Ep. 2 - Building Lady Garnet - The Plans for a Trading Wherry

[@buildingladygarnet]

UPDATE: Just a little note for those of you just finding this video. As discussed in episode 5, due to space constraints at the boatyard, I have changed Lady Garnet's dimensions from what I stated in this video. She will now be 48 feet (14.6 meters) long and 11 feet (3.35 meters) beam. Also, welcome to this series!

[@charlesweaver8302]

My father, Laurence Weaver, rebuilt Thames Esperanza in our back garden at White Lodge, Datchet from 1968 to about 1972. He built a large timber framed polythene covered shed for the purpose. A nosy neighbour reported him, and the planning inspector told him to carry on, as as it was a temporary building in pursuit of a hobby. No planning permission required.

[@buildingladygarnet]

Aah, those were the days! I'm afraid the local planning authority won't allow that these days. :( Thames Esperanza is a beautiful boat, well done to your father for restoring her.

[@charlesweaver8302]

@@buildingladygarnet I don't know where she is now. I think she has been converted to electric now. Steam boilers are eye wateringly expensive to run and maintain

[@rex8255]

Rove, rove, rove your boat Gently down the plank Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Boat building is such a dream

[@Qossuth]

Swallows and Amazons AND Riddle of the Sands? Let's goooooo!

[@buildingladygarnet]

:)

[@frankchristensen5778]

Hi. can I make a suggestion re snipping off the copper nails on the inside? Make a smaller version of your "clamp" and hold it around the nail and Rove[?] to give a spacing for your snippers suitable for a reasonable spare end on the nail. Snippers sit against the "clamp" allowing a suitable length of copper nail to remain after snipping. Greetings from Perth West Australis. Wishing you speed and good luck with the rest of your build. Cheers, Frank.

[@buildingladygarnet]

Thank you Frank, that is indeed an excellent suggestion, much more accurate than just eyeing it every time!

[@barbazzz]

It's good to train your left hand also, as a carpenter you'll have much easier time if you're a bit ambidextrous. You can attack the woodgrain from appropriate way and tou can position your body better since boatbuilding is mostly working around big circle.

[@buildingladygarnet]

You are absolutely right! Or left. ;)

[@danhubert-hx4ss]

This ambidextrous individual absolutely agrees.

[@tetleyk]

Indeed. I've trained myself to use either although I'm dominant to the right. Has come in very handy over the years.

[@rowejon]

Very true. When I was working I trained myself to use a plane left handed, slower but better results.

[@k9six185]

When you trim the nails slip a washer over the nail and the use you nippers and you will get a consistent length…..you can thin the washer as needed to get the correct thickness

[@buildingladygarnet]

Excellent suggestion, way better than just eyeing it every time.

[@k9six185]

@@buildingladygarnet I subscribed also

[@buildingladygarnet]

@@k9six185 Thanks!

[@stewkingjr]

Yes, you really need to buck those rivets.Somewhere i have a special clamp with a u-shaped top that fits around the rivet, allowing access and the back has a single arm that fits over the head of the rivet, not that that helps you, but maybe you could find one over there. Or maybe a local smithy could make one for you. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[@BrownianMotionPicture]

well earned mate.

[@buildingladygarnet]

Thank you!

[@Alex-we2cx]

Hello, would your design be able to carry standard shipping containers? Or does it require a return to break-bulk cargo?

[@buildingladygarnet]

Hello Alex, height is the issue for standard shipping containers, as they are usually around eight feet tall, which is too high for Lady Garnet. So yes, she will carry break-bulk.

[@tedmiles2110]

I liked Swallows and Amazons many years ago. There was sequel that took the children out in the North Sea to The Netherlends. I forget the exact title. TM retired sailor

[@buildingladygarnet]

Ransome went on to write twelve books in the series - the one you are thinking of is We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea, which is my sister's favourite!

[@rowejon]

Here in the Netherlands you still see fully laden barges, up to 3000 tonnes, with the gangways (side decks) under water.

[@buildingladygarnet]

Now that's interesting. May I ask, are these barges old vessels, or newer builds? In the UK, vessels built before a certain year (1967, I believe) are not necessarily subject to the same rules that new builds are. At least, that's my current understanding of it.

[@rowejon]

@@buildingladygarnet I play cards with a retired (lady) skipper & I asked her today. It's not dependent on the age of the ship, nor whether it's on the canals & rivers or the Schelde & IJsselmeer. Ships are marked with an eik (Plimsoll line). Water up to the den (hatch combings) is OK. For practical purposes you still need to be ab le to walk along the gangways.

[@buildingladygarnet]

@@rowejon Thanks for the info, it seems odd that the Dutch and British rules would be so different, I will have to have a further talk with the British authorities to make sure that they have given me the correct information.

[@timcorso6337]

Fingers crossed for PP 🫰🏻

[@buildingladygarnet]

Cheers Tim!

[@Pocketfarmer1]

Are you aware that there was, until recently, a major US shipyard called McDermott? There is still a large international fleet of McDermott ships.

[@buildingladygarnet]

I didn't know that, very interesting! I guess shipbuilding is a McDermott trait!

[@tetleyk]

A very good example of the lofting process can be seen in episode 24 of Rebuilding Tally Ho (kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXytkpqsqtKpeas) and continued in episode 25. The main drawback is that you need space for the lofting and space for the build if you have to refer back to the lofted lines during the build!! Looking forward to seeing the build progress.

[@buildingladygarnet]

It'll be an enormous lofting floor! But fortunately, because this is a new build, I won't be in the same position as Tally Ho of having the boat and floor at the same time. Once the keel, stempost, sternpost and all the station moulds are made and set up, the lofting floor can be dismantled.

[@tetleyk]

@@buildingladygarnet Fair point. I've never build a large boat from scratch. Smaller ones, yes, but the work I've done on larger boats has always been repairs or refurbishment.

[@buildingladygarnet]

In some ways, far easier to build from new. Leo could have built a new yacht in less time and with less money... but of course we're all glad he restored Tally Ho instead! I considered restoring a wherry, until I realised there were realistically none to restore...

[@colinjones2974]

When you mentioned why you chose a Ttrading Wherry over a Thames sailing barge, you mentioned, the ease of lowering the mast. However, according to John Leather in Spritsails and Lugsails, when referring to the River Medway, he mentions Spritsail Sailing Barges and then shooting the bridge at Rochester with the assistance of a waterman, who board the barge and would lower the mast and immediately then raise the mast after it had gone under the bridge while the barge moved under the bridge under its own momentum. So, maybe, the rig is the issue rather than the hull type.

[@DrenKillfree]

I'm looking forward to a diffinitive update on wherry are next time

[@buildingladygarnet]

You and me both!

[@timcorso6337]

🤣 Good one!

[@bclare2544]

Good luck.

[@buildingladygarnet]

Thank you!

[@rex8255]

Actually, if you had a crew of 6, you'd have to pay 7 people. The 7th person will have to deal with all of the Government mandated & other administrative details.

[@buildingladygarnet]

Hmm, yes, you have a point there!

[@CitizenSmith50]

roving every nail by hand by yourself on a wherry will take quite a time ! I notice you are not adverse to modern tools ie cordless drill rather than brace and bit; do you have any plans for a compressor and air hammer in the future for all those nails ?

[@buildingladygarnet]

Hopefully I won't be on my own all the time, but even so, you are quite right, it will take a long time on the wherry! I do tend to use a combination of electric and traditional tools. I really love roving the traditional way, but we'll see if I still feel that way after the first 1000 nails!

[@georgemorris9971]

I was brought up on the Norfolk Broads and Ihave sailed the Thames estuary in a small yacht. They are VERY different pieces of water. The Thames is a nasty, choppy piece of water with very fast tides, the Norfolk rivers do not have much tidal flow except when you get near Yarmouth and if you do run into the bank of a Norfolk river you will probably not do much damage provided you don't break the boat's back when the tide goes down. There are no waves. You have no doubt given this project more thought than I have but...............a wherry on the tidal Thames?

[@buildingladygarnet]

Hello George, thank you for your comment. Wherries are sturdy sailing vessels and will have no more trouble in choppy waters and stronger tides than a Thames Barge would. In fact, a whole fleet of trading wherries once left the Broads, sailed to Portsmouth and worked the Solent, and then two of them, Norfolk Hero and Carrow, went to the Thames. Wherries regularly sailed through the strong tides of Yarmouth, as you know; and they also went to sea regularly to race and also to take the quicker route from Yarmouth to Lowestoft.

[@georgemorris9971]

@@buildingladygarnet Well I didn't know any of that so I stand corrected! I have been on board Albion (I was about 10 at the time ie about 70 years ago) and she was tied up alongside somewhere on the Bure and I had a trip on a Thames barge down the Orwell a couple of years ago. You are a lot higher up on the Thames barge! I think your shots of the Three Rivers Race showed what sort of water Wherries usually inhabited - now take your Thames A Rater across the Thames in the same conditions that you had for the Three Rivers Race and see how long the forestay lasts!

[@buildingladygarnet]

@@georgemorris9971 You are right that Thames barges have more freeboard, and that's the reason why I'm adding an extra plank to Lady Garnet. The forestay on the A-Rater snapped because of high winds, and to be honest, the buildings of London provide more protection from the wind than the reeds of the Broads do, so there are different challenges to both the Thames and the Broads. Also a wherry's forestay is about 50 times thicker than an A-Rater forestay!

[@AWg-yq3rs]

Hi don a tad off topic, i have an enterprise dinghy with the sail no 1134 i was wondering if you would be able to find out her age ( must be pretty old with the relatively low number) i have tried to find out but cannot find it anywhere. many thanks and good luck on your project!

[@buildingladygarnet]

I have found a knowledgeable fellow who tells me that sail #1134 would probably have been built in 1958, which is just two years after the class was founded!

[@AWg-yq3rs]

@@buildingladygarnet thanks!

[@AWg-yq3rs]

@@buildingladygarnet it really is incredible that these old boats are still going, she is still completely structurally sound (besides for some smallish quantities of rot) any idea how on earth that glue is still holding,😂 there is one aspect to these old holt styles i dont understand, what practical us do those enormous decks do ( besides looking pretty;-) seems to be a desighn feature in many holt desighns

[@AWg-yq3rs]

@@buildingladygarnet eg gp14, enterprise, heron, solo, merlin rocket, and others

[@AWg-yq3rs]

@@buildingladygarnet any idea what glue and fasteners would have been used around that time?

[@jakereich]

Great to have an update! Are you building Lady Garnet at a yard, or at your home, or somewhere else? (Just curious)

[@buildingladygarnet]

The current plan is to rent a section of land from a nearby farm, provided that planning permission is granted. It would have been great to build her at the boatyard I work at, but unfortunately the two access points (the slipway and the road) are only 12 feet wide - and Lady Garnet will be 16.

[@grahamstubbs4962]

Could you not launch her as the Mary Berry Wherry? Lady Garnet is a great name, but you get those foodies in and all sorts of lucrative spin-offs become possible. 🙂 Might need to go white sail, though...

[@buildingladygarnet]

Haha, comment of the year, love it! Funnily enough, used to go to the same church as Mary Berry!

[@toady5843]

Could even be the Merry Mary Berry Wherry? Or is that one step too far?

[@buildingladygarnet]

@@toady5843 You know what, forget cargo carriage, I should just carry people from one side of the river to the other. Then she could be the Merry Mary Berry Ferry Wherry.

[@grahamstubbs4962]

@@buildingladygarnet I started it and I'll stop it. Right here, right now. I apologise unreservedly.

[@buildingladygarnet]

@@grahamstubbs4962 I enjoyed it! :)

[@jill-ti7oe]

Gripping stuff. 😀👍

[@buildingladygarnet]

Thank you!

[@clivethompson9375]

CALL LEO, NOW.........................

[@surreyarborist]

Hope the NIMBYs pipe down

[@buildingladygarnet]

Thank you! Did you see my reply about the oak crooks on the last video?

[@surreyarborist]

@@buildingladygarnet yep I try to stay away from FB but I will go and have look