Building  ISABEL   

 18 1/2'   Hudson River Shad Boat

 Start Oct 2004  -  Completion May 14, 2005 

 197 Main St., Beacon, NY

An Educational Project of

Hudson Fisheries Trust, Inc.

Rivers & Estuaries Center, Beacon

Beacon Sloop Club

Building Bridges, Building Boats

This boat building project will complete the cycle started over 30 years ago when Isabel Barten, 1^st mate on the Clearwater, at the request of the late John Gardener, began a search for a Shad Boat "Barten, I. (1976), The search for the shad boat. The Log of Mystic Seaport, 27 [4], 112-117,";  looking at their history, construction and the state of the Hudson River commercial fishery.  Because of Isabel’s effort and Mystic Seaport’s mission, the presence of this invaluable piece of the Hudson River’s heritage and its fisheries has been preserved.   

It is only fitting that we build this boat in keeping with the historic tradition of American boat building and the Hudson shad fisheries and put it back to work on the river. With over 100 years in its shad fishing use and history;  its principal role will now be to teach and preserve the lore of the Hudson River fisheries and to stand as a premier, working example of traditional Hudson River boat building.   

With time passing, the Whitehall derived shad boat has all but disappeared. Howard Chapelle, historian for Naval Architecture of the Smithsonian institution from 1967-1975, in his American Small Sailing Craft  wrote about the rowing work-boat stating that “the most noted of American work-boats was the Whitehall”. “Noted for its fine qualities; it rowed easily and moved fast in smooth or choppy water; it was safe, carried a heavy load easily and was dry.” He also felt that the original Whitehall’s were lap-strake but became caravel (smooth planked) in New York by 1850.   

John Gardner came to Mystic Seaport in 1969. Recognized as the expert on the history, evolution of design and the building of American small boats, he started the Mystic Seaport educational boat building program and was Curator of Small Craft from 1969 to 1995. In his Origin of the Whitehall , John describes their use in New York City, Boston and New Jersey. Although the Mystic collection does not include a NY Whitehall, the work done by Isabel Barten while working for the Hudson River Sloop Restorations, "Clearwater", and then the Mystic Small Boat Laboratory team, consisting of John Gardener, Barry Thomas (boat builder), and Robert Pittaway (architect), selecting one of the five boats and taking the lines from her,  preserved the history and tradition of the Whitehall derived Hudson River Shad Boat.   

In 1974 Isabel located 5 Whitehall type shad boats in the Kingston-Port Ewen area about 100 miles upriver from NYC.   “John Watzga of East Kingston had a shad boat which was a superior example of the type. Reputed to be more than 100 years old , she was cedar-planked, copper rivet fastened, with keel and stem of oak, oak frames, and hackmatack knees at the stem and transom.”  “This boat was selected as the best example for study and her lines were taken off and construction details recorded by the Small Boat Laboratory of Mystic Seaport. (pgs. 112 & 113)."

 WebCamera /Building Isabel

HUDSON FISHERIES TRUST HOME PAGE

HISTORY OF THE HUDSON RIVER SHAD BOAT

BUILDING THE SHAD BOAT

        PLANS

        HALF MODEL

        BUYING LUMBER

        LOFTING

        BUILDING THE MOLD

                STRONGBACK

                SECTIONS, KEEL   STEM  &  TRANSOM

                RIBBANDS AND FAIRING

        STEAMING FRAMES

        PLANKING

                ROUGH CUT

                SPILING

                FITTING

                READY TO RIVET

                THE LAST PLANK

        FINISHING

        BRONZE OARLOCK

        LAUNCHING DAY

REFERENCE DATA

We are using the plans developed from the original shad boat, in 1974, by Robert A. Pittaway of the Small Boat Laboratory at Mystic Seaport.

Half hulls were crafted by ship builders to give three-dimensional shape to their hull designs.  The oldest form of half model is the block model, carved from a single block of wood.  The lines were taken off by tracing the profile of the model onto paper, and then cutting the model along the frame lines and then tracing the frame shapes. The dimensions were then expanded to reflect the true size of the vessel, in what is known as the table of offsets. This table was used to put the vessel lines down on the lofting floor, from which the construction forms for the centerline structure and framing systems were made. These tracings were expanded to full size from which the boat was built.  The first opportunity to LINE the planks and see their shapes is on the half model. Today the half-model has been superceded by the computer

CEDAR, NORTHERN WHITE (Maine)
18-21 lbs. per cubic foot.  Very similar to Atlantic white cedar. It is grown mostly in the Northeastern United States. J. Henry Ruston said in his1904 catalogue: "Do not confound our white cedar, which grows in the most northern states and Canada, with the white cedar of New Jersey and Virginia. The former is the lightest known wood of this or any other country that is suitable for planks of small craft. One cubic foot, air-seasoned, weighs but 18 pounds, while the white cedar of New Jersey and Virginia weighs 28 pounds. The northern cedar is soft, tough and durable. You can give it a vast amount of hard usage"  Note: we are scarfing short planks - the large trees should stay in the woods!

Bob Gainer in Maine

LOFTING, it is necessary to convert the information supplied  in the lines drawing  and table of offsets (reduced size plans) into the full size drawings and final hull form.

Reasons for lofting the designers lines:
* The lines drawing is to a small scale which needs to be enlarged to full size so that patterns can be taken from it for the fabrication of the full size model (building jig), frames, bow profile, etc.
* The table of offsets is measured from the lines drawing where a thin pencil line can be as much as 5mm wide to scale so there is a fair chance of inaccuracy in the offsets. Any inaccuracy that will show up in the full size boat must be found and corrected on the table of offsets.
* Bevel angles can be taken off the loft floor to pre-bevel the frames, stem, keel and other structural members before they are set up on the building stocks. 
* Full size templates for the stem, transom, gussets, knees and many other small parts can be made for pre-fabrication of the parts.
The lofting operation is essentially a process of drawing out the designer's lines drawing full size on the floor.

The Strongback is the form on which the Mold Sections are assembled. We are working in a narrow space so the strongback is a plywood girder on castors and can be moved. It is on blocks when it has to be secure. The sections are bolted on so the strongback can be used to build other types of  boats.

The Mold is the full size jig (form) around which the boat will be built. Patterns for each section, the transom and the stem are made from the lofted (full size) plans. The patterns are used to cut out the sections for the mold and the finished transom, stem and keel which are the first parts installed building the boat.

The Keel Plank is lying on the Mold. We are fitting the Deadwood that will join to the transom. (The interior knee that joins the keel, deadwood and transom together will provide the strength needed for the finished assembly.)

Bob and Patty are roughing out the 1 1/2" thick white oak transom so it can be fitted to the mold. (We must fit up the stem & transom so we can have enough information to finish the mold - lay on the ribbands.)

Ribbands are laid on the mold and faired by eye to get nice looking lines. prior to steaming frames. Steam Bent white oak ribs (frames) are bent over the mold. 

Planks are now laid on the fair mold. Measurements are taken for plank patterns to be transferred to the rough sawn wood. 

Garboards, seats, floorboards and paint are going on to meet the May 14, 2005 deadline for launch. (We won't install the knees and breasthook now- no time left.