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If you use magnifiers for your modeling work, you should bring them. By the end of the class you will have learned how to use the tools, tie a multitude of various knots, and will have completed what you see in the picture below.  You can see shrouds, backstays, bobstays, gammoning, vangs, topping lift, ratlines, hearts, throat halyard, peak halyard, sheet tackle on a traveler, lifts, braces, forestays, etc.

Abeam - At right angles to the fore-and-aft, or centerline, of a vessel. It is from Anglo-Saxon. (see beam)

Beam - (1) The measure of breadth of a craft. (2) A structural unit, particularly a deck beam. The wird is derived from the Anglo-Saxon beam, tree.

Davy Jone's Locker - (also Davy Jones ...) The bottom of the sea. Davy is the legendary evil spirit of the sea. He was conjured up in the XVII or XVIII century, but where his name came from is uncertain. A good guess is that West Indies sailors invented him, and that it could be a corruption of Devil Jonah, or possibly Duffy Jonah, duffy being a British West Indies word for devil.

Hatch - Any of a variety of shipboard openings, for personnel, gear, stores, and cargo. The origin is uncertain, but it appears to be from Early English, hacche, which comes from Old English, haec, a gate, door, or grating.

Smelling - A vessel's "feeling the bottom," to loose speed and good steering because of shallow water. The word in this sense comes from early Middle English, smellen, to sense or feel.

Information is from the book "Origins of Sea Terms" by John G. Rogers

This is from Pat C. of GA. He writes:

"Hi Nic, here is my version of the Delta Queen. The wife and I honeymooned on her 40 years ago, steaming down the Ohio from Cincinnati we turned north on the Mississippi where we disembarked under the St Louis arch. She still exists today but is in need of a full restoration. I had looked for a model of it ever since to no avail. So I built this one in 1/32 scale, all scratch built with the exception of a few Britannia fittings from Blue Jacket. It came out to just over 26" long. I built it using the "bread and butter" method with 1/16 plywood in between each deck level. Thanks, Patrick"

Nic's bench - Just starting on a model of the Newsboy for a client. Scale 1/8" = 1' Al built the model, but gave it to me to do the rigging.

Al's bench - Al is starting on a Coast Guard 82' point class WPB, to become a new kit in 3/16"=1' scale, fourth in our "Great American Workboats" series.

After being married for 30 years, a wife asked her husband to describe her. He looked at her and then said, "You're an alphabet wife... A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K"

She asks..."What does that mean?"

He said, "Adorable, beautiful, cute, delightful, elegant, fabulous, gorgeous and hot."

She smiled happily and said..."Oh, that's so lovely, but what about I, J, K?"

He said, "I'm just kidding!"

Memorial service will be held this Tuesday afternoon

And here’s another archived article I found helpful a while ago. I’m finding it helpful again, and I hope it can be for you. I often find, specially now that I am beyond 70, my motivation to get going needs a good kick start to turn on the flow of my modeling juices.

It's frustrating, isn't it? You define tasks that you need to accomplish, you gather the resources needed , and set the time and place to get it done. Yet it still isn't getting done. What you need is: Motivational Help

1. Develop your own plan in outline form so you go through the same steps with each model you begin. Do it on your

computer or PDA so changes and updates are easily executed.

2. Don’t model in silence. Provide your modeling area with music, a good source is the Cable TV music channel.

3. Movies, Photographs, Drawings -- What the eye takes in can be a stimulus to your motivation to pick up the knife, the brush or the tweezers. In addition they bring to life the detail you are trying to emulate. Do not get bogged down in research but knowing the history of your subject helps in its recreation. Google Images and model railroading forums are valuable resources I couldn’t be without.

4. Talk to get motivated. I know once I tell my wife about a phase of the layout I am going to build, I feel a sense of commitment to carry it out.

5. Seeing the finished project stimulates my desire. I imagine it finished. Here again, pictures of layouts I am emulating provide an inducement to get to work. Also, of the project will bring in money, it will take precedence.

6. How do you eat an elephant—One bite at a time. You will get more done more quickly by breaking your modeling project into modules. Then take any small step; you’ll want another.

7. Find your niche. You will be much more motivated if what you are modeling is something in which you have a sincere interest. Share Your Successes and your problems Be an active participant in Internet forums (Rocky Mountain Shipwrights!) which focus on your modeling subject. I currently have a dozen of them bookmarked in my favorites and check in with each weekly.

My New Year's resolution was to loose 10 pounds. So far I only have 14 more to go.

We have just added 3 new kits:

Half Hull Yacht America scale 3/16"=1' available now.

6-masted schooner Wyoming scale 1/8"=1' available in March

USS Oregon, scale 3/32"=1' also in March

BlueJacket Shipcrafters