Friday, November 18, 2016

Barbashela Log 18 Nov 16 Triumphant Return to Beauvoir

18 Nov 16:

We today is the day. Barbashela was loaded on the trailer and we had the final few screws to attach the aft seat. Once the screws were in I put a dab of the Whipped Apricot on the screw heads and had a little chat with our girl. She is ready to roll.



She looked a lot better with her bow ring and a few cargo straps to hold her down, vs being tarped and duct taped to a stretcher when we brought her to our place. She was excited that she would get to see the sights on this trip and pointed her nose towards Beauvoir.


We headed 145 miles West to Beauvoir and made the obligatory stop at the rest area on the Mississippi State Line for the photo with the big rigs. The ladies at the Visitor Center were excited to hear her story and ran out to take a photo.Skipper posed for a shot with her girl back in Mississippi after a Florida vaction.


We pulled onto the Museum grounds and were greeted by several of the staff. They were ecstatic and near tears when they saw how beautiful Barbashela was. After a few minutes of reacquaintance and picture taking we pulled around back for the official welcome. There were about 30 people there to bring her back home, we spent a while meeting folks and answering questions. Everyone agreed that she looked great and they are ready for her to take up a starring role in the Museum. Once the party died down we moved her off the trailer to here temporary spot on the side porch.






Barbashela is tucked away nicely on the side porch of the Museum. The plan is to rent a lift to fly her up to the second story, where she will be on display. I would not be surprised if she stayed under cover outdoors or under the house, so she could slip into the bayou on occasion. She has time to contemplate such things now.


It was our privilege to walk with Barbashela through this time in her life, we learned many things and made new friends along the way. Our many thanks go out to everyone who helped her down the restoration path. We will swing by Biloxi from time to time to give her a check up, and to share new stories. We can't wait to be around when our younger generations get to learn a little about her and ring the bell.

Barbashela Log

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Barbashela Log 17 Nov 16

17 Nov 16:

We finished the touch up paint, installed the bell and took Barbashela out for Sea Trials, Take 3. We wanted to get some good photos with our digital SLR before she headed back to Beauvoir in Biloxi. Once again she rowed and paddled with ease.

Skipper paddled first, from the stern seat. I was moveable ballast.



Then I rowed a bit.












We've had a great time bringing Barbashela back to life!

Click here for Barbashela's full story.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Barbashela Log 16 Nov 16

16 Nov 16:

Cypress bunks and supports for Barbashela museum display. The 1x6 bunks will flex to fit the rocker of the boat, and the supports are spaced to fit under the seats. The outdoor grade carpet came from Lowes and is attached with galvanized staples.



Click here for Barbashela's full story.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Barbashela Log Return To Beauvoir On 18 Nov at 3 PM

12 Nov 16:

Barbashela will return to her Beauvoir home after being gone for the first time since she was brought here in the early 1880's from the deck of steamboat Natchez. She will initially be housed in the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library atrium and may make a side visit to the Biloxi Maritime Museum after getting reacquainted with her caretakers. She will return:

November 18, 2016
3 p.m.

To:
Beauvoir, The Last Home of President Jefferson Davis
Presidential Library
2244 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, Mississippi 39531
(228) 388-4400
library@beauvoir.org
http://www.visitbeauvoir.org/

Barbashela has spent time in the Mississippi Sound, Oyster Bayou and rested on the beach, below the main house, in the library and out back in a storage barn. Many people over 130 years have worked hard to repair her and ensure that she is preserved for the ages. We would like to thank the many staff and volunteers at Beauvoir who have kept an eye on her and saved her so that she could be restored and once again glide across the waters of the Gulf. We are deeply honored to have been entrusted with her care.

William Denius
Dennie Spence
Kitsaa Stevens
Don Green
Thomas Myers
Greg Stewart
Patrick Alford

Loading Barbashela Jan 2016


Mr. Russell Barnes of Biloxi deserves a round of applause for the excellent survey report that he prepared in 2000, that gave us a great deal of useful information for the restoration. Paul Jermyn also worked diligently to provide digital copies of important detail photos of the boat.

Mrs. Wilbur Moore Jones, United Daughters of The Confederacy, also played an important role in this preservation, as she published the 1921 booklet Historic Beauvoir, which contains the only known complete photo of Barbashela.
It was from this photo that we were able to take many important measurements of the boat and scale them for building new parts. Thank you to those who record and share our history, you never know where your records will turn up and be found as extremely useful!

Barbashela circa 1921:


There are many others who helped along the way: Adrienne and Jack Heuer who gently cleaned years of dirt and old paint from her bits at the very beginning and supervised our efforts at crucial junctures, Pat Lown at WoodenBoat who linked us to experienced shipwrights, Keith Swank for developing the restoration plan and wood specification, UWF for preservation tips, Nat and Ross at Gannon and Benjamin who tutored us on rot removal and material selection, Alan Glos for his small wooden boat expertise, Fred Fisher who gave us tips for working with cypress and made a beautiful set of lodgegpole pine oars, Jamestown Distributors for materials and technical advice, Fisherman John for his pirogue expertise, Maynard Bray who drew the stem for us, Graham McKay at Lowells Boat Shop for caulking advice (pizza cutter!), Murray White who inspected and approved our caulking, and the crew at Wilson Lumber for hand picking every piece of cypress that went into her reconstruction.

We's also like to thank our boys Ben and John, who were essential in keeping her stabilized during her early days and made sure we stayed on track with our efforts. They also were there to glue bits back together, drive key screws, history lessons, kept her safe on her turnover days and assisted with sea trials.

I'd like to thank Audrey, she kept a close eye on me and it was a treat to watch her scrape, brush, paste, drill, screw, caulk and paint Barbashela. She also provided an ethereal link into Barbashela's world and to those who have loved her through the years.

Skipper pasting:


Thank you Winnie and Push for your excitement and for enjoying the journey with us.

Kent Audrey
Boat Carpenter Boat Whisperer


Click here for Barbashela's full story.