Shiny Shamrock

With the fitting of the last of the chainplates delayed until an order of freshly manufactured coach bolts arrive Shamrock is being prepared to be exposed to the elements.

• The covering boards, bulwarks, capping rails, wash strake and cargo hold coaming have all received a coat of black gloss. 
• The starboard hull to the waterline and the transom have been coated with bitumen roofing paint. 

• Forward companion way and after deck house coamings have been sanded and primed.
• The decks have received two good coats of a mixture of boiled linseed oil and paraffin, rain that gets through Shamrock's cover now bead of the deck. 

• Warping horse undercoated.   
• Layers of old bitumen being scraped off her original port side hull planks.

Covering Boards

All Shamrock's eight new 2 in (50 mm) thick oak covering boards have been roughly shaped, thinned and temporarily screwed into place. The bulwark stanchions holes have been cut as a tight fit at the bottom with the top half being tapered out to form a caulking seam also the ends of the boards that abut one another have had their caulking seams cut. Once the inner lines of the boards have been marked the boards will be removed, faired to the lines, the outer edges rounded, before finally being fixed into place.

Goodbye Josh

Josh, one of our team of Shipwrights, is advancing his career by taking on a new project. He has been offered, and accepted, a four month contract fitting out MV Cape Race in Reykjavík, Iceland and so Wednesday 30th January was his last working day on Shamrock. The crew would like to thank him for all his hard work and wish him all the best for the future.

Josh at work.

More oak has been sourced for the covering boards as the oak originally earmarked for the job has been used for the oak seer strake. A start has been made on the covering boards with a plywood pattern used to mark out the starboard forward section before being cut roughly to shape and thickness.

Fitting of the cargo hatch coaming has been completed with the sides through bolted to their respective beams. Weather check dovetails joints have been used, instead of simple half lap joint, locking the coaming side together as well as insuring any water ingress will always run out of the joint. As usual all butted surfaces have received coating of 'black butter' before being joined.

Shamrock's Expanding To-Do List

With the arrival of Penryn shipwright Adrian Grigg (Shuggs), plus his assistant Josh Flatt, a start has been made on Shamrock's repairs, all the rotten starboard side hull planks have been removed along with a section of the bulwark. Bob Medler of R&J Maritime Ltd has also completed a survey of Shamrock's condition. The news is not all bad as apart from the already known hull planks and false keel the extras found so far are the starboard side beamshelf, a section of covering board* and some bulwark stanchions. A few of her main frames will also need sections of rot removed and “new wood” scarf jointed into place.

* COVERING BOARD The outermost deck plank which covers the timber heads of the frames.

Missing Planks.

Beamshelf.

Split covering board.

Main frame rot.

Covered for the weekend.