LUCY: the NB LUCY project home page

NB LUCY

Front end frames Nov 2009 - photo © Pete Boyce
What's new - February 4th 2010:

Clearout complete Nov 2009
Survey of plank lengths
Timber sourcing
Newsletter 5
New gallery sections - survey, timber and some new historic photos

LUCY is a wooden butty built at Braunston for the carrying fleet of John Knill, entering the fleet in 1953. She started being built by Frank Nurser at the Samuel Barlow Coal Co.'s boat dock at Braunston in 1951, and was first registered at Daventry as number 548 on 24th February 1953.
She was re-registererd by Barlows Ltd. in January 1955, and worked by them until 1962. Finally she was re-registered by Blue Line Cruisers Ltd. on 12th April 1962. Steered by the Whitlocks, and paired with motors RENFREW and IAN, she finished carrying on the long distance Jam 'Ole Run in 1971, and retired to Braunston with the Whitlocks. Rose Whitlock lived on her outside the Marina until 1977.
Since 1977, she had been a private residential boat, and latterly sank at Braunston Puddle Banks. In 2008, she was acquired by Pete Boyce as the start of a reconstruction project of this most important wooden Braunston-built butty. In May 2009, she was raised from the mud and placed on a purpose built cradle in the Tess yard at Braunston Turn.
LUCY is listed on the National Historic Ships Register, number 2017. Click here to see entry.

The Restoration Project

Progress up to May 2009

Progress since May 2009
Over the summer of 2009 the mud was slowly removed from the hull, and replaced with a layer of sawdust, kept damp in the hot weather to preserve the bottoms from drying out. More parts of the boat were unearthed, including the pin from the bottom of the mast case and its location plate from the kelson. Some measurement of the cabin was carried out, and a board was inscribed with the angles of the chamfer of the bottom plank, measured every foot from the stern.
In September, with JAMES LOADER and BETELGEUSE on the River Wey for a houseboat towing and repair job, we attempted to get some large timbers from a sawmill in Surrey. They could only supply small stuff at the time, so we brought oak timber for gunnels, shutt beams, mast case and mast; about 2 tons, for LUCY and some other restoration work planned for 2010.
Survey November 2009
On 24th November a small party of friends worked on removing the last of the mud, and stripping off tarpaulins and plating to find all the scarf joints of the planks. These were all marked and photographed, and dimensions of hull planks measured. The plank lengths range from 15 to 35 ft, the bottom plank being 10 inches deep and the rest, 9 inches. The depth of some planks increases at the bow and stern. With 2 inches of gunnel depth, her 5 plank construction gives an internal side height of exactly 4 feet. On the starboard side, forward of the mast, a 9ft repair section of plank has been let in, with new scarf joints into original planking. We assume this is a repair because the new scarf joints are too close to other joints above and below to be in a new build, and do not appear in the photograph of the new LUCY in the shed in Nurser's yard. Further investigation will show how their fixings differ from an original joint, a 3D schematic of which is shown below.

Scarf joint schematic Nov 2010 - © Pete Boyce

Timber Sourcing 2009 and 2010
Last December I went to measure up several oak and beech logs at a farm in Cheshire. They were from storm and wind damaged trees. They will supply oak for stem and stern posts, hull frames, cabin frames, rudder parts and shearing pieces, and beech for cabin beams and furniture. There is one long trunk of 20 feet which may do for some of the shorter hull planks. We will be slicing them into suitable pieces with a mobile sawmill some time in the next 6 weeks. After Easter, they will be brought back to Braunston by canal.
In December and January, I collected ash logs from Nick Hill's estate. Some are curved and suitable for tillers and ash plates for cant protection, and the straight pieces will provide planks for cabin and furniture work.

The NB LUCY project address - The NB LUCY Project, Tess Buildings, London Road, Braunston, Northants, NN11 7HB. you can email the project at LUCY@phobox.com. Telephone Pete Boyce on 07729 139765.
Let me know if you can help, supply tools, or parts, or just would like to be informed. View tools and parts list

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Photographs are organised in a photo gallery.

You may find some historic photographs and other information by following the links below.

Links and references

Rose Whitlock's obituary from The Guardian

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