Irene Rebuild                                          

Page Nine

28th June 2006

With nearly all the beams in place it was time to sort out the staple knees. These are horizontal bands of metal shaped as the name implies like staples. They act as spacers between the beams and attach the beams to the futtock ends. Most survived the salvage operation but with few exceptions were bent and distorted. Steve is our metal man - with a big fire, large pincers, an anvil and a sledge hammer with muscles to swing it. The staple irons were reshaped, grit blasting and galvanising followed and they are now in the process of being built into the fabric.

A staple knee in the hot seat

Steve also made a start on the hanging knees. These are even more weighty chunks of iron that attach at one end to the underside of the beam and the other to the inner ceiling, some of them going right down below the lower deck.

Work on the stern continues, with constant head scratching on angles of stanchions and the evenness of circles. Trunnelling goes on a-pace gradually replacing the temporary coach screws put in quickly as the steamed planks cool.

The day finally came when Gunnislake Estate yielded up five fine trees - two of them earmarked for the masts.

aaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Cutting the birds mouth aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa The last toehold is cut

aaaaaaa
aaaaaa, Wedges are opening the backcut-------------------------Heartwood notice the accuracy of the fell     

These were cut off at 65ft, a length that we could neither transport by road nor get down the lane to Bagmill Creek - it was an excellent opportunity for a trans-riverine voyage of the fleet. The two logs were effectively delivered to the riverside two miles down river from Gunnislake Bridge.

Enough tide to float the progress

Meanwhile, the Minnie McLean and the Progress (both Scottish Trawlers) one towing the RIB and the other Irene’s wooden dinghy.

Minnie Maclean leaves an hour later in the tide

The Minnie overtakes the Progress despite the sail assistance

The fleet set off down the Lynher then up the Tamar under the bridges hammering their way up against a falling neap tide. There is virtually no river traffic above Calstock and the stretch of river above Morwelham Quay was as delightfully deserted as it must have been in medieval times.

Snaking through the Tamars upper reaches

But the tide drained the water away some half a mile short of where our future masts were waiting to be launched into the river.

Ran out of water for the trawlers. The last half mile by dinghy

There was enough water for the dinghies to make it up to where John Wotton, master tree feller and now an aggressive tractor driver, managed midst roaring engines and spinning tractor wheels to bully the timber into the water.

The first log is towed to the Minnie stranded by the ebb

 It was a simple job to tow one down to where the Minnie McLean waited high and dry. The other log was secured on the river bank too high to float. Undeterred the crew took the dinghies up at the 2.00 a.m. High Water and brought the second log down to the waiting trawlers.

Both logs . The Progress is afloat the Minnie nearly so

Trees attached. Ready to go

With a log bent on each side and the little Progress behind to act as an emergency rudder the fleet started down river avoiding with care the moored yachts and the Calstock viaduct.

aaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaa Under way aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Expensive yachts waiting round every bend

 The whole operation went very smoothly and we were able to get within three quarters of a mile of Bagmill Creek before the water ran out and the Minnie McLean spent the next few hours waiting for it to come back. Meanwhile the Progress and the RIB were able to take the logs the last stretch and deposit them in the Creek.

Nearly home. The tide has again run out for the Minnie.
The Progress takes over.

 The Minnie McLean and the two remaining crew were rescued after midnight. We bumped our way over the bottom in pitch blackness with mud banks a few feet on each side.

The trees in Bagmill creek
 

It was all together a good experience.

 

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 There is much original wood that we have had to remove from the ship and we think it possible that people may want to own a bit of the original timber.  We can supply rough bits, charred bits, big bits and carved bits – things like name plates, egg cups, coat hangers and coat pegs with boards bristling with fastenings.  Or you might prefer a block of new Oak.  Soon we will be cutting the ends of the frames down to shear strake level and that will leave us with a couple of hundred blocks of 6 x 6 of varying lengths.  Wood new or old would be priced at £15.00 a cubic foot (minimum order £5) plus post and package.  Shaped or carved pieces will depend on how much time the carver has put into the project.  If you have a special idea that you want made by us, we are all ears.