Tally Ho

[Rob Luter]

Apologies if this has been posted previously, but my search of the forum found nothing.

I've been watching this series for a number of weeks now and found it fascinating. It covers the restoration/rebuilding of a 100 year old sailing yacht. The scale of the build is huge and I can't imagine the cost of the timber. To think that back in the day all this was done by hand makes me really appreciate the skills of the time. We truly do stand on broad shoulders.

Hoping you folks will enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-...hBnDSay7nmphUA

[Andy Hastings]

I'm with you on your thoughts on the old ship wrights. I just a bit ago found that the 17th century Ships of The Line had sides over 40 inches thick. No wonder Merry Old England was nearly deforested!

[Tom M King]

And those old wooden transport ships were only considered good for five years. In one of his letters to his Daughter, about making a trip to France, Thomas Jefferson wrote to her telling her to not book the passage on a ship any older than 5 years old. I remember other instances of reading about shipping specifications on ships older than 5 years, but can't quote the source from memory.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

This is quite a labor of love. It would be easier to build a boat from scratch, but I'm not knocking what he's doing- I think it's great to see boats get restored. I guess I should word it different- this is even harder than building one from scratch.

Where I live, there is one of the oldest haul-outs in the Caribbean- the Creque Marine Railway on Hassel Island. I am President of the St. Thomas Historical Trust, and it's one of our projects to try to restore some of the equipment left there from the days of sail and of steam. There is a huge steam engine that would drive a winch to haul boats up the marine railway, and there were huge lathes, drill presses, and the likes that would run off leather belts from that and a smaller steam engine. Prior to that, they would haul boats out with mules and manpower, or careen them in Careening Cove, nearby on the same island. They did quite a bit of work there, and with Charlotte Amalie Harbor being the busiest Caribbean port in the sailing days, it was always packed with sailing ships. Imagine what these guys had to do with little resources. If they needed a special part, it had to be shipped from the mainland.

Sadly, the building that houses the old steam engine and winch was very badly damaged in the storms, and it's just about beyond repair now, so efforts are more for preservation of what's left than complete restoration. I'm glad to see someone preserving a bit of sailing history, and it would be amazing for her to race again.

[Julie Moriarty]

I love watching this stuff! I could waste an entire day, and almost did before I shook myself from the trance.

Thanks for sharing, Rob!

[James Waldron]

I love watching this stuff! I could waste an entire day, and almost did before I shook myself from the trance.

Thanks for sharing, Rob!

But why aren't you in Key West yet?

[Julie Moriarty]

But why aren't you in Key West yet?

I wish! Looks like May 5 is blast off from Cape Canaveral. Except we'll be going a bit slower.

[Patrick Walsh]

I like this kids style.

I have been doing things the hard way all my life to the point of it isn’t the hard way I’m really not interested.

I also really appreciate saving something when he could just as easily start anew. In my book romance trumps practicality and if there is a high price to pay.

Good on this guy. He is living life to its fullest even if only while undertaking this project. Imop that’s the stuff that makes everything else about being alive worth enduring.

[Rob Luter]

Revisiting this thread. I’m so glad others have found it interesting. As a younger man I envisioned a similar quest, but was re-directed by love, family, and career (NO regrets). My quest was different, but no less fulfilling.

[Kris Cook]

Resurrecting this thread. A friend recently told me about this build and I have been binge-watching the videos. Just getting to the deck trim and internal fitting. I saw some sneak peaks where it looks like this build is still going - maybe nearing launch but haven't made it that far. Very interesting, some good work being done, a very cool project all in all.

[John C Cox]

The hard part with huge projects like that is the old adage - You get 95% done and you still have 95% of the work left to do.

"Finishing" a project like that to the point of "Done" is a massive ordeal.