Booms and Gaffs
Day 437. In addition to the main and fore masts, there are a number of booms and gaffs on the Bluenose. While masts are vertical, booms and gaffs are horizontal.…
Top Masts and Mast Coats
Day 433. With the lower masts complete, I started in on the top masts. These are pretty simple compared to the lower masts. The top masts for the fore and…
Mast Bands, Cranes, and Caps
Day 425. To finish up the lower masts I need to add a number of metal bands, the cranes on the mastheads, and the mast caps. I started with the…
Trestle Trees
Day 422. The next big step on the masts is constructing the trestle trees. These are assemblies near the top of the lower masts. These form the ‘seat’ that holds the…
Mast Hoops
Day 420. With the lower portions of the masts complete, the next step is to install the mast hoops. These need to go on before anything else is attached to the…
Lower Masts
Day 416. Based on the plans I worked up for constructing the masts, I decided to work on the fore mast and main mast at the same time. There are…
Planning the Masts
Day 413. Over the last few weeks I’ve been working up to starting on the masts. The masts are the last major phase of “construction” before rigging all the lines.…
Bowsprit Rigging
Day 402. With the bowsprit built, it is time to add all the rigging. This will be the first bit of rigging I’ll be doing on the Bluenose, by design.…