Another board member of The Carpenter's Boat Shop, was given this beautiful model that had fallen off a shelf. He suggested I restore it, so we can donate it to The Carpenter's Boat Shop to raise funds for them. It had quite a bit of broken wood in the Bulwarks and cabin top, but the bigger problem was the damage to the hull and topside paint work. Luckily the wood underneath was fine, but it did mean the beautiful paint job had to be taken down and repainted. It's coming together nicely. Next stage is untangling and revamping the rigging! I have seen one other example of this model on eBay, but the seller had no information on where it came from. If you recognize it, I’d love to hear from you.

I’ve just about finished the model schooner we are donating to The Carpenter's Boat Shop. This week I worked on the rigging, which was in quite a mess. The rig uses hooks instead of more realistic fittings, which did however simplify things. Several blocks were missing so I made more from hardwood. Though tempted to make something less boxy and more accurate, I realized I would have to replace all 19! The jaws on the main gaff needed a graft. For some reason, the main mast hoops were missing. I decided to add rolling balls to new hoops, threading tiny 1/16” balls on fine wire, which was easier than using thread, but still a test! One of the model pages I follow found her origin. She is a model of Malabar ll. The famous marine architect John Alden designed and built several boats for himself, all called Malabar, which he raced and cruised. This is number 2. There is a nice kit offered for this same boat, but this is a prebuilt solid shelf model. She’s going to a worthy cause. https://www.carpentersboatshop.org takes in 10 apprentices for 9 months and through community living, building beautiful boats and helping others, it changes a lot of lives. Check it out. She’s 4’ long and 3’ 8” high so can't be shipped.

When we found the model I have been renovating is of Malabar ll (see previous post), Michael, the model’s donor, found this beautiful modern video of the actual boat. This is a preview but if you subscribe you can see the whole thing. They have many fabulous videos of traditional boats. https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/aboard-a-legendary-boat-malabar-ii/