Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The Tregoning Boat Company

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, one of the projects that I have been working on is completing the restoration of a Tregoning Skiff. Not much was known about this boat, so I did a little digging and found that the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) had some information in their archives on the Tregoning Boat Company. The archives are kept in a separate facility in South Seattle and are accessed by appointment only. I met with Carolyn, a librarian with MOHAI, and she escorted me into the research room where a box of the materials I had requested was waiting for me. After donning white gloves I was able to peruse through photographs, papers, documents and magazines relating to the Tregoning Boat Company. Some of the materials were original but most were items used by Frank J. Tregoning in writing the book "The Story of the Tregoning Boat Company: A Seattle business, a pioneer family and a little history."

The Tregoning Boat Company

The Tregoning Boat Company was originally established as the Proctor Boat Company in approximately 1900 by George R. Proctor. In 1904, Proctor sold the company to his brother-in-law Frank Tregoning, who renamed it the Frank Tregoning Boat Company. The company primarily built steel-hulled boats, but also designed and built yachts to order, including the Sans Souci II for D. G. Schmitz, which was later commissioned to serve in World War I. In 1907, the newly renamed Tregoning Boat Company moved from its original location on Elliott Avenue to a location on Seaview Avenue in Ballard. Tregoning’s best-selling boats were lifeboats which were used around the area and on all the Puget Sound ferries. In 1918, the Tregoning Sawmill opened in Ballard Beach, and in 1920, the Tregoning Sash and Door factory opened as well. The factory manufactured the windows and doors for the Olympic Hotel in Seattle and closed in 1926 after a large fire. Jim Tregoning, Frank’s son, took over the ownership of the company in 1936. Under him, Tregoning became the largest West Coast manufacturer of metal lifeboats during World War II. In 1946, the yard was destroyed by arson, including the building containing the wooden boat shop, a truck, a new 26’ boat, and other boats. Tregoning Boat Company became Tregoning Industries in 1945, and designed a new seine fishing boat with a mast design that soon became the industry standard. In 1952, Jim Tregoning began working in management at the Seattle Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corporation.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Ship of Theseus

One of the projects I am working on is the "restoration" of the Tregoning Skiff. I put restoration in quotes as the only original piece on the boat is the keel. There was some discussion as to what qualifies as a restoration and what is really a new boat. I remembered from my mythology class in college that there was a well known paradox that deals exactly with this question.

The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus' paradox, is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object which has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. The paradox is most notably recorded by Plutarch in Life of Theseus from the late first century. Plutarch asked whether a ship which was restored by replacing each and every one of its wooden parts remained the same ship.

"The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same." —Plutarch, Theseus

Plutarch thus questions whether the ship would remain the same if it were entirely replaced, piece by piece. Centuries later, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes introduced a further puzzle, wondering what would happen if the original planks were gathered up after they were replaced, and used to build a second ship. Hobbes asked which ship, if either, would be considered the original Ship of Theseus.

Apple boxes

Apple boxes are something that Peter brought to us from Hollywood. They are pretty simple to make rectangular wood boxes with cutouts on the ends for someplace to grip. They are used to; stand on, under boats as boat stands and just about anywhere else. Peter explained to us that when he calls out for an apple box he will request the number and then New York, California or Texas. Any idea why?

As shown above, New York is vertical (because of the skyscrapers), California is long and skinny, and Texas is wide and flat. So when Peter calls out for "Two Texas", you now know what the hell he is talking about!

Disneyland, Christmas and a Birthday

The only way I can describe the first day of the new quarter is to compare it to the feeling of going to Disneyland, opening presents on Christmas morning and celebrating your birthday...all on the same day!

The day started out with meeting my new instructors, Jeff Hammond and Peter Bailey, who combined have what seems like a century of wood boat building knowledge. At first our class was divided into two groups, but was ecstatic to learn that we would be working all together under both of the instructors tutelage. From there it was straightaway into boat building as there are several unfinished projects from the last semester and the prior year's class. The projects are:

The Batela
The "Bootlegger"
Monk Skiff
Catspaw Dinghy
Tregoning Skiff

(The Tregoning Skiff is interesting as it was a restoration project from the Summer quarter which has all new frames and planking.)

Right away, Jeff and Peter started assigning various tasks to people to start work on the various projects. The first task I was assigned to was removing two bottom planks from the Batela in order to cut limber holes in the frames (yes, this should have been done before the bottom planking was done!). Once the holes were cut, the planks were re-fastened and the seams re-caulked. Next, I started fairing the hull with several other students which turned into a few days of non-stop sanding. As the class seemed to be making better progress on the projects than was expected...a second Catspaw Dinghy was started on the lofting floor. Both boats will be nearly identical except for the planking. One lapstrake and one carvel. During this time I also switched to working on the Tregoning Skiff.

You may ask what all the excitement is about? The answer is boat building! Or more precisely that we are (or I am) boat building. Everything done in the shop is focused on completing a boat. Both instructors allow us to complete tasks fairly autonomously; however, they are always nearby to answer questions or guide us in the right direction. As I said before I think the greatness in the school lies in problem solving. I will admit that on more than one occasion I have set out to complete a task and failed miserably on the first try. It's the ability to learn from those mistakes and find solutions that makes this worthwhile (better to make a mistake now then when I'm working on my own or someone else's boat!). I've learned so much in such a short period of time it's almost hard to believe. I can only imagine how great the next nine months will be.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Yankee Tender Build

The Yankee Tender Build was the culmination of our first quarter at the boat school. Unfortunately, we had approximately two weeks to complete the project and as you will see we almost got to the point of flipping it upright. Within the school there were 3 sections building the Yankee Tender, 1 building a Monk Skiff and 1 building a commissioned design (only two planks!). I'm pretty sure only one or two boats were actually completed 100%. Among the Yankee Tenders each had it's own uniqueness as the instructors tweaked the design based on their own personal experience. I'm being honest when I say that the level of craftsmanship on our boat was at a pretty high level. It was a privilege to work with Bruce, our instructor, and my fellow students: Jorah, Steve, Clemmons, Jon, Davyn, Clark, Garrett, Eric, Heidi, Robert, Dude and the class mascot, Morgan.

Below are some photos tracking the progress of the build.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

"New" Traveling Anarchist Tool Chest

Chris Schwarz is working on a new traveling tool chest that will be published in two upcoming articles in Popular Woodworking. Below is a series of blogs on detailed work used in building the chest. These details would be excellent additions to any tool chest (including the tool box we built during the first semester at school). I am looking forward to seeing the final plans for the tool chest.