Sunday, November 25, 2012

WHAT IS IT? CONTEST!

It has been several weeks since the last "What Is It?" question.  I hope to get back into the groove of having the weekly question available on Sunday evenings for all current crew to answer.  Please do not hesitate to play as we are now down to the last several questions.  With the anticipated return date of 15 December to TSM of ELISSA, we have only 2 more opportunities to try and answer the weekly question and be eligible to have your name drawn to win the grand prize.

***Scroll down for the answer to the last What is it ? question***

And now for this week's photo of an item found aboard ELISSA.

What is the correct name of the item the lowest red arrow is pointing at?


 
Good luck and please give the contest a try!  This is the prize the lucky winner will receive:

A BEAUTIFUL FRAMED 36"x24" GICLEE OF ELISSA AS FJELD

 
 
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Previous Week's Photo and Answer
 
 
 

 
 
There were many correct answers given on this one!!!  Let's hope we have similar results this week
 
Congratulations to everyone who gave the correct answer.
 
 
 
 
 


Sunday, October 28, 2012

What is it? Contest!



*** Scroll down for last week's photo and answer with the names of the winners***

Sunday November 4, 2012


And now for this week's photo of a item found aboard ELISSA.


What is the name of the round bar with service on it and marked with a red arrow? 







 Good luck and please give the contest a try!. This is the prize the lucky winner will receive. 





Grand Prize:

A beautiful framed 36" x 24" giclée of ELISSA as Fjeld



Last week's photo and answer:


Sunday October 28, 2012



 

 

 


Quite a few of you gave the correct answer of main starboard lower topsail brace!!!!

 

Congratulations to everyone who won.











Sunday, October 21, 2012

 

What is it? Contest!


 *** Scroll down for last week's photo and answer with the names of the winners***


Sunday October 21, 2012

Since the last 2 weeks have apparently been very difficult and with ELISSA's birthday coming up, I have found an easy one...I hope!



*******

Good luck and please give the contest a go.  This is the prize the lucky winner will receive.
 

 

 Grand Prize:

A beautiful framed 36" x 24" giclée of ELISSA as Fjeld

 

Last week's photo and answer:

Sunday October 14, 2012


 


The correct answer is deck cringle.  Identifying the fitting as a  deck thimble is acceptable, but not as correct.

Congratulations to Root Choyse and Rick Bounds for submitting the correct answer.  Root is amassing a very formidable score - she is 100% in her responses.

 
 The name of this fitting is found on pages 107 & 132 in Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier by Harold Underhill...and we just last week received a copy for TSM's Maritime library. Please avail yourselves of the wonderful library at TSM.

 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sunday October 14, 2012


*** Scroll down for this week's photo***

Last week's photo and answer:









This "item" is one of many that are located along the sheer strake at the fore and main mast. This fitting is one of the ELISSA's chainplates. It is more accurately known as a chainplate palm and is the lower end of the chainplate that is riveted to the sheerstrake/ bulwark interface.

The winners of last week's contest are:
  • Root Choyce
  • Ed Green
  • Janine da Silva
  • Rick Bounds
  • Erich Wagner
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Sunday October 14, 2012

What Is It? Contest!




Thought I would make it a little more challenging this week. I have so often heard this fitting referred to a variety of names and seldom the correct one. You do not need to identify which one this is, only what is its name. Part of the idea behind this contest is to educate all of us on the proper terms for the bits of gear we all see or use every time we step aboard ELISSA ~ a kind of vocabulary quiz from the lexicon of a square-rig sailor. I hope more people give the contest a try and remember to look at 19th century British sources for the answers.
I would suggest looking at one of my favorite rigging sources for 19th century British sailing ships - Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier by Harold Underhill...and we just last week received a copy for TSM's Maritime library. Please avail yourselves of the wonderful library at TSM.

Fair Leads,

Jamie

Sunday, October 7, 2012


Sunday October 7, 2012





Congratulations to last week's winners of the The What Is It Contest????

  • Rebecca Johnson
  • Root Choyce 
  • Dennis Dornfest
  • Janine da Silva 
  • Rick Bounds

 Be sure to view this week's photo and see the answer to last week's contest by clicking on the following link:  What Is It Contest???

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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sunday September 30, 2012



Click here for the current week's photo: 

The What Is It? Contest



The photo from last week's contest:




...and the larger photo before cropping:




The answer is the lower rudder pintle or pintle bracket.


Congratulations to our winners!

Last week's contest was the inaugural week to this contest and the winners are:
  1. Ed Green
  2. Rebecca Johnson
  3. Root Choyce
  4. Seth Leo
I hope this week's contest is a little easier and will generate more winners!

Here is this week's photo - Please identify what bit of gear the red arrow is pointing at.




Best of luck and remember to email your entries to John Schaumburg or Bosun Mark before 5:00 pm next Saturday October 6, 2012

Remember the more weeks you answer correctly the better your chances are for the beautiful framed giclee of ELISSA as Fjeld.













Saturday, September 29, 2012



Please forgive some formatting problems this blog is having  -  I am working on correcting them.

ELISSA Redivivus ~ 2012 Restoration



This week in the shipyard:


Monday September 24, 2012


This week at the shipyard began with cropping out an additional 4" of the garboard strake at frames 69 to 73 on the starboard side of the ship.  The frames are numbered from aft to forward with frame number 1 being at the stern post.  I was very happy to see over 3/8" late thickness at the cut.  The original scantlings for the shell plate at the garboard near the bow is 7/16" - so we have suffered very little wastage at this plate.  Unfortunately the electrolytic corrosion does not care if the plate is thick or thin and will attack both with equal vigor.


The cropped garboard plate

 note the butt joint and butt backing plate and the concrete... more about the concrete later.



 This frame angle flange is a little too thin for welding the new shell plate  and will need to be renewed.


While over on the port side, just aft of the bow, a worker is scaling the exposed frames in preparation for tacking up a new plate.


...and the never ending battle of removing the concrete from the bilges. 


More cropping out of shell plate in search of thicker plate at the stern on port and

 on the starboard side.








A good welder can wash off a section of shell plate with a cutting torch and barely kiss the iron frame underneath.







In the late morning a reporter from the local Houston Fox News affiliate, Channel 26, dropped by to shoot some footage for a story on the work being performed on the official tall ship of Texas ELISSA.
Here is a link to the footage: 


Bosun Mark found a section of piping that had a pin hole leak. 

 It is so very vital to keep coatings on everything in the bilge...including the underside of a reverse bend.  All the effort we put into maintenance is paid back in full measures.  Always keep in mind that the "underside" of a bit of gear is still a "side" to be coated -  whether piping or the main pin rail and fife rails.



At the close of another day.





 

Tuesday September 25, 2012


Tuesday morning was beautiful with a glorious sunrise and the ever present staccato of the chipping hammer picking away at the concrete in the bow and stern.






Almost looks as if our ELISSA is missing a tooth.



Later in the morning, the Coast Guard inspector showed up to take a look at what was revealed by the additional cropping of plate and if the resulting edges were at the required thickness for welding in an insert plate.


The framing at frames 63- 66 appeared sound, but the plate was still too thin at about 1/4"




A beautiful original frame from 1877 Aberdeen, Scotland and the yard of Alexander Hall & Co.


At the lower edge of the cut out on the after port bow, the concrete was chipped away and exposed this butt plate and wash plate with limber hole.



It is always difficult to gage what amount of cropping back will result in thick enough plate.  When the plating in question is steel plate from the Greek restoration or Galveston first restoration, it is not a difficult decision.  When it is the original historic wrought iron plate, the decision is more difficult, but in the end - it is whatever is best for the safe operation of the ship and her company






The Coast Guard was not satisfied and directed that additional plate needed to be cropped back in several locations already openned up. 





Here the crew is marking the radius for the upper edge of the enlarged cut out.

 
While aft at the stern and under the thrust bearing of the tail shaft... more concrete and cropping is needed.





Saturday, September 22, 2012

ELISSA Redivivus ~ 2012 Restoration



ELISSA Redivivus ~ 2012 Restoration

 
Shipmates,

Ships have never been built for posterity, and to find ELISSA still sailing is beyond remarkable and a signal of her significance as a survivor from the Great Age of Sail. That is only half of the story, for the balance of ELISSA’s tale is found in each of you…her crew. Sailing ships are large complex machines with a limited life-span of consumptive use, and although they have inspired affection and sometimes wonderment in the hearts of sailors and shorebound souls, it is only quite recently that they have come to be seen as salient icons of our vanishing maritime heritage. 

The decision as to how best to preserve, restore, or rehabilitate a vessel is a complex one that needs to take into account a wide range of factors.  Most museum ships are stationary, either on shore or afloat; only a couple of museum ships are operational.  A major benefit to keeping a preserved and historic vessel operational is that it allows it to be exhibited within its historical context of skills and craft.  Keeping a vessel operational significantly expands the scope of a museum by preserving the skills of operation and maintenance, in addition to helping maintain the artifact itself.  The restoration, operation and maintenance of historic vessels require skills that are rare and no longer readily available off-the-shelf.  Shipyard workers are no different and this refit will reintroduce them to riveting and to welding wrought iron to modern mild steel, and many other tasks that will be needed in the upcoming years to "Keep ELISSA Sailing."  By sailing annually, ELISSA is creating a supply of skilled and experienced square-rigged sailors that can help maintain and preserve ELISSA or go on to assist with other ships and projects.  Sailing ELISSA is a vital part and a central component of the mission of TSM.


 Setting a course for Bollinger Shipyard, Texas City


On September 10, 2012 ELISSA departed Pier 21 in Galveston and motored to Bollinger Shipyard in Texas City to begin the voyage that will add years to ELISSA’s life and legacy by beginning ELISSA’s second restoration or rebirth. ELISSA has been mute these last many months, but soon with your dedicated help and the focused work of skilled shipyard workers, ELISSA will speak again with every taut sheet and resonant halyard. I want to write about the upcoming shipyard efforts that will give renewed voice to ELISSA.  In this blog, I will chronicle the shipyard activities and attempt to document the work aboard ELISSA as it progresses.  I want to have this as a photo montage of the sights and sounds of ELISSA's second restoration, for it truly is a second rebirth and one that will help in preserving the ELISSA experience for future generations of sailors, dreamers, and others who find themselves aboard the decks of one of mankind's most graceful creations ~ a square-rigged sailing ship.


Monday September 10, 2012



Under the command of Captain Jan Miles and the assistance of chief mate Chris Welton and ELISSA's ship's company of volunteer crew, ELISSA departed Pier 21 and arrived a couple of hours later at Bollinger shipyard, Texas City.



After the dry-dock was re-floated, ELISSA's fine underwater profile was revealed in all its graceful curves...even if she was fouled with an assortment of oysters, barnacles and other slimy denizens of the deep.






 
 



 
 
 
 
The amount of fouling surprised us and even with those blemishes of fouling...there is no denying her graceful hull shape.  The craftsmen of her Aberdeen, Scotland builders, Alexander Hall & Co.,  created a sculpture in wrought iron.
 
 

 
 
 

Tuesday September 11, 2012

The first order of business was to pressure wash all the marine growth and paint from the underwater section of the hull.  The shipyard used an ultra-high pressure hydro-blaster machine which produced a pressure of almost 40,000 psi at the nozzle head.  This machine cut through the bottom paint and growth while at the same time cleaning out any salts and chlorides in the bottom plating.  The job took several days, but Bollinger Shipyard had the hull ready for the planned Friday morning inspection of hull plates by the Coast Guard.





 
 
The 40,000 psi cleaned the iron and steel shell plating exceptionally well and revealed the areas of corrosion first discovered at last year's dry-docking.  It exposed some further areas of corrosion that were not exposed at last year's dry-docking, when we used a less aggressive and less costly method. 
 


















 

 
 
 
 

Friday September 14, 2012 

Friday morning at 10:00 a.m., Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Scott Woods and Todd Grove and his colleagues from ABS ( American Bureau of Shipping)  arrived for a first look at the cleaned bottom plating. 
 
 
 
In the afternoon, CWO Woods selected a piece of original iron hull plating to be cropped out and sent for chemical composition and strength testing as well as being radiographed.
 
 
The yellow marks above outline the section of bottom plate that will be removed and sent to a lab for testing.
 
 
The following three photos illustrate some of the rivet corrosion that will be addressed toward the end of the project, after all the plate work has been completed.
 












 

 


















 

 

A couple of worn rivet points and some previously ring-welded rivet points and a butt joint in the garboard strake.
 
These rivets and a majority of the others on ELISSA are repairable, according to Terry Jagielski of Hansen Industries in Toledo, Ohio (an expert in rivet repairs).  Terry took a look at the exposed rivet points and will be back toward the end of the project to repair rivets damaged by the same electrolytic corrosion that attacked the shell plating as a result of Hurricane Ike.  The rivet repair will follow the guidelines outlined in the Coast Guard's NVIC 7-01
 
 

Monday September 17, 2012

 
The wrought iron bottom shell plate identified for testing by CWO Woods was cut out first thing in the morning.
 
 
 
Other than some surface scale, the inside of the plate was in pretty good condition.
 

Tuesday September 18, 2012

It turned out to be a lot more difficult than anyone imagined to write up a specification and protocol for radiography of the historic iron plate.  Since the plate has naturally occurring silica in the form of slag layers, the x-ray may show hidden patches of corrosion that are actually just slag lines.  Todd Grove and his colleagues from ABS worked on writing a specification and went as far afield as contacting a professor from the Colorado School of Mines as well as an iron expert in Yorkshire, England.  It took several days, but by Friday morning, September 21, 2012 we were able to have CWO Woods take a look and approve the specification.
 
While we were awaiting the x-ray specification, we painted the frame locations on the hull for easier identification during surveying and planning which plates needed renewal and which could be repaired.
 
 
 
 
The yard removed the tail shaft for inspection.
 


The tail shaft ready to be dressed and inspected.
 
 
One of the questions we have is how to remove the cement in the bilge of ELISSA.  Monty Bludworth, general manager of the Texas City Bollinger Shipyard, thought the ultra-high pressure hydro-blaster would do the job.  Walter Rybka told me that removing the cement in the bilges was back breaking and very time consuming.  The hydro-blaster left this result after only a minute's work.
 

 
On the left side of the above photo is a butt backing plate, then cement, then frame 45 (notice the rivets) and then the hole cut into the cement by the hydro-blaster.  The cement debris was hot to the touch...that is a lot of water pressure!
...and very noisy
 
 
 

Wednesday September 20, 2012

We cannot start any repair or renewals to the wrought iron shell plating until we get the test results and approval to proceed from the Coast Guard.  While we are waiting, there is the ordinary dry-dock work needed for ELISSA's official file.  This includes removing all the valve stems from all underwater valves, inspecting the cutlass bearing and tail shaft, etc. 
 

 
 
To avoid slowing down work, I directed the yard to begin looking at plate renewals and repairs to the modern mild steel plate. ELISSA has around 70% of her original iron and over the years had a lot of repairs and replacements in mild steel plate. During the original restoration in Greece, over 50 tons of wrought iron plating was renewed with modern mild steel plate. It would be great if wrought iron plate was available, but unfortunately it is only available in very small quantities and nowhere near the amounts ELISSA requires. Here is an interesting web page on one of the large small suppliers of wrought iron. I have spoke with them at length about ELISSA's wrought iron and they have been very helpful. Real Wrought Iron Company
 
 
 Below is an area of electrolytic corrosion that has been opened up by the hydro-blaster.  It is in a section of riveted steel plate.  ELISSA was in several collisions with piers (and other things that go "bump"), and was repaired with the new material called steel at several times while under Scandinavian ownership.
 

 
Monty is marking for the anticipated insert.  What begins as a small hole can grow into a much larger one.  Notice the "doubler" plate we put on at the last dry-dock directly below his right hand.  This is like a band-aid welded to the plate and is solely a temporary repair.  This is why he is starting the drawing for the cut so far abaft the hole in front of the zinc anode.








 
To the left is another one of the areas of corrosion that was discovered during Elissa's last dry docking.  This is in welded steel plate and will be repaired with a welded insert.  Inserts are a repair that is considered permanent and stout.  The minimum area to be removed for an insert is 18" x 18" inches and it must span a frame.  Even though this hole is the size of your fingernail, an insert of 18" x 18" will be necessary to repair the corrosion damage.

Another bit of damage is the delamination of some of the iron as seen below.  Wrought iron is not homogeneous like steel and is formed with layers of iron and slag.  Corrosion has attacked this section of plate and delaminated it requiring another type of repair - clad welding.  Clad welding is where a puddle of steel is welded into the void.  If the divot or void is too large, an insert may be required.  All these repair scenarios may be suggested by us or the yard, but the Coast Guard has the final say as to whether we can use an insert versus just clad welding a repair.  Clad welding is a lot less expensive.

There are certainly a lot of varying and different textures and colors on ELISSA.



Here is a hole from corrosion just abaft the forward collision bulkhead of ELISSA.  This is another candidate for an insert repair.





 While Monty was marking out for the insert on the port bow, on the starboard bow the shipyard took readings with an audio-gauge to determine the plate thickness.  This works well on steel plate, but is ineffective on iron due to the inclusions of slag that naturally occur in wrought iron.  The ultrasonic signal will bounce of the slag and give a false reading.  A touch of a grinder is used to clean off any rust and then a smear of a Vaseline-like jelly is applied - it is a lot like a sonogram for the ship.  The readings in yellow are plate thicknesses.







 




Some areas do not require an audio gauge to determine they are quite thin, as shown by this bolt passed through a hole in "A" strake.




 Once the area is marked out for cutting, a welder with a cutting torch steps in and begins cutting away. 




I was very impressed with the level of workmanship and metal artistry exhibited by the Bollinger welders.  Above is Lorenzo Pena demonstrating years of expertise with a cutting torch - a beautiful striaght cut. 



 
 

 
 

Friday September 21, 2012

CWO Scott Woods, on the right, came by the ship to inspect the holes that were cut in the port and starboard bow for the use of an insert repair.  He and Monty measured plate thickness at the lip of the cuts, and it was decided to extend the bottom cut several inches to have thicker plate available for the welding in of the insert.
 
 
 
All the final cuts will have a radius to relieve the concentration of stresses on the plate at the corners.  A radius is being marked by a worker.
 
 
 
For the most part, the frames are in remarkable condition after 135 years.  I hope the frames aft and midships are in as good condition as these following photos show.
 







The flange and angle on this frame is over 1/4" thick, as is apparent from looking at the rivet hole.
 
 The exposed frames appeared usable and will not require replacement - only a little reforming of the angled flange.  The new plate will be welded along both sides of the frame and the rivet holes plug welded to the backside of the insert plate.  The entire plate insert will be welded around the full perimeter of the cut-out on both the outside and inside of the ship making for a full 100% penetration weld.  A very strong repair.
 
For anyone interested in how we will be repairing the vessel, the procedures and specifications are found in this USCG document NVIC 7-68.  It is a very interesting read and one of a dozen references we will be using throughout this current restoration.
 
 
At the end of each weekly update every Saturday while ELISSA is in shipyard I would like to have a contest for her crew.  Anyone who has over 20 hours of volunteer work aboard ELISSA is eligible to enter.  For additional details click the link below:
 

*Please take a look at the "What Is It? Contest! and give a try at winning an ELISSA giclee*

What Is It? Contest!

 Please visit again for future updates - I will try to update this blog several times a week and definitely every Saturday.
 
Fair leads...
 
Jamie