Bows, Keel, and Lofting

Gluing Blocks on First Stage

Shaping the Keel

The day started off with the media group making the first stage of four bows for the boat shed, we made them in under a hour.
Check out a slideshow by a Virginia Project Student.
Renovations of the Freight Shed

Justin Completing a Bow

Today the lofting floor group is working on drawing out the mid-ship bend. The mid-ship bend is the biggest and the widest frame in the boat. After they make the first mid-ship bend it will be a template for the other frames. The people that are working on the jig are still making more bows, right now we have 14 bows.

The keel group is trying to flatten and bring the keel to it’s final dimension which is 8” by 10”. To do so, they are using hand planes.

The history of the day is, "Why did they build the Virginia?" The reason why they built the Virginia was for trading, especially in furs. They also built it for exploration, gold, transportation and to trying to find the Northwest passage.

Vocabulary for the day is Baseline. Baseline is the bottom line of the lofting floor, which you measure up for water lines.

Blog By:  Miracle Trimble

Keel, Documenting and More Bows

Students and the Keel

Planing the Keel

Will and Jay Planing the Keel

Class time is first.  In class time we all sat down and talked about what we would do today.  The girls told us about their trip to the Maine State Museum to look at the artifacts from the Popham Colony.  Mrs. Chapin told us about a map and some first day issue stamps that had been given to Maine’s First Ship.  Then we went to work.

Kelsey Preparing a Bow

Will and 3 students were making the keel the right dimensions. They used skill saws and chisels. They have to wear safety glasses and ear muff protection for their ears.  Jay and 4 kids were still working on bows for the shelter for Virginia.


We need 44 bows in all.  Another group was working with Mr. Varney on making the grid for the

Courtney Documenting Repairs to Shed

lofting.  Two students were finishing up their slideshows.  Sometimes Chewbacca, our shop dog, got bored and wanted to play.


Adrian, Student Shipbuilder

Miracle Documenting the Bows

Visit to the Maine State Museum and Loft Board Painting

Maine State Museum

Today the media crew went to the Maine State Museum. We took lots

Film Crew in Front of Museum

of pictures of the Popham Colony exhibit. They are to go on the Maine Memory Network when we are done.  It was a challenge to try to take good pictures of the artifacts because they were behind glass, but it was a good learning experience. The others that were back at the shop worked on making more bows. Also, some of them were working cutting the keel to size and painting the lofting floor. It was a very nice day to be working even though the sun wasn’t out.   It’s so much cooler than the past few days.

Shaping the Keel

Our lesson at the beginning of the day was about the different parts of the boat the keel, rudder, tiller, frames and more. The part that I took out of it the most was a part that is a bit of vocabulary and a bit of history. It’s the words for left, right, front and back. They are port for left, starboard for right, bow for front and stern for back.

Paint the Loft Board and Each Other

The starboard side got it’s name from long ago when the rudders were on the side of the boat and people would call it the steer board  side and it just developed from there to starboard. The port came form having the rudder on the right side of the boat and having to dock on the left side so they didn’t damage the rudder.  They called it the port side. So that’s the piece of history for today.

Blog Post by Kelsey Brick

Sawhorses, Bows and Repairing Bandsaw

New Tire on Bandsaw

Today we built 2 bows, and fixed the tire on the bandsaw. Then, we finished the table we have been working on for 3 days, and planed and polished the keel of the ship. We  also finished two slide shows, one about the shed renovations and one on bows.

Gluing a bow

Planing the Keel

New Sawhorse Table

Grommet: A circle of rope.

History lesson: The settlers chose the location of Popham because of it’s good fishing and exploration possibilities.

Blog and photos by Joey Hudson. 

Hot July Day and Bows

Today at the freight shed we worked on the bows for the bents  to make a shed. Also, some worked on making sawhorses and tables. Due to the extreme heat, everybody had to leave two hours early.
 
History: Around the time the Virginia was built, people used thatch to make their roofs. Thatch is mostly made from straw.
 
Vocabulary: Goals. A goal is something you have to work hard for. A goal takes effort and skills. You can have long-term goals or short-term goals.  Blog Post by Courtney

Bows, Bents, and Video

Today at the shop, the majority worked on creating the shed, in which the Virginia will be constructed.  They made bows, which are within the frames of most buildings.  Two bows will make a bent, and many bents make up the shed’s frame.  Three bows were made today, meaning we have a total of two bents.  Two other students worked on taping together bundles, which makes the wood organized better.  Lastly, the group in which I participated screwed together sawhorses to make a table, so we don’t need to use the tables with a year, or more, of water damage.

Watch Miracle's slideshow on the Making of Bows.

The piece of history I will share is part fact and part theory.  The fact is that the map of Ft. St. George was found in the archives of the Spanish, while the theory is that the Spanish Empire had a spy within the colony, who then brought back a map of the colony.  This is most likely so that they could decide whether or not to invade the colony and take their resources.
Blog Post by Wesley Blum

Grain, Jig and Stanchions

    Today at Maine’s First Ship we worked on setting up the stanchions to keep visitors safe and out of the way. We sanded them and put them up securely. We also finally finished the toolboxes by putting on handles on the side. Now we are working on the jig for the shed we will build the bow of the boat in. So everything is good and we can't wait to get started on the Virginia.

Vocabulary Words of the day.

Grain- Grain is the vessels that carries the sap to the top of the tree. If you look at a piece of wood you can see little lines in the wood. Those lines are the grain.

Ripping- In the case of boatbuilding, ripping means cutting wood with any kind of tool along the way of the grain.

Cross Cutting- In the case of boatbuilding, cross cutting means cutting wood with any kind of tool through the grains. 

Did you know?

Did you know that the building we are working in is one of two remaining 19th century freight sheds (located on the Kennebec River) used to transfer cargo from schooners to trains?
Blog entry by Mike