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For my next build, I propose to build a Shallop from Pavel Nikitin's kit. Link: http://shipsofpavelnikitin.com/details?id=46 Background In 1584, a pair of sea captains working for Walter Raleigh sailed for the New World, looking for lands 'not yet occupied by other Christians'. They found a territory that Raleigh called "Virginia". Queen Elizabeth knighted Walter Raleigh and made him governor of the new territory. In 1603, Elizabeth died, and James IV of Scotland succeeded her, becoming James I of England. 1607 saw the arrival of an expedition, sent by James, to build a settlement in Virginia, and open it up for colonisation. Among the expedition was a Captain John Smith, whose claims to fame include: Being rescued from captivity by Pocohontas (that Pocohontas or Pocahontas) Making a map of Chesapeake Bay and Virginia that would remain "in active use for seven decades" (1608) (source: US National Parks Service https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/smith-map-of-virginia.htm) Becoming governor of Virginia Primary source Library of Congress, Virginia Records Timeline: 1553 to 1743 A Shallop was a vessel used for coastal navigation, often used as a cargo tender or fishing boat. Larger shallops could also carry cannon. "English shallops could take over a dozen people and usually had a shallow draft of about 2 feet (0.6 m)." Wikipedia has a good definition, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallop.

Introduction May I introduce my next project with the announcement that audience participation is welcome, in fact essential to make the long thread interesting and readable. Comments and criticisms, discussion and digression, bravos and banter, heckles and high jinks, expostulations and explanations are all part of the pleasure of your company, so don't be shy! 😉 ~~~~~~~~~~ Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats, the show will be starting shortly. Overture and beginners everyone. Positions please! The Man John Carter, on the right, was the most famous and successful Cornish smuggler of his era. That's quite a claim because at that time smuggling was a major industry down in the South West Peninsular. There are many tales about this legendary figure and I'll sprinkle them throughout the WIP to keep you amused over the six months or more of this build. The Vessel The King of Prussia was a 'Hoy'. It's superficially like a cutter but hoys were built of lightweight fir, rather than the oak used on contemporary cutters such as those used by the Revenue Men (on the left). Fir is cheaper than oak and lighter. Lighter means faster and speed was very important to a smuggler running the gauntlet of the English Channel chased by the Revenue and the Royal Navy. Hoys were also carvel built compared to the clinker built cutters. Carvel built hulls have their planks meeting edge to edge foe a smooth surface with minimum surface area, minimum drag. Clinker built hulls have overlapping planks which are more easily made watertight but at the cost of increased drag. The King of Prussia was built for speed, and achieved it, in the capable hands of John Carter and his brother Harry. The Legend A Smuggler's Song (1906) IF you wake at midnight, and hear a horse's feet, Don't go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street, Them that ask no questions isn't told a lie. Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by. Five and twenty ponies, Trotting through the dark - Brandy for the Parson, 'baccy for the Clerk. Laces for a lady; letters for a spy, Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by! Running round the woodpile if you chance to find Little barrels, roped and tarred, all full of brandy-wine, Don't you shout to come and look, nor use 'em for your play. Put the brushwood back again - and they'll be gone next day ! If you see the stable-door setting open wide; If you see a tired horse lying down inside; If your mother mends a coat cut about and tore; If the lining's wet and warm - don't you ask no more ! If you meet King George's men, dressed in blue and red, You be careful what you say, and mindful what is said. If they call you " pretty maid," and chuck you 'neath the chin, Don't you tell where no one is, nor yet where no one's been ! Knocks and footsteps round the house - whistles after dark - You've no call for running out till the house-dogs bark. Trusty's here, and Pincher's here, and see how dumb they lie They don't fret to follow when the Gentlemen go by ! 'If you do as you've been told, 'likely there's a chance, You'll be give a dainty doll, all the way from France, With a cap of Valenciennes, and a velvet hood - A present from the Gentlemen, along 'o being good ! Five and twenty ponies, Trotting through the dark - Brandy for the Parson, 'baccy for the Clerk. Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie - Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by ! Rudyard Kipling

A warning to new readers. This thread reached the ninth page on a tidal wave of enthusiasm, but on the 3rd March 23 I admitted to myself that my literary tide had gone out. The thread doesn't end there but staggered on for a few more pages and then the boat hit the shelf of doom and has stayed there ever since. Worst of all, due to a storage issue ALL of my embedded photos have been permanently lost. I have edited my posts, where possible, to leave a thread which may at least be read without the illustrations, but a lot of it made no made no sense at all without pictures so I deleted those sections. I intend to restart the build at some time. I have no idea when. Whaling isn't considered a noble profession in the 21st century by many (and that's as close as we need to get to the politics of conservation, my friends) but in the 1860's it was a trade for brave men. I read Moby Dick ages ago, and will read it again in the coming weeks. It's a brilliant book but I didn't appreciate how tiny and fragile the New Bedford Whaleboats were until I bought the Amati kit. A few sticks and a crew of six against the ocean and the whales, rarely aggressive but very big and dangerous, especially when close enough to harpoon with little more than a caveman's spear. It was a bloody and dramatic way to make a living. The whaleboat kit is built in the same way as the original, more or less. The ribs are planked inside and out to make a lightweight and strong structure. It's almost all wood and metal apart from two or three resin buckets and tubs for the harpoon line. I'm very tempted to remake them in wood to keep this as old school a project as possible. All of the boat’s equipment is included. There's a mast and sail, oars, paddles, harpoons and so on. There are knives built into the boat for cutting the harpoon line in emergencies. It wasn't unusual for a crewman to become entangled and whisked over the side and down among the whales. There is a rudder for sailing and a steering oar for rowing in the hunt. The whaleboat has two sharp ends so that it was as swift in either direction when the time came for dancing with the big fishies.