The keel is taking shape and in a day or so the steel and oak will begin to look like the beginnings of a vessel. The process is fanastic to watch and when the keel laying ceremony takes place on Sept. 6, Labor Day, the community will be able to sign the steel keel or say good luck or etch some kind of imprint onto the steel while a ceremony takes place with Sen. Bruce Tarr and others saying a few words. A long-standing tradition, the keel laying marks the ceremonial beginning of the ship's construction. Forming the backbone of a ship, the keel is the first part of the vessel to be constructed. The key part of the ceremony is the "Authentication of the Keel" which symbolizes the verification of the keel being 'truly and fairly laid' (see the section on lofting the lines).
Harold is pictured below cutting out what will become part of the keel for the new Schooner Pinky Ardelle. Thank you Dan Tobyne for the photo. More to come on Dan's photography.
