Time passes, and all the innumerable details of life clamor to be addressed. Summer in the Hudson valley is a busy time, and as June unwound the Onrust faded from the forefront of our minds. We were saved from apathy when last week Greta Wagle, from the Onrust Project, called and asked if we could come out and volunteer for the weekend since Gerald DeWeerdt, the shipwright from Holland, was going to be in town all week. Mabee Farm was hosting a public event as well, so the sight of a lot of eager volunteers swarming over the ship would be a great publicity boost.

We showed up at 9:00 on Saturday and did not leave until around 5:00 pm. We were a bit worried that there would not be enough for newbies like us to do, but everyone was kept busy. Linda ended up painting ribs and planks with wood preservative on Saturday, and worked at the information booth on Sunday, freeing up other staff to spend time filming and interviewing Gerald. Don Rittner, one of the originators of the project, is making a detailed audio-visual record of the construction process and is combining video of volunteers at work and extended interviews with Gerald covering both the design process for the Onrust and detailed instructions on Dutch construction techniques that date back over 400 years.

The Onrust is being built using the plank-first shipbuilding technique. Plank-first technique involves setting up the keel and a very minimal number of ribs or frames, then shaping and fitting the planks from the keel up. The planks are held together with temporary cleats, then the frames are made from patterns fitted to the interior curve of the planking shell. The frames are not built entire as in frame-first building, but are fitted in place in pieces as the planking is done. An entire frame would be made from sections into a U-shaped structure that looks like a narrow D lying on its side with the curve facing down. A floor timber runs across the keel, then the shorter bilge futtocks make the transition from horizontal to vertical, and the side futtocks continue up the side of the ship to end at the deck beam which closes the U.

The picture shows one of the major frames or ribs that give the Onrust her shape, as well as temporary cleats used to hold the planks together until they are pinned to the floor timbers. The bilge futtock is bolted to the side of the floor timber, then to the side futtock which sits on top of the floor timber.

With the plank-first method, once the first few planks are built out from the keel, a pattern for each remaining floor timber is made. Then the floor timber is cut out, checked for fit in the ship, adjusted as needed, and finally fastened into place. As the planking progresses up the side of the ship, the bilge futtocks are installed, then the side futtocks.

I ended up doing a very small amount of sawing, trimming sapwood and bark off of planks, but spent most of my time clinching futtock bolts off, either swinging a single-jack or holding a big sledge head to back up the bolt head as the clincher hit the other end of the bolt to mushroom it out. Can’t do too much of this as it is very hard on the wrists. Much to my surprise the bolts are iron, not copper or bronze; nor are they covered in any kind of perservative or waterproof coating. When I asked if galvanic action would not end up eating them away, I was told that these bolts were made from one hundred year old wrought iron, cut and forged from old silo hoops. Wrought iron is evidently much less reactive in water than mild steel or modern iron bar stock, and should easily last for the life of the ship.  Sawing through the bolts by hand with a hacksaw is not something I would wish on my worst enemy!

My one foray into doing real sawing that required some discretion did not go too well, as I cut to the wrong mark! At least it was on a temporary support and not a permanent part of the ship. Saturday evening we bought a few supplies that might be needed: duct-tape, a new hacksaw blade, (to replace the one I broke) and a sawzall blade for the powered cut-off saw. 

Sunday was more of the same, with the exception that we bought our own Onrust tee-shirts, so now we look more the part of shipbuilders (even if we lack the skills the rest of the volunteers have!). We finished the weekend tired and sore in places I did not know even know I had, but deeply happy to be doing this good work.