9/26/10 Luna updates

Most of us have been away for the past few weekends working events. Today we returned to Luna to continue work and see what the shipwright has been up to. The last sets of pictures showed her completed outer hull and beginnings of the new quarter deck located at the aft, or back end, of the hull. Work has now shifted in two directions. The deck is beginning to be worked on and the bow is continuing to be stripped down to solid wood.

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Well its been eight years since the journalist Dave Berry introduced the world to Ol' Chumbucket and Capn' Slappy who created Talk Like A Pirate Day. This once small gathering has turned into a novelty cult following of sorts celebrated by thousands around the world. No- really, it is! Check out their web site and see for yourself.  http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html.

The Foundation was contacted by the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia to help them celebrate their annual Talk Like A Pirate Day events. Who are we to say no to an offer like that! Sometimes we just need to work an event to remind us why we got into this project to start with. The Mariners Museum is the National Maritime Museum sporting over 60,000 square feet of gallery space! Their collection includes rare ships figureheads, an amazing collection of hand crafted ships models with such detail you would swear they were real. The museum also holds many USS Monitor artifacts. To learn more about the museum visit their web site, http://www.marinersmuseum.org/ . This was our first time working with the Museum and we had a wonderful time!

Hampton Bay Days

Hampton Bay Days celebrated its 28th anniversary promoting stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay this past weekend. This was our second time participating in the bay education area. We actually had two sites as the Custom House was back at the waterfront as well.

Saturday was an almost picture perfect day with low heat and few clouds. Somewhat smaller than last years booth, this year we packed our 10x10 foot space with as much as we could so folks can see the work we are accomplishing on Luna and our education programs.

whiskey plank- n. the board which completes construction of a ship’s or boat’s hull.

Ben has the honors of cutting and fastening
the last board- the Whiskey Plank as Adam
looks on after fastening his just below.
Way to go gang!

Two milestones were reached this past week!

 First- Ben is out of the boat which can only mean one thing. The last of the frames have been completed. This has been a major focus since the beginning of the project. We still have several frames up for adoption. $300 will pay for a frames material and provide a plaque with your name or dedication on it placed inside Luna for permanent display.

Second- With the completion of the last couple of frames we were able to place the last two planks on Luna's reshaped  hull. In wooden ship construction this milestone last board is called the Whiskey Plank. Tradition goes that a shot or ten of whiskey is partaken and work subsequently stops for the day. Not for us, a resounding HUZZAH! was heard and work continued. This completes her new quarter deck hull exterior. The next step is the remaining deck beams and deck itself.

updates

Last week we shared a photo of Luna as we found her. This week we are happy to share our artists rendering of her fully rigged and standing by for action!

pictures are worth 1000 words

We begin this weeks blog with a visit from Scott Watts who was in town delivering a boat and came by to see Luna. Scott and his family generously donated Luna to the Foundation and have been following along in her construction. This is his first time seeing her in almost three years- Geez, has it really been that long? Here is Scott enjoying the view from the stern. Thank you for making this possible! 

The shipwright spent the weekend working on the transom windows. Looking at the picture, the four vertical slats at the top of the boat show the approximate size of each framed area. The major concern is obviously keeping water out. The challenge though is being able to open them when needed and keeping the structure strong enough to take on crashing waves over the stern while keeping her historical appearance. While we don't plan on doing bluewater cruising, rogue storms on the Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound have knocked down more than one ship, so safety is foremost in our thoughts.