Welcome to Britannia Heritage Shipyard Society
Recent Activities at Britannia Heritage Shipyard
Saturday, 30 January 2010:
It was a pretty full week. The Harbour Authority dredged the area in fornt of our floats. This operation is in preparation for the 2011
Fesitval of Tall Ships. Due to silt in the river water the bottom continuusly receives a deposit of sediment. Over the years this builds
up to become a hazard to progressively more shallow vessels. Tall ships draw plenty of water. We had to move out the boats, then the
floats. Dredging itself was done in three days, the huge suction machine working all night to get thte job done. Then, tow the floats
back in and return the vessels which had been tucked away in various neighhbours' establishments for the week.
Restoration operations continue on the Iona. Here Richard has exposed another body of rot in the stern lazarette, just where the need for structural strength is the greatest: surrounding the rudder post. That concrete sure did a lot of long term damage. The amount of compromised timber is, not surprisingly, worse than we had hoped. It brings up some interesting questions about the restoration. Iona was built as a double-ender. She was converted to a table seiner when that technology became popular and had her stern converted to the blunt configuration she now displays. The conversion is a source of weakness and is not particularly lovely.
The suggestion has arisen to consider turning her back to a double ender. It has been resisted initally because of the additional work & material required but... as we uncover more rot the disadvantages diminish in comparison.
A boat builder friend of Al's recently passed away. He wanted his lapstrake skiff, built as a project when he was an apprentice
in the '30s, to be enjoyed and admired.
Al brought it in on Saturday alomg with some other delightful bits from the boatbuilder's trade and it
certainly caused a ripple of oohing & aahing. No doubt about it, she is a pretty little gem. Her condition, perfect, shows that
she has been well loved. She has all her tackle: mast, sail, oars, dagger- board. The Society is thrilled to be chosen as her keeper
for the next phase of her career.
I expect she'll end up on a decorative cradle in the Shipyard except when we put her in the water to keep her hydrated and strong.
Dale continues his careful restoration of the Glenelle sailing skiff. This is another little gem in our collection and she is
particularly lovely. As she does not, however, enjoy a particularly historical connection to the community I expect she'll end
up "For Sale" sometime this year.
Somebody's going to get a beautiful boat!
Saturday, 23 January 2010:
A dull day but, as usual, delightful by the water, especially as it was almost eerily calm.
Boat drill was the order of the day. The harbour in front of Britannia's floats is to be dredged to make ready for Tall Ships 2011 and so not only must the boats leave to make room for the week-long operation, we must also move the floats. Scooting Merrilee II up to the Nelson Pond at Paramount was a simple and rewarding task.
Much more challenging was the move of Shuchona 1V to temporary moorage in Steveston. The poor old girl rests at the float with a slight list to starboard; not only is her engine currently inoperative, her steering is seized. Gave Dick, the tow boat operator an awful time, especially as we had to thread our way through inbound fishing vessels and the sprawl of the dredge which spread out over the entire harbour. Dick took it in stride and with good humour, owever, and grinned as he told us how he used to deliver fish to her when she was a cash boat. He sure is an artist with that tow boat of his, balance tide, wind and traffic in ridiculously tight spaces.
Visual highlight of the day had to be the double rainbow over Nelson Pond. Almost as good as a pot of gold, the Merrilee II could be found at the end of this rainbow.
Welcome to new member Marianne who has, just this Saturday, thrown in with the Iona crew.
Wednesday, 21 January 2010:
High tides and the surge caused by an onshore gale caused extensive flooding at Britannia Hertage Shipyard Monday. The Murakami home and boatshed were flooded and will require floors to be taken up during restoration.
Conservation: an endeavour more difficult to practice than one would have thought. The Vasa, a Swedish warship from the 1600s and raised from Stockholm harbour in 1961 has recently been observed to be degrading rapidly from the chemical reactions based on iron in the vessel. Read the article and fins related stories in Science Daily: Degradation Of Wood In Royal Warship Vasa Is Caused By Iron (Sept. 2008)
Saturday, 16 January 2010:
The gang is slowly recovering from the holidays. Although the crews are not yet as large as they were in early December they are getting there.
The little Mukai is getting steady and careful attention. Seen here, Jim is bedding trim detail on the wheel house.
The 'Mukai ' was a retirement project of the the late Steveston boatbuilder, Sejei Mukai. Is a at 18 feet LOA it is a 50% scale model of the type of craft Sejei built throughout his career. This pretty little runabout is equipped with a Volvo Penta inboard-outboard drive train,
Iona has pretty well been stripped as far as she needs to be. There are still a few seams below the water line that require raking but
the crew are now busily ploting the restoration. Of critical imporatance is the installation of internal beams, bulkheads and stringers
for the vessels strwngth depends upon these. Origibnal bulkheads have been removed because they were in an advanced state of decomposition./p>
Jerry and Al are seen here discussing details of the Iona's internal structure.
Friday, 8 January 2010:
Councilor Steves plugs Britannia: "When visitors come to Richmond we take them to the Britannia Heritage Shipyard and other heritage sites..." See complete article in tte Richmond News.