The ship Balclutha at San Francisco Maritime NHP got a new wooden topgallant mast today. we sent it aloft using the traditional method and powered with the ship's original capstan.

The spar weighs about 1200 pounds and when you add another 800 pounds of wire rigging for the final lift it gets you up over a ton to lift straight up! The mast truck is now about145 feet in the air.

There were about 15 of us manning the capstan bars.

Earlier this summer the museum riggers and some temporary riggers worked on new wire standing rigging in preperation for today.

This kind of skills preservation is one of the things that museums with big square riggers need to do more of in todays world.

Later on the upper two yards will be sent aloft: the fore topgallant and the fore royal.

Thanks for listening.

Ted Miles

It has been over a year, but isn't there a steam winch on that boat that you could have used? Almost sure I recall such a thing.

dave

Dave,

The time factor was not just the work but the time needed to purchase the wood have it rough turned, then finished here at the park. The riggers had to cut and shape the wire standing rigging etc.

As you can imagine this is not the sort of gear that a typical National Park is purchasing. The galvanized wire for example came from Spain because it is no longer manufactured in the USA.

Yes, you are right many of this class of Cape Horners did have steam Donkey winches; but not Balclutha during her British period.

Ted Miles

Ted Miles, I'm not very knowledgable about sailing ship rigging, but those masts look to me almost as though they are rigged for skysails. Are they? Or just T'gallant sales?
Just wondering.
Mark D.

Any chance any of this was filmed and made available on youtube or other locations? After reading about crews doing this in the O'Brian books it would be neat to see, or least parts of the operation, on film.

Bob

What is the status of Hercules and Eppleton Hall?

Here is a reply to several of you.

Sorry the mast raising was not filmed; but still pictures were taken. i see if it is possible to post some here. You are correct that what we did is very similar to what Patrick O'Brian did. The Royal Navy of course had a whole lot more people available. A frigate had a crew in the hundreds; a line of battle ship had even more.

The Eppleton Hall is still here; but in a state of limboo. Only routine work, washing down, pumping bilges etc for her.

The Hercules is a lot more active. Both volunteers and staff have been working aboard.

There has been a boiler inspection by the American Bureau of Ships and her boiler is ready to make steam.

Pleased to hear about Hercules, Ted - if I lived on the other coast, I'd be there putting my hours in her engine room and the O'Brien as well.

Eppleton Hall is the only boat we didn't tour when I visited you - I'm a bit sorry about that now. I did read the story about the almost suicidal cross-oceanic trip that brought her to SF from England. Don't know if those guys were very brave or very foolish.

dave

Richard,

I sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a Gloucester fishing schooner designed to go to the North Atlantic.

The Eppleton Hall is a river tug never intended to go beyond the mouth of the Wear River. Yes those guys were brave. But the Eppie was freshly out of the shipyard that had been taking care of her for the past forty years.

I am glad to have seen her with her unique engines.
she was the last paddle steamer to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

If you want to read the whole story; then get a copy of the EPPLETON HALL by Scot Newhall for the whole story.

And if you are on the East Coast go for an excursion aboard the Liberty Ship John W. Brown at Baltimore. the Jerimah O'Brian and the JWB are the largest operational steam powered museum ships in the world.

For those of you who want to point out that the Victory ships are bigger; then I will say that turbine engines are a whole other breed of cat from the traditional up and down steam engine!

Ted Miles