MMA’s new boom New technology, old techniques combine to fashion part of Bowdoin schooner

On a recent morning at the Maine Maritime Academy waterfront, the whir of an electric chain saw and the whine of a power planer were punctuated by the rhythmic thunks of 100-year-old hand tools.

That combination of new technology and old techniques mark a project now under way as students, staff and volunteers turn a roughly 9-inch square, 47-foot-long, state-of-the-art laminated beam into a round, tapered boom to replace the schooner Bowdoin’s existing 15-year-old main boom.

“When we put the sails up, it [the old boom] flexes,” said Capt. Rick Miller, who will captain the northern cruise this summer.

There also is checking throughout the old boom. Although checking or cracking is a normal result of age, some of the checks are large and open up significantly when the ship is under sail.

“That got to be a cause for concern,” Miller said.

The project is a collaboration between the college and Hodgdon Yachts, which made the laminated beam. The partnership is appropriate since Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard, as the company was once known, built the Bowdoin in 1921.

The beam is made of western Douglas fir, a straight-grained wood traditionally used for masts and booms, that was recovered from under 6 feet of volcanic ash at the foot of Mount St. Helen’s, according to John Worth, the small craft master at MMA and also a captain on the Bowdoin.

The beam was not cut from a single tree; it was fabricated by a crew at Hodgdon Yachts in East Boothbay, using the latest epoxy laminating techniques. The process produces a very strong joint, Worth said.

“You can use the best materials and with the glued pieces, you get a surface tension that is significantly stronger than a single piece of wood the same size,” Worth said.

Hodgdon Yacht owner Tim Hodgdon made a gift to the college of the work his crews did on the boom. MMA only had to purchase the wood for the project.

“It’s really quite a gift, and we’re grateful to those in the industry who endorse what we do with their talents,” Worth said.

The process of shaping the boom, known as bringing the spar to tapers, is being done under the watchful eye of Capt. Ken Barnes of Rockland. Barnes, the former owner and captain of the schooner Stephen Taber, has had years of experience fashioning booms, spars and masts using traditional tools.

“I’m glad to be able to pass on these traditional techniques to these younger guys,” Barnes said.

“In terms of cost savings, it’s like the commercial – student involvement is priceless,” he said.

Many of the traditional tools, such as the broad ax, the adz and the split – a tool that looks like a 2-foot-long chisel – are often found in museums nowadays, Barnes said.

“But in traditional boatyards, they still use them all the time,” he said.

Barnes acknowledged that the modern tools help to save time.

“If these were available 100 years ago, those guys would have used them,” he said pointing to the power planer. “I’ve done it with a hand planer, and it’s a lot slower.”

The process is straight-forward. Using the existing boom as a model, they take measurements using calipers to transfer the exact dimensions to the new beam.

“There’s a lot less chance for errors that way,” said Chris Moore, a 2008 MMA graduate who is working for the college as second mate on the Bowdoin this summer.

The measurements are critical since there are several tapers in the boom, with thicker areas where there is more stress when the ship is under sail.

On Tuesday, using a combination of chain saw, broad ax, adz, hand ax, split and power sanders, the crew worked to shape the face of the beam to match the lines from the original boom.

Once they have cut the tapers into all four sides of the beam, they will begin the process of turning the beam into a round boom by cutting the corners, forming first an eight-sided figure, then 16, then 32, and finishing it off with a belt sander. Then, the boom will get many coats of varnish before it is installed on the schooner.

Workers also will reinstall the hardware from the existing boom, most of it, the original 1921 Bowdoin ironwork, which is still in very good shape, Worth said.

The work should take about two weeks and the new boom should be in place in time for the schooner’s scheduled visit to dry dock for inspection. The Bowdoin and a group of 13 students plus crew are scheduled to leave on June 1 for the 60-day voyage to the Arctic and back.

rhewitt@bangordailynews.net

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