Finishing Up on the Loft Floor

Computers can now perform many of the tasks that were once the domain of the draftsmen and designers on the lofting floor but in Harold's opinion there is no better way to get the shape of the boat in your head than by crawling around inside the vessel on the loft floor. Like so many things Harold does, he finds a place for traditional methods. But, it is tough on the knees and after two weeks on the floor today is the last day in the lofting process. Harold is drawing the stations; the last step - and as Howard Chapelle wrote "having made certain that each section agrees in heights and half-breadths with its corresponding section or station on the profile and half-breadth plans," Harold has locked in the stations. As everything corresponds on the floor, Harold is nearly ready to complete one of the most important steps in the construction of the schooner. After the lofting is done, the process of making the patterns and moulds will begin.