Nautical Research Journal 215


7. Erecting frames.


length just holds forty-nine men in the test model. Dr. Smith commented that the bluff type bow as constructed for the model was very appropriate for this kind of small Spanish craſt . When observing the test models, it appeared that a traditional ship or boat type bow would leave too little space for the crew and also would signifi cantly stress the wooden planks in the bow.


Aſt er having these discussions and completing the various test models, I brought pictures of these over to the Council of American Maritime Museums meeting hosted by the University of West Florida at Pensacola in May 2008. Drs. Worth, Bratten, Cook and I discussed the overall barca shape and dimensions and we all felt that the hull as eventually built seemed the most simple and likely to fi t all necessary criteria.


In the summer of 2008, I began building the model itself. Dr. Smith in Tallahassee advised a king plank instead of a keel to support a mast and noted that on some small Spanish and Portuguese craſt of the time two parallel keelsons (a so-called “sister keelson” arrangement) were used and that this would create a trough for ballast stones as well as further stability. T e model is designed so that the seats arranged as rowing benches for the crew are also the internal frames of the vessel. When I fi nished the initial frame I drove down to Dr. Smith’s offi ce and we discussed pictures of the frame and so on. He used his extensive experience with Spanish small craſt to suggest mast placement and height and a lateen- rigged sail rather than a square sail as I had planned. He said a square sail would be useless against the prevailing west to east gulf coast winds and a steering-oar type rudder works well with a lateen sail with fl at bottomed coastal craſt . Dr. Smith noted that in such a situation, the steering-oar rudder acts as a


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100