Brings back memories!

Looking good so far. I notice some of the pins seem well knocked in, you will need to be able to get at their heads to cut them off with side cutters before final smoothing of the hull.

Planking techniques

This link is also useful, I think Zeptrader put it up early on in the life of the forum.

Mike T

How are you doing Cliff

Have you been able to make any progress with your Halifax? If so I'm looking forward to some pistures!

Mike T

The cutty sark is not something i want to do ......but saying that thats a sweet looking build Cliff....top notch...

Hi Cliff

The History of HMS Halifax:

The first thing to say is that there is a mistake in the history on the side of the box. She was NOT the HMS Halifax which was part of the squadron which burnt Falmouth, New Portland, Maine in 1776.

Her origin was in Halifax Nova Scotia. During the Seven Years war British Navy ships provided a link between the settlement of Halifax and the British American territories further south notably Boston and New York. After the war Navy movements were less frequent and irregular. The Halifax merchants realised that they needed a 'packet' ship to transport small items from Boston to Halifax and back. In 1765 a group of merchants financed the building of such a ship. The senior civil servant at the naval dockyard gave the work to one of his shipwrights and it seems likely that the small schooner may have been built on government time and using timber from the Navy's stock!!

She has some peculiar features for a commercial vessal of that time. Having a raised forecastle, quarterdeck and poop even though the difference in levels is only small. She also had much more decorated bows than the usual colonial schooner.
Probably because her design was influenced by navy shipwrights.

She was launched late in 1768 and was immediately used to carry passengers and mails but did not attract the transportation of high value cargoes which would have made her profitable.

After three years, including a change of ownership, she was laid up because she was not profitable.

During this time the behaviour of the Bostonians further south was causing serious concern to the British Administration (Revolution was in the air -- Boston Tea Party and all of that) Commodore Samuel Hood was the commander on the Halifax station and was having trouble enforcing the customs regulations with his squadron of large ships, so he bought into the Royal Navy several colonial schooners.

He chartered the Halifax to carry dispatches from Halifax back to England with a recommendation that the Navy should purchase her.

In August 1768 she arrived in Portsmouth and was surveyed and a draught produced which still survives at the NRO Kew.

In March 1769 she arrived back in Halifax and carried out routine patrol duties for the navy.

Between November 1770 and August 1771 she sailed the Atlantic again having another Portsmouth refit. In 1774 her commander Lieutenant Jacob Rogers was court matialled for mistreating his crew, misappropriating stores and faking his log.

In February 1775 Halifax ran aground bound for Machias off the coast of Maine.

As was the custom when a ship foundered, another ship might take her name. Another schooner was bought into service and given the name Halifax and that was the one that took part in the burning of Portsmouth Maine late in 1776.

Our model is definitely the Halifax packet.

Hope all that is interesting. The above research is not mine but comes from T.J. Kenchington who was asked to research the originasl Halifax as part of the celebrations surrounding the launch of the HMCS Halifax for the Canadian Navy some 20(?) years ago.

Mike T

Glad you liked it, I must renew contact with Trevor one day, not sure if I even have his e-mail address anymore.

Looking forward to your pictures but don't rush the job!

Mike T

ouch!!!!! Don't want red planks do we..

Coming on well Cliff.

You are just starting what I found to be the most challenging part and that is working the lower half towards the stern.I had to do mine very much by trial and error and reading books. The trick is to let the wood bend round taking a natural curve and then you can add stealers to fill the gap between full planks which gets bigger towards the stern. Stealers are short planks shaped to fill whatever gap you get.

I notice you have put a shaped half length plank (in the picture fixed with 3 pins) just below the main line of strakes.

I have looked at my planking and I have used full runs all the way round the centre of the hull without needing a stealer in the middle. Of course it's up to you but I wouldn't put in any short pieces yet instead run full planks until you need to fill gaps at the stern. The bows will probably need the strakes shaping to a narrower profile and curved to meet the bow.

Mike T

Hi Cliff

I just applied coats of clear varnish, the colour of the woods supplied gave a pleasing finish without any stains etc.

Mike T