BUILDING THE BOAT.
While the boys were getting over the excitement attending the vote on
the name of the unbuilt schooner, Captain Gildrock moved the table on
which the model of the craft stood to the front of the platform, where
all could see it. It was a very graceful form, and the nautical boys
were sure that the schooner would be a fast sailer.
"I told you before," said the principal, "that this model was
constructed on a new plan; but I have since learned that the idea is not
as original as I supposed it was, and that boats have been built by this
method. I supposed I should be the first to introduce it, but I find I
am not, though the model-maker had never made one before.
"The plans are drawn and the model made on the scale of one inch to a
foot. Whatever measures an inch in the plan or model measures a foot in
the boat. Every stick in the craft will therefore be twelve times the
size it is in this model. The Lily will have a beam of thirteen feet,
which is a little more than one-third of the length.
"This model is made of soft pine and mahogany. The ribs are to be
twenty-one inches from the centre of one to the centre of the next one.
What looks to you like the space between the timbers, or ribs, is pine.
The mahogany strips, which are comparatively narrow, represent the
timbers. The pieces are transverse sections of the hull, made separately
and put together.
"This is the stem," continued the principal, detaching the piece from
the model. "A model of it is to be made of soft wood, enlarged to twelve
times the size of this piece. Removing a piece of the pine, we come to a
mahogany section. As the bow is round, these sections radiate from a
shorter line on the keel than the horizontal line above it on the deck
would be."
The captain held up one of these diagonal sections, the top or deck part
of which was in the shape of a triangle with a very acute angle. The
parts were in pairs, one belonging on each side of the bows.
"The outer edge of this half section gives the shape of the bow where
this piece belongs. If you lay it on a smooth board, you can mark from
it the exact curve of the timber which is to go where this piece is
taken out. It must be enlarged to twelve times the size of the section.
Of course the outer surface of the section only is of any use to you;
but having obtained the exact shape of the outside, the rib may be made
of any width and thickness we wish."
The principal removed several of the diagonal half sections, all of
which were to be treated like the first one. At the widest part of the
model he came to pieces which were of uniform thickness. These were also
in pairs, separated on the vertical plane above the keel. The lines of
the outer surface in these half sections were to be transferred and
enlarged as before, and the mould or pattern was to be made from them.
In this manner the model was pulled to pieces, and from the edges of the
transverse sections the shape of the craft was to be obtained. The
stern-post, stern-knees and transoms were to be shaped in the same way.
The captain stated that the model represented the craft after she was
planked, and it would be necessary, in drafting the moulds, to allow for
its thickness.
Mr. Jepson then took the platform and explained in what manner the
outlines of the half sections were to be enlarged. To give all the
details would take a whole volume, and doubtless it would be very dry
reading to most young people. Only an idea of how the work was to be
done can be given, and those who wish to build such a craft as the Lily,
or even a boat or a canoe of a third of her length, need full drawings
and very minute explanations.[A]
These lectures used up the rest of the afternoon. The next day was
devoted to making the moulds. At the end of ten days the frame was ready
to set up. The keel was laid down at an angle of three-quarters of an
inch to the foot, so that it would readily slide off when the time came
to launch it. The boys had been studying on the subject, and the
principal had supplied the library with all the available works. They
labored very hard because they were very deeply interested.
Setting up the frame was an exceedingly exciting labor with them; but
when it was up they found the shape corresponded with the model. Some
had done their work better than others, and here and there it was
necessary to do considerable fitting. In another week the frame was
ready for the planking. Captain Gildrock gave frequent lectures on the
proper methods of doing the work, and explained the construction of
larger vessels than the Lily.
A part of the Champlain mechanics, as they still called themselves,
worked in the shop, and a part in the building-shed. There were a great
many bolts of iron and copper, and a great many metal plates, braces and
straps to be prepared, which gave abundant employment to the machinists,
who had been instructed by the head of this department in forge-work, as
well as filing and turning.
The carpenters had plenty to do in the shop, with abundant opportunity
to learn many things which are not required in the ordinary experience
of such mechanics. There was also room enough for the exercise of their
inventive powers.
With so many enthusiastic workmen, who found abundant variety in their
operations as the schooner advanced towards completion, the planking was
soon finished. Then a dozen of the carpenters went to work upon it with
the smoothing-planes, and the outer surface was made as smooth as a
floor.
The hull rested in the cradle which had been erected for it, and the
tops of the timbers were secured in their places by cross-stays. So far,
little or nothing had been said about the interior of the hull, for the
reason that the frame and planking had absorbed all the attention of the
workmen. The next step was to put in the deck-beams, and secure the
shelves on which they were to rest.
"Now, boys, we must decide upon the plan for the inside of the
schooner," said the principal, when he had called the students together
in the building-shed. "What accommodations shall we provide on board?"
"A cabin and a standing-room," replied Life Windham.
"Like the Goldwing," suggested Matt Randolph.
"The Goldwing contains a cabin, cook-room and standing-room. We can have
all these on a larger scale in the Lily; and there will be space in the
run for a store-room and ice-house, with a door into it from the cabin."
"Behind the steps at the companion-way," added Matt.
"There is no other way to reach it unless you put a scuttle in the floor
of the standing-room, which is liable to leak," replied the principal.
"The steps can be hung on hinges and turn up, but I think it is better
to slip them back out of the way. How long will you have the cabin?"
"How much clear space have we inboard?" asked Luke Bennington.
"About thirty feet, after allowing for the bend of the bows and the rake
of the stern," answered the principal.
"Cabin fourteen feet, I should say," continued Luke. "That will leave
eight feet besides the overhang for the standing-room, and the same for
the cook-room."
"That was my calculation," replied Captain Gildrock. "Then we want a
trunk fourteen feet long, which may be about nine feet wide on the main
deck. This will make a very roomy apartment for a lake craft. On each
side of it we must build up transoms, or divans, for seats or berths. As
we have no centreboard in the middle of it, there will be nothing in our
way." "Why didn't we build a centreboard boat?" asked Matt Randolph.
"I think a keel boat is safer and stiffer. In Lake Champlain we have
plenty of water, though we shall draw about five feet aft. There are
shoal places, but there isn't the least need of running over them."
"In a centreboard boat, if you get aground, there is a chance for you to
work off when you cannot in a keel," said Matt.
"That is very true; but I think the stiffness of the keel craft more
than compensates for the advantage of light draft in these waters."
The principal then made a drawing to illustrate the method of putting in
the beams and the knees that were to support them. As only a portion of
the beams could extend entirely across the boat, on account of the
elevation of the trunk, it required careful work and planning to secure
the necessary strength. But this problem had been solved by the
instructors, and the descriptions of the timbers were obtained.
In a few days more the frame of the trunk and deck was in place. While a
part of the workmen were planking the deck, the rest were putting down
the floor of the cabin, and building the transoms. Before the 1st of
July the work on the hull was completed. The boys had contrived a great
many lockers in the cook-room and cabin, for the storage of dishes and
cooking utensils, and for everything needed on board.
Inside and outside, all hands went over the work with sandpaper. A gang
of calkers had already filled the seams with oakum. Tar, pitch, and
putty had been used where they were needed, and no one considered it
possible for the craft to leak a drop.
A thin coat of lead color was then put on the outside, and one of white
inside. The boys had some skill in painting, for they had been called
upon to do all kinds of work, from laying brick up to tinkering a watch.
Several coats were given to the whole, but the last two on the outside
were of black.
Captain Gildrock had decided to have an iron false keel added, partly to
protect the wood and partly to serve as ballast. A pattern of the
casting had been made and sent up to Port Henry to be cast. It was in
one piece, and weighed over a ton. Of course, it had to be bolted on
before the Lily was launched. It was too heavy and cumbrous to be
transported on the Sylph; but Mr. Miker had to deliver a cargo of stone
at Port Henry, and it could be brought down on the gundalow. It was
nothing but fun for the students to tow the unwieldy craft about the
lake, and the next Saturday holiday was to be used for this purpose.
At eight o'clock in the morning the Sylph, fully manned by the students
this time, started out of the creek with her tow. Paul Bristol had been
assigned to a place as a deck hand on board, and he had made several
trips in the steamer. On the present occasion he had asked to be
excused, in order to attend to some work for his mother.
For two weeks before, Lily had been at work for Mr. Bissell, taking the
place of Susy Wellington, who had gone to visit her friends in Albany.
She had written to her mother that she should like to spend Sunday at
home. It was difficult and expensive to get from Westport to Genverres
then, for the steamers did not go up Beaver River.
Paul thought he could manage it. As it was a still day on the lake, he
was going after her in the flatboat, in the afternoon. It was a ten-mile
pull, but he was good for that. He had hauled up the boat after dinner
to put it in order, when he discovered a queer-looking craft coming down
the creek.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] The editor of "Forest and Stream" has prepared a work for
amateurs, called "Canoe and Boat Building," which may be obtained of the
publishers of that valuable paper, or at the bookstores.