Month: April 2018

We have set a date for the launch of the Button Swan – May 5, 2018, and in the last few weeks, work on the boat has been going at a fever pitch!  Most of the seemingly small details, each of which still takes some time, have been ticked off the list, and it’s coming together beautifully!

May 5th also marks the 90th anniversary of the St Roch’s launch, and to mark the occasion, the Vancouver Maritime Museum and OLAS are teaming up to do something special.  The Button Swan launch is set for 11am, and then the rest of the fleet in Heritage Harbour are being encouraged to set sail out of the harbour.  After a short time in English Bay, we’ll be returning to harbour, and having a BBQ on the dock (details to follow).  Should make for a fun day!

Thanks to Dale Simonson for the fantastic job he’s been doing documenting the build – here are some of his photos, and if you like these, take a look through the rest of his album of the Button Swan.

 

We get a lot of visitors stopping in to find out what we’re doing, and we love to chat with them about it!  Many ask if it’s ok to take photos (it is!), and once in a while, someone will send us the pics they took – we love that!  These two are courtesy of one of our visitors.

It feels like we’re getting very close to finished with the Providence River boat!  We’ve made great progress with the decking, and got a start on shaping the mast.

Last Saturday, we finished gluing up the side decks, and then sometime during the week, the elves finished filling in the deck at the bow, and sanded the decks to a nice smooth finish.

We couldn’t resist putting in the nice shiny thwarts for a look – I have the feeling they’ll be in and out of the boat a few more times before launch!  (check out that glossy finish!)

This past Saturday, we installed one of the coamings, which was a painstaking process, but it came together beautifully in the end.

The mast has been shaped from 4-sided to 8-sided to 16 sided – and looking great!  Next step will be sanding with an inverted belt.

We’ve still got lots of fun work to do – oars need to be made, the sail sewn up, tiller material sourced, designed, and shaped, rudder mounted, etc.  But the productivity has been high, and it won’t be long now!