Rebuilding Tally Ho

THIS episode, a load of friends help me remove the stringers, breast hooks, and other parts of the hull. We have a white Christmas in Sequim, and I have to make a very difficult decision regarding Tally Ho’s Keel Timber.

THIS episode, I make my decision about Tally Ho’s Keel Timber, and head off in search of some suitable timber. Once I’ve got hold of the Purpleheart, we have to figure out a way to move it! I talk about Scarph Joints and have to modify a chainsaw to do the job.

THIS episode, I cut and fit the big hook scarph in the Purpleheart for Tally Ho’s Keel timber. It’s a very dense hard wood, so it takes me some time, and lots of tool sharpening, to get the faces nice and clear, fitting well. Moving these timbers around is a real challenge because of their weight (the larger one is about 1.5 tons), but is possible with lots of levers, jacks and rollers, and is just the kind of work I enjoy.

In this episode, I travel to the UK to visit my family and do some work for a friend in his Boatyard, to save some funds to go towards Tally Ho. In Cornwall, I cut Floor Timbers out of English Oak, to put into a new-build foot-passenger Ferry. The really interesting thing about this Ferry is that it is a real working boat - it is designed to load passengers by driving right up onto the beach (where there is a waiting tractor with some kind of gangplank). The ferry company tried using Steel and Fibreglass boats, but neither material lasted nearly as well as their older wooden boats - the steel boats would lose their paint and rust, and the Fibreglass boats just fell apart. So, when they needed replacements, they decided to go back to traditional wooden boats. Apparently the last boat that Butler & Co built for them is the fastest and most fuel-efficient boat in their fleet.

This episode, I do some work on an old yacht in the Butler & Co shed; BANDOR, a 1938 Dallimore designed sloop. The Epoxy lamination goes well, despite the cold. The new Ferry build progresses, and I visit some friends who are rebuilding an old fishing boat to start a business with. We also meet a likely candidate for the youngest boatbuilder in Cornwall!

THIS episode, I visit local boatbuilder Luke Powell and his team, who are building an enormous Pilot Cutter called Pellew, which is a copy of the Vincent, originally built in 1852. Then I head back to Butler & Co’s yard in Penpol, and explain how I fit a shutter plank into the hull of the new traditionally built Ferry that is being constructed there.

THIS episode, I meet the Grandson of Mark Spinks, who Skippered Tally Ho in 1927 when she famously won the Fastnet Race, and continued to run the boat while she was under the ownership of Lord Stalbridge. We take a look at the rest of Tally Ho’s history, and then I travel to Bristol to meet John R-B, who builds replica Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters in the Underfall Yard, and who first took me on as an apprentice when I first started doing wooden boat work. He tells us a little about the history of Pilot Cutters, and talks about why yacht designers return again and again to their classic lines. Finally, I travel back to the US and take a long road-trip from Boston down to south Georgia, to visit Cross Sawmill, where a huge amount of Southern Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana) is being milled for me, to be used as framing stock on Tally Ho back in Washington State.

THIS episode, I am in southern Georgia , and I work with Steve Cross of Cross Sawmill to mill and grade lots of Southern Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana) for Tally Ho’s framing stock – one of the most historically important and best-regarded shipbuilding timbers in the world, which is no longer often milled commercially due to its extreme toughness. Steve mills the timber on his amazing and enormous homemade bandsaw, which is constructed from 5 forklifts, 9 semi trailers, and “god knows what else”, according to Steve. We also look at Live Oak trees in the area, including one that is claimed to be the largest Live Oak in the world… all the while keeping an eye out for Alligators!

This episode, I drive the 3000 miles back to Tally Ho from South Georgia, where Steve Cross has been milling Live Oak for me. I bed and bolt the 6’ Scarph in the new keel timber, and the Live Oak flitches arrive by flatbed. Then we create a framework inside to boat to spread the load of the props while I remove the Keel Timber from underneath it, all the while hoping that nothing breaks and that the boat doesn’t deform at all in shape or crush me underneath it!

This episode, I work on turning an enormous lump of Purpleheart Timber into a new Keel for the historic sailing vessel, Tally Ho. I make a plywood pattern from the old keel, then plane the surfaces of the new wood, before using a custom chainsaw jig to cut the rolling bevels. Poncho the parrot watches as we maneuver the heavy timber underneath the precariously balanced 20-ton boat, using jacks, rollers and levers. Finally – fresh timber in the boat!

This episode, I take some measurements and consider the hogging of the hull of the 1910 yacht TALLY HO, and then use jacks to bend the whole boat back into shape, having removed some of the Iron Floors first. I borrow a forklift, and then start the process of moving and restoring a massive vintage ship-saw – which is like a huge bandsaw but with a static table and a rotating cutting band. This impressive tool could be over 100 years old - perhaps even older than TALLY HO herself!

This episode, I investigate the part of Tally Ho’s history where she was almost wrecked on a remote Pacific Atoll, in 1968. Amazingly, I have been given photographs of Tally Ho high and dry on the reef, taken from the boat that towed her to safety! Because of the accident, part of the hull was rebuilt, but unfortunately not to the original lines. I assess the change in shape, do a little bit of lofting, and remove a lot of hull planks to give me space to rebuild the boat back into her original shape. Unfortunately, I also discover that the other side of the boat isn’t perfect either.

This episode, I take some more measurements of Tally Ho’s current shape compared to her original lines, and make a big decision about how to go about bringing her back to a more authentic and elegant shape. I have a visitor from England and we set about building a lofting floor in the workshop, making some very long battens, and beginning the actual process of lofting the original plans up to full size.

This episode, I continue lofting the lines of the 1910 Gaff Cutter, Tally Ho - enlarging them to life-size on the new 50’ lofting floor in the workshop. I get some help from a young Australian Shipwright, and have another very special surprise visitor!

This episode, I have a number of interesting volunteers and visitors, who help me out with various aspects of the project – a welding machine, a sign for the shed, some much-needed modifications to the massive ship-saw, a forklift service, and a ride in a classic muscle car. Meanwhile, I continue lofting inside the shed, and we are nearly ready to start re-framing!

This episode, I get some more help to remove a lot of Tally Ho’s hull planking. The volunteers grind and hammer copper rivets, while I finish lofting the intermediate frames inside the workshop. Finally I make the first frame template, and cut the first futtocks for that frame, shaping the Live Oak timber using the huge ship/bandsaw, a large circular saw, and the custom sawzall assembly.

This episode, I work with some volunteers to cut out more futtocks, and assemble the first pair of Frames using Southern Live Oak - to replace the old English Oak frames that Tally Ho was built with. To fasten the futtocks we use Black Locust Treenails (Trunnels/Trennels), which are traditional wedged pegs, used for centuries in ship-building and timber-framing. We also get some more of the copper fastenings removed, build some adjustable trestles, and establish the centerline of the boat. Finally, Cecca and I take an overdue little holiday to the furthest reaches of the Olympic Peninsula.

This episode I install the first pair of Frames into Tally Ho, notching the Live Oak very slightly into the Purpleheart Keel timber. I also explain how I calculate and transfer bevels from the lofting floor to the templates and frames. I have some volunteer help, and we cut pieces for the next set of new frames, and I also receive delivery of the last of the Live Oak from the sawmill in Georgia.

This episode we develop some jigs and tables that will help the framing process go faster. The surface planing jig uses a large power plane to make one face of a piece of timber completely straight. A large assembly table lets us put frames together far more easily and accurately. Pancho observes, and tries to resist destroying the new frames! This episode is early because I won’t be able to post next weekend.

This episode we make a few more frames, and I talk about the jigs and products that I use to bed the frame-heels into the keel pockets. I get some help from fellow youtuber Wood by Wright, and Kurt works on servicing the blade guides and making some other modifications on the huge ship-saw. Finally, we have to pack up shop and leave the country!

This episode I visit the massively impressive new Pilot Cutter being built in Cornwall, UK. She is named the Pellew, and is a replica of the 68′ Falmouth Pilot Cutter Vincent, which was built in St Mawes in 1852. I have a conversation with Luke Powell, Project Manager and Chief Shipwright, about their progress since last time I visited the project 6 months ago. We discuss the enormous mast that is currently being made, and also the challenges of managing a project of this size and scope.

This episode I visit Chris Rees, a very experienced boatbuilder who was behind various impressive projects including the enormous 3-masted lugger Greyhound and the replica fishing lugger Spirit of Mystery (which was sailed from the UK to Australia by Pete Goss as a tribute to the fishermen who undertook the same trip in the 1850s). He shows me around the boat that he is currently working on - a 1905 Pilot Cutter named Letty - and also tells me a little about how he became a boatbuilder. Finally we look at another boat that Chris is hoping to bring back to life - a historic local ferry, which up until recently was apparently the longest continuously running ferry in the country. Originally a Steam powered vessel, it was later modified with a diesel engine, but Chris is hoping to equip it with an Electric motor for the next period of service.

This episode I visit two incredible projects that are both happening in Cornwall UK. They are both giving new life to traditional wooden fishing boats, but they are doing so in very different ways! Charlotte and Jess have rebuilt and converted their wooden fishing boat into a motor launch with a banquet table, and have started a business taking people out around the Cornish coastline for hand-cooked meals on board. Steve is maintaining and repairing his 110 year-old Danish Fishing Trawler, which has begun to work once more – but this time she is fishing for garbage! Steve has been clearing up rubbish and trash from the Cornish coastline for years, but now plans to use the huge fishing schooner to scale up the operation and clean less accessible areas, raising awareness of the issues of marine plastic waste at the same time.

This episode I return to Washington State USA, and get back to work on Tally Ho! First I give a brief tour of the project, and a little overview of the work done up until now. I get the ship-saw set up again, and then get on with cutting a few more futtocks and assembling another couple of frames. I also talk about my plans and ideas for the future of the project, and how I’m going to try and speed things up!

This episode I welcome Francesca back to the workshop and introduce a couple of volunteers who are going to stay here for a while to learn some boatbuilding and help out with the project. But before they arrive, I have to replace the huge roof of the shed over the boat, and make some improvements to the workshop kitchen, with a bit of furniture joinery. Then I show the guys how to fit a pair of new frames, and we also cut out all the pieces for the next set on the shipsaw. Now we have four pairs of new double-sawn frames in the boat, and another pair ready to assemble.

I thought it was about time you guys got to know me a little better. This video - edited and presented by Doug at SV Seeker - is a series of questions and answers about my background, my work, and the Tally Ho project. I talk about my motivation for taking on a project like this, and the various challenges that present themselves along the way. Please note that this was filmed a few months ago, so there are a couple of details that are out of date. Thanks to Doug for making this happen.

Well, I’ve done something very silly and cut the end of my finger. Why would I do that, you may ask?! Well, it was all going a little too well, so I thought it was time to add a little drama to this project! In other news, making and installing the new frames has been progressing pretty well, and we have now replaced every station-frame in the centre section of the boat! We also finished the “roller-furling” roof on the new covered area beside the boat. Eventually, Ben and Steve had to leave, but I’m now getting some more help from Brad, who drove up from Oregon. Feel free to guess how I injured my finger, but it wasn’t on the table-saw or the ship-saw! (and yes, I am fully capitalizing on this injury to try and get more YouTube views)

This episode, we continue replacing frames, starting now on the intermediate frames in-between the station frames. Washington is hit by severe wind and power cuts – will the boat-shed survive?! Brad is still helping out, and we are joined by a young guy from Illinois who is keen to help out and learn a little about boatbuilding. In other news, we get a Christmas Tree in the loft, and make some improvements to our bunk-room.