, technical difficulties, a stream of skilled relief captains (so yours truly could run off and get married), and of course, thousands of students. And now, as winter approaches (quicker than many expected, I imagine), the crew’s attention turns from outward to inward and focuses soley on the needs of the sloop. And just like the Beatles tune, we get by with a little help from our friends…starting with our friends at Norwalk Cove Marina.

With them we have a professional yard with a quick haul and splash and a good spot on the hard to get our work done. After a great meeting and inspection with our colleagues at the Coast Guard we thankfully have a very short work list. At the top of that list are repairs to the rudder, of obvious importance to safe navigation, and a full refinishing of the hull.

After the extensive work and time out of the water last winter, the best thing to do for the old girl this year is to get her out and get her right back in with a couple of fresh coats of paint, and that is exactly what Captain Nick and the crew are about as you read this.

Scraping and sanding off old copper bottom paint and slapping on almost 2000 square feet of new environmentally responsible bottom paint from our friends at E-Paint in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

As of now, the weather reports show clear, relatively warm days, perfect weather to get the job done. If Mother Nature holds up her end of the bargain, then we ought to be ready to float again within days, be bound up the Hudson shortly thereafter, and snug at our winter home with our friends at Lynch’s Marina in Saugerties before the end of next week. Amidst the tough task of stuffing our faces with turkey will be down-rigging the sloop, building the winter shed, and setting up both the workshop and the crew’s winter home aboard the houseboat. A healthy list, but one this team will carry out efficiently and skillfully.

Be sure and stay tuned for updates on our open boat parties this winter, with live music, food and tours of the sloop and we’ll see you down on the creek.

Let the games begin…

Captain Samantha Heyman — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:02:44 +0000

There are times when there are so many things going on it’s difficult to focus on any one thing and drastic steps need to be taken, like posting a 24×36 inch whiteboard in my office writing out six category headings, then filling up the ENTIRE whiteboard with each particular task to be addressed or accomplished within the upcoming weeks. There was:

BOAT (with things like Coast Guard Inspections and scheduling),

CREW (paperwork, uniforms, training, etc.),

FINANCIAL (paying the shipwrights and submitting our grant paperwork),

OUTREACH (planning our open house parties & upcoming Five Boro Bike Tour fundraising team),

PURCHASING (things like 18 new mattresses & their covers and 15 gallons of environmentally-friendly bottom paint)

WEDDING (my own, and many of you know what a project that can be);

and it seemed that each time I crossed off one task, another took it’s place. I spent about a month and a half with my head on the verge of spinning right off .

And then it stops, and there are times when it doesn’t matter what else is going on and there is only ONE thing to focus on – the boat going back in the water. On Monday, April 12th with the crew standing by on board the tug, we cast off docklines from Lynch’s Marina and the barge, sloop and tug headed north to Albany.

Bound out Esopus Creek

Northbound at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge

After one and a half days that contained only JUST enough hours to get the hull prepped and painted, we were ready to float.

In the lift and ready to float

Now a wooden boat that has spent 5+ months high and dry will leak when it goes back in the water. Much like a sponge, wood expands when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries out. That expansion, working in conjunction with the cotton and oakum materials that are driven into the seams between the planks is what creates the watertight skin of the hull. The problem is that UNLIKE a sponge, the process for a wooden boat, called swelling, takes a bit of time. We had extra pumps standing by and the crew was prepped and ready for standing overnight watch. Once the slings are on and secure and Eric (the foreman) has the travelift fired up and humming, we have to turn the operation over to his expertise and watch patiently as he lowers the Sloop slowly into the water.

Going...

And in!

There was certainly a fair bit of pumping to do for the next 24-48 hours, but thanks to the high quality of the materials and craftsmanship and the resiliency of our hull, we saw the steady flow of the first few hours taper down to a mere trickle within a day. And within two days we were back at the Town dock in Saugerties and back to our regular pumping routine.

Up next, dressing our rig for sailing! Classroom of the Waves here we come!

Signs of Spring and a million little things…

Captain Samantha Heyman — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:24:10 +0000

Here is a quick log to get everyone up to speed on how things are going up at the boat. This time of year is always hectic, and with the wrap-up of our bow restoration, this year has proven no different. A week and a half ago we welcomed friends and strangers to celebrate the installation of the final plank with us – a watershed moment. But for us it was only the beginning of the end – a million little tasks were lined up and are in the process of getting knocked down to go from bare new hull to floating and sailing with students.

The completed bow - port side

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity: The carpenters with their power planers and heavy-duty sanders completed the final shaping and smoothing of each plank to it’s neighbor;

Wayne and his power tools

caulker Chris Nelson finished driving in the flexible and compressible cotton and oakum that goes between the seams of the planks to create a full watertight barrier, while the crew gave some attention to the old seams; thousands of feet of seam compound – a substance closely resembling silly putty or window glazing – went in over top of that oakum to protect it;

Getting putty in all those feet of seams

and all the bare spots (like the entire bow, for example) got a primer coat of paint.

the new hull planking primed

Many folks have been giddily enjoying their first views of the tulips coming up and the buds on the trees, but here on Clearwater, we have our own special signs of spring. The entire shed – our big, white cocoon – was dismantled and neatly stowed in the loft of the warehouse at Lynch’s. The rest of the oak stock (for use in future projects) – three piles 9ft. tall by 30 ft. long – was transported and stowed with our friends at the Cantine’s Island co-housing property. Our crew moved into their bunks and the cook moved into the galley – hurrah!

Ready for meals in the galley

The galley tools find their place

Our bobstay and bobchain and other rigging was secured in place ready to bear the load of our enormous sail area.

Rig monkeys getting gear secure on the bowsprit

Fuel and water was taken on for the upcoming trip north to Albany and Matt and his tugboat Cornell tied up alongside and started disconnecting the barge from it’s moorings. Soon we would be on our way back upriver to Scarano’s boatyard so that, with the use of a 150-ton travelift, the hull of Clearwater, old and new, could be reunited with the waters of the Hudson River after a long 5 months apart. Stay tuned for a photo gallery of the myriad finishing touches and another log coming soon, with photos of our northbound trip and launch.

A great Shutter Day Bash and more great stuff in store.

Captain Samantha Heyman — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:28:40 +0000

A beautiful day was the setting for our shutter day celebration. We were joined by friends and newcomers to watch the final two planks go in! Over 150 people came down to Lynch’s Marina in Saugerties with enthusiasm, praise and lots of questions.

The crowd getting a close up of the hull

Kids and parents alike were able to get “hands-on” with the tools and materials we used for the restoration like the white oak planking, the shipsaw used to cut it and the cotton and oakum that goes in between the planks.

Captain Nick training up a new shipwright

They were standing by when the steam rushed from the steambox as the crew and shipwrights pulled the planks out and fitted them into place on the hull.

The plank coming out of the steambox

In 15 short minutes, they watched a crew, now quite adept and efficient at this task, drill over forty holes and drive in over forty 1/4” thick galvanized nails to securely fasten the last planks.

Drilling holes

Shutter day is the day that the VERY LAST PLANK (the “Shutter Plank” – because it “shuts” the hole in the hull) goes in and gets fastened to the new hull. It is a tradition for the shipwrights to share this momentous event with the community and signals the near completion of an enormous project. Check back for a new Photo Gallery with lots of photos from this wonderful day!

There are many finishing details that will quickly follow now in the upcoming days. The caulker will hammer cotton and oakum into the seams, those seams will get filled with putty, the new planks will get faired – sanded down smooth – and primed and painted. The Coast Guard will come and inspect the work – most of it more extensive than what was asked of us. And within the next two weeks, the tug will come alongside the barge, hoist the spuds – the vertical I-beams that now secure the barge in place – and tow us back up to Albany where we will launch the boat for the 2010 sailing season.

Shortly thereafter our crew will get the rig back on and we will be sailing again in no time. Our first official day with passengers will be May first for the “Ship to Shore Shad Bake” festival with our partners at the Palisades Interstate Park at Alpine Boat Basin.

After a great winter of public interaction, we can’t wait to take everyone out sailing. See you on the water!

Some boatbuilding basics…

Captain Samantha Heyman — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:00:53 +0000

Hi all you landlubbers, armchair sailors and wooden boat enthusiasts! I wanted to shoot a quick log out there for a little restoration wrap-up review; just a few words and photos about some of the processes used in this monumental project. I’ll start from the beginning…

Felling a tree -

Our Board President, Allan Shope is a renowned sustainable architect and builder and a master at scouting for trees. On a trip to Ohio he found a stand (a grouping) of old white oak trees that he believed would be perfect for our restoration project. White Oak is highly prized in the boatbuilding industry because it is exceptionally strong and rot-resistant. When Allan went looking for trees, he wanted something very tall and very straight, and that’s what he found.

Arrival of the first tree

Milling a tree -

Once the tree is cut down, it is transported to a mill to be cut into usable pieces. A wood mill is essentially a big sideways saw and some can even be put on a trailer and driven around – though those are usually for smaller jobs. Some mills will cut the trunks down into many smaller pieces, standard sizes for everyday lumber. But for our project, Captain Nick, Shipwright Jim Kricker, and Allan kept the cutting rough so that Nick and Jim could do the more detailed sizing at the boat. What they found when they started milling the trees was even better than they had imagined – beautiful tight grain (which means a stronger plank) and very few knots. Knots, the result of old branches, are an interruption in the flow of the grain and a weakness in the plank. The lumber was milled in two different thicknesses; 4+inches to become frame stock (remember the frames are the ribs of the hull), and 2.5+” to become plank stock (the skin of the hull). Once the milled stock gets to the shop at Lynch’s it will be run through a large power planer to refine the thickness piece by piece.

The mill about to cut

Cutting, shaping & installing frames and planks -

In rebuilding a hull, the frames, made up of a number of “futtocks”, have to go in first – they are the ribs to which the planks get fastened. The process is a little more straight forward than that of re-planking.

FRAMES: 1. Get the old futtock out while leaving its neighbor in tact. 2. Take a very thin piece of plywood, called luan, and trace then cut a template. 3. Place template on oak stock and trace the outline. 4. Take your oak stock over to the shipsaw (a large rotating power saw), we recommend having a friend or two help carry the lumber, and cut out your new futtock. 5. Use a planer (manual or power, depending on the amount of trimming you need to do) to trim the sides to the right shape and angle – not too many right angles in our hull. 6. Clamp your futtock in place, drill your holes (with a very long drill bit), get your galvanized nuts and bolts in and secure. Now do that again – 30 TIMES.

Shipwright Wayne Ford installing a futtock

PLANKS: 1. Take a piece of luan and tack it up adjacent to an existing plank (either above or below). 2. Use a constant unit of measurement, usually a few inches, down (or up, if your luan is above the existing plank) to describe (draw) a line on the luan that represents the shape of the edge of the existing plank. This is called spiling and it is the method used to determine the shape of the new plank. One cannot simply “trace” the shape of an old plank as with the frames, because of the length and variety of shape found in planking. 3. Place the luan on top of the oak stock and measure back up from the line or markings on the luan to get the line you must cut for the edge of your plank that will be immediately adjacent to the existing plank. 4. Measure down from that line to draw the lower edge of the plank. 5. Head back to the shipsaw to cut the piece. 6. Use power and hand planes to shape the edges of the plank to fit with its neighbor (and create a space for the caulking – more on that next log). 7. Place the finished plank in the steam box for a couple hours – white oak is stiff and strong, and the steaming renders it flexible enough to be able to bend to the curve of the hull. 8. Remove the plank from the steam box and muscle, bend and clamp it into place – quickly. 9. Drill two holes, diagonal from each other, at each frame. 10. Finally you get to take a big old sledgehammer and drive in the galvanized boat nails used to secure the plank to the frames. Whew, I’m exhausted just from writing about it, try doing that twice a day like our team has been doing.

Planks filling in the port side from the top and bottom

The finishing touches -

Getting all the frames and planks built and installed is far from the end of the project. All kinds of jobs follow, like caulking, fairing, priming and painting, but we’re not quite there yet. You’ll have to stay tuned for the next log to follow the last bit of our path back into the water. But for now, you can check out another photo gallery and come celebrate with us as the last plank goes in this Saturday at our last Open Boat and Family Day in Saugerties.

Coming down the home stretch!

Captain Samantha Heyman — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:43:43 +0000

Not to disparage my previous logs, but I’m pretty psyched to write this one. There is some really amazing stuff going on at Clearwater, none of it by me. While I have been squeezing in wedding plans between crew hiring – we’ve got a great group this Spring – and funding paperwork (just as important, though not as much fun as talking to crew), my colleagues and crew have been busy as beavers.

In my last log, the crew and shipwrights were turning the corner from frames, the inner skeleton, to planks, the carefully crafted skin that keeps the water out and the air in. And the progress is rolling along. Some extra carpenters have joined in and the step by step process of measuring, cutting, shaping, steaming, bending, fitting and fastening is returning our Sloop to herself.

Check out these great progress photos of the port bow!

Planks removed and two futtocks on their way in

More new frames than old!

All the new frames and the first new planks

It’s a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but we have a spectacular team on the job. The work is fascinating to behold and the results will be on display for the public at our next open boat on April 3 from noon to 6PM. I hope everyone can come up to Saugerties for the last chance in a long while to see the sloop, all 69 tons, out of the water.

And now for something completely different… my hard-working colleague, Education Director Dave Conover, is on an amazing adventure, and has been keeping me posted each step of the way. Some of you may recall the two exciting and emotional sails we did with a group of students from Greenland. These kids were amazing to have aboard and their culture was a source of wonderment to all of us Valley-dwellers. Well, Dave took that interest to the next level and arranged a two-week visit from our home to theirs in Uummanaq, Greenland. After several jet-lagged, cold and rainy hours in Copenhagen, he was off by planes, trains, automobiles, boats AND helicopters to spend some time in the Greenland community. He will follow this log up with his own report, but here a few photos to whet your whistle:

The miracle of modern technology enabled a mass video phone call between our office and Dave in Ummanaq and it was an inspirational experience for everyone involved.

And this is just a slice of the exciting things going on here at Clearwater – so come join us at the boat, on the water, at the new office and at Revival and be a part of the fun!

- Captain Sam

And the work continues…

Captain Samantha Heyman — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:20:16 +0000

While we peck away at our computer keyboards in the Beacon office, our faithful crew and shipwrights have been continuing their hard work up at the boat. If December was all about setup and January was all about demolition, February was the month of frames. From the woodpile to the saw to the plane, one by one, each futtock has been measured, shaped and fastened in place. Tired, rotten frames came out and new, strong ones replaced them. These new frames will provide the solid foundation upon which hundreds of feet of new planking will be laid in the upcoming weeks.

BEFORE

AFTER

And while the futtocks were being churned out, another single, but oh so crucial, piece of timber was measured, cut and skillfully installed – and with no small amount of team effort. Though we thankfully discovered the stem itself to be in great shape, the “stem knee”, the piece that connects the stem to the keel, was ready to go. So Captain Nick and Master shipwright Jim Kricker picked the perfect piece of lumber and got to work. Straight forward to create, yet complicated to remove and install, this key piece of the puzzle got the attention it deserved and a shiny new stem knee now graces the interior bow of the Sloop.

Doesn'l look like much, but it takes a truck to hoist this piece!

And all that was on display for the hardy souls who came out to our February potluckand open boat on Saturday. While the office in Beacon looked like this…

2-3ft.of snow covered everything in Beacon

Saugerties only saw some slushy rain, and more than thirty-five supporters visited us at Lynch’s for a hearty potluck feast and the jumping bluegrass tunes of Rich Hines and the Hillbilly Drifters. The jam session carried on into the night as ever, and we warmed up a chilly winter day with good food and good friends and another successful open boat party.

If you couldn’t make it up to the boat on Saturday but are curious as to what goes on up there, look for more photos in the Sloop’s photo gallery. Also, check back at the website for information on our next Open Boat & Family Day in March. It’s an exciting time up in Saugerties this year and we’re thrilled to share it with you!