Ship Hector Specifications

Scotia Trawlers of Lunenburg, who have had extensive experience in building replicas of wooden vessels, completed phase one and two of the reconstruction project. The marine architects for the project were J.B. McGuire Marine Associates Ltd. of Pictou. This firm had done extensive research into the history of the Ship Hector. It was determined that the Ship Hector should be a three masted sailing ship, of 200 tons berthen, a term used to indicate the carrying capacity.  The country of origin for the original Hector was Holland.

The ship was built to the specifications of two regulatory bodies: 1. Lloyd's of London (insurance company), and 2. Canadian Coast Guard.

Selection of Wood for Reconstruction:

The Hector is constructed from mainly American White Oak and was carefully selected to be free from defects, knots, checks, etc. The knees are made of pine, naturally grown.

Oak is very strong material but is also very heavy and therefore not all of the wood is oak:

Deck: Pine

Ceiling: Spruce

Spars: Douglas Fir

Blocks: Elm     

Total amount of wood approximately: 300 m3, 700m3 gross

Double Skin:

The "Hector" would have had a soft wood (1 inch spruce) double skin to prevent worms from contaminating the planking, although it is possible that she could have been sheathed with copper below the waterline.

Hull planking is of Nova Scotia native oak. After the planks were installed they were then caulked. The caulk is made of oakum, consisting of hemp fiber, cotton and pitch tar.

The forty two frames are sawn timber construction consisting of double frames; each consisting of five pieces (futtocks). Frames are bolted together instead of riveted as was done originally. In hold the use of steel was very common during the construction of ships at that time.

Rudder:

The rudder is made of American White Oak; it is approximately 23 feet and has a weight of 3500lbs. All of the individual parts are hand hewn, fitted, and through bolted. The stern post is fitted with 5 gudgeon straps while the rudder is fitted with 5 pintle straps. The gudgeon being the hold and the pintle being the pin.

Masts:

The masts are constructed of Douglas Fir, from British Columbia. The masts were constructed on-site. The lower main mast was made from a 100 foot long log that was originally intended for the "Bluenose II" mast. The lower main mast is the longest individual mast of the Hector: length is 57' 9" and diameter at partners 18". The masts are attached with a "Fid" -a piece of wood and steel with a hook up through.

There are 3 masts:

Fore Mast                    97' above the keel,  16 ½" diameter at deck

Main Mast                    110' above the keel, 18" diameter at deck

Mizzen Mast                 74' above the keel, 10" diameter at deck

Blocks

The Hector has a total of approximately 250 blocks to handle the sails. The large blocks are made of White Oak and the smaller blocks of Ash. Block making is ongoing in the Carpentry Shop for rigging.

Ribs

The ribs or frames are made from separated pieces of wood known as futtocks. They cannot be made form one piece of wood. The futtocks are cut into shape as they are too thick to be bent. There are 14 or 15 futtocks to one frame. There are 42 ribs in total on the Ship Hector.

Planks

There is a layer of planking on the outside of the ship and another layer of planking on the inside of the ribs called the ceiling. The wood was bent by a steam box from Lunenburg; each plank was steamed for 6 hours (approximately 7-8 planks at a time).

Keel

The keel for the Ship Hector was laid in 1990; this marked the very beginning of the reconstruction of the Ship Hector project. The keel is build from three pieces of wood. The keelson sits on top of the keel. It is used to bolt the frames to the keel. It was laid in the summer of 1992.  The keel and keelson are scarfed (joined together and act like one piece of wood). The keel acts as the backbone of the ship, it is its strength. The keel also aids in steering the vessel. If there were no keel than the ship would have a tendency to be blown sideways instead of traveling in the direction it is intended. Each of the different layers of keel has their own purpose. The false keel protects the keel. A false keel is a smaller keel which is attached to the bottom of the keel which prevents damage to the main keel when navigating in shallow water or when performing repairs. The false keel would absorb any damage and is less costly to replace or repair. The keelson is attached to the top of the ribs and bolts go through the keel, the ribs and the keelson. This "sandwiches" the ribs between the keel and the keelson thus attaching the ribs firmly to the ship.

Stemson

The stemson is used as a filler, similar to the keelson and is located back of the stem.

Ballast

The Ship Hector would have used stone and rock as ballast. 

Long Boat

When the Hector would be lying at anchor, the long boat was used to transport the crew, passengers and stores to and from the shore. In general, depending on its size and number, the long boat or boats were towed behind the ship and/or carried on the deck. Most longboats were usually fitted with a single sail. The long boat is carvel built. Construction is pine planking on oak frames. The frames are steam bent and planking riveted on to the frames using copper rivets.

Length of long boat: 16 feet