Happy May Day, everyone! Today we are not working, it’s also International Workers’ Day after all.
But this week we had good progress and you can really tell that the boat is getting close to be ready…
To be honest, the week started slowly: on Monday Albaola hosted the press conference for “La Fortuna”, a series produced by Movistar+, and directed by Alejandro Amenábar (http://www.pasaiaport.eus/es/noticias/noticias/519-la-fortuna-la-serie-de-alejando-amenabar-que-hace-escala-en-el-puerto-de-pasaia).
Some of the scenes were filmed in Pasaia, with the partecipation of tall ship replicas Étoile du Roi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89toile_du_Roy) and Shtandart (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtandart_(frigate,_1999)). We were lucky enough to be invited on board both of them!
After all these distractions, we could get back to work. Ioanna started by caulking the aft deck she had installed last week.
This might need to be redone after the boat sits under the sun for a while, but we thought that the caulking would prevent the deck planks from warping too much while still out of the water.
Then, together with Alejandro, they managed to prepare four out of five of the sotocorboli, the pieces that will receive the foot of the forcole and prevent them from rocking while rowing.
Also notice that we painted the interior with some primer, after Ioanna had sanded everything.
Regarding this semicircular patter, I was once told that it is a reminiscence of the times when boats were covered in tar. You wouldn’t want to stick to the tar with your “clean” trousers, especially in the summer when it all melts. Therefore the seats would be left without tarring.
We followed the tradition, and oiled the thwart instead (with a mix of boiled linseed oil and turpentine).
I devoted my time to the closing of the forward deck. Ioanna had prepared the breasthook last week, but kindly left it to me to finish.
After installing the first beam and cutting a rabbet on the socheto (breasthook), I positioned two more beams in between with the help of a batten. The beams have been made out of larch, as will the deck.
In this group picture, you can see how the deck turned out. It still need to be fastened, but you can already notice that it is asymmetrical. It’s been made the traditional way, in order to waste as few material as possible.
After fastening it I will take some more pictures and explain more in detail how it is done.
What’s the plan for next week?
Nailing the forward deck, hanging the washboards (you can see them in the last picture, lying on the floor next to Laguna), fix the stanchions supporting them, fasten the sotocorboli, cut the transom, and maybe even flip the boat and start closing it for good!
