Vol. 33, No. 3 -- Fall - Traditional Small Craft Association

Deltaville Maritime Museum Devastated by FireBeach Boatyardcontinued from page 7cradle will sit. The planks should beplaced where they will be directly underthe fore-and-aft beams of your cradle.Now place two rollers across the planksand then the cradle on the rollers. At thispoint you can test to see how easily thecradle can be rolled. As you are probablyon a slope, take a hauling line from thecradle to a solid belay point ashore tokeep it from rolling off the planks. Sinceyour cradle and planks are probablymade of wood, plan on adding enoughweight to keep them from floating outof position. Old chain works well; justtie a line to it so it can be pulled out ofthe way once the boat is in the cradle.Have at least four cradle lengths ofplanking and at least three rollers ready.It’s a good idea to place the next set ofplanks and the third roller while thetide is out. Remember to weight all theplanks so they won’t float away. Planksshould be positioned where they willbe under the cradle timbers as it movesforward, and the rollers can easily makethe transition from one plank to thenext. On a firm flat surface, placingFirefighters working to put out the blazethem alongside with a slight overlap willsuffice, but on a soft or uneven surfaceyou may have to shove the second plankunder the leading edge of the first. Thiswill cause a bump as the roller drops tothe new (lower) surface, so be careful incrossing these transitions.Rollers are holding the entire weightof the boat as it leaves the water. Youmust keep at least two under the cradleat all times, one on each side of the pointof balance of the loaded cradle. Never letthe cradle pass its balance point withouta new roller picking up the weight orelse the cradle will tip forward and restits nose on the planks, causing you a lotof extra work lifting it up again. Rollerpositions can be plotted quite easilywhen you are setting up since the rollerswill move at half the speed of the cradle.For example: if your forward roller isthree feet ahead of the point of balance,it will reach the critical point when thecradle has moved ahead six feet. The nextroller must pick up the leading edge ofthe cradle before it has moved that far.At high tide, float your boat ontothe cradle. Once you are satisfied withits position on the cradle, pick up thehauling line and pull. As the cradleTragically the main building andboat pavilion of the Deltaville MaritimeMuseum were destroyed by fire,Wednesday, July 18, 2012. All of theboats pierside, the Boatshop, and BillzBistro were saved.The fire is believed to have started inthe WA Johns’ Boat Shed and spreadto the main exhibit building when theroof collapsed. The museum buildingis totally lost, as is the boat pavilionwhich contained the century old WAJohns, a three log canoe, donated bythe Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.Several other historic small boats werealso lost.Museum volunteers and 8 familiesfrom all over the area were in the finalcontinued on page 16moves up the beach it gradually takesmore and more of the boat’s weight untilit has it all as the hull comes completelyout. With the weight of the boat wellsupported by the cradle, you can eithercontinue hauling or pop a beer and waitfor the next low tide when positioningof the planks and rollers may be easierand dryer. lf a roller is not placed at aright angle to the cradle and planks, youwill find the boat crabbing to one sideor the other. Sometimes you will wantto do this to clear an obstacle or finesseyour final position, but if it is not goingwhere you intended, the rollers can bepersuaded back to the proper coursewith a few taps of your maul.Once up on the beach, keep a coupleof planks under the cradle to preventits settling into the ground. If the siteis not level, you can lift up the cornersof the cradle with a prybar and chock itappropriately.That’s all there is to it. You havehauled your boat. Reverse the procedurefor launching with the exception thatgravity provides the force and youwill probably be more concerned withsnubbing to keep it from running away.15The Ash Breeze, Fall 2012