The Royal Research Ship 'Discovery'. Part 21.

Waste Water Ancient and Modern

I left off in the last part about to tackle the waste water issue on board the ship and perhaps I had better give a broader description of it before we started improvements. To start with the system had no historical value whatsoever. The original included 'heads' (a water closet) situated near the stern and another in the forecastle, both crude arrangements that discharged the waste directly overboard. Equally the galley, officer's cabin wash basins, bilge water and bath waste were discharged directly into the sea. That as fine between 1924 and to about perhaps 1946, although I cannot provide an exact date when changes happened; I suspect it was deemed less important than other matters concerning the day to day survival of the Discovery after 1932. Anyway, what we inherited was what had been installed over the past years. The discharge pipe from every bilge pump location was led to the pump-room and thence to an intermediate holding tank (mentioned in the last part of this story). The galley, officers and bathroom discharges had all been blanked off, in fact the bath had been removed a long time before. In order to provide kitchen, wash up and storage facilities to support the various revenue generating functions held on board, cabins on the port side forward of the wardroom had been converted to serve that purpose. Wastes  emanating from there were discharged directly into the intermediate holding tank in the pump-room. This in turn, when the level of waste water reached a predetermined level, was automatically pumped into the main discharge tank located forward in the chain locker mentioned earlier. Toilets and wash facilities were situated on the port side of the upper forecastle deck, the latter discharged directly into the main holding tank in the chain locker compartment far below. This tank had a fairly large capacity with a back up overflow arrangement and the capability of discharging the waste into the shore-side sewers automatically when the level of liquid triggered the discharge pump within the tank itself.

A mess of pipes in the corner of the pump-room.

Bilge pump discharge pipes from the starboard side of the ship in the pump-room

Bilge pump discharge pipes from the port side of the ship in the pump-room

It was financially impossible to install a completely new system. What we had to do was modify the old one and this we did by designing a new intermediate holding tank for the pump-room. It had to be made of stainless steel; completely sealed from the surrounding space and have a sealed automatic pump situated outside in order to discharge the waste water accumulated into the main holding tank in the chain locker forward. Having the pump located outside of the tank made maintenance much easier.

The new stainless steel intermediate holding tank installed in the pump-room.

New discharge pump and filter unit installed in the pump-room.

Next, the main holding tank in the chain locker was opened up, thoroughly cleaned and given a suitable protective coating both inside and out. In order to discharge the waste to the shore system the pump remained fitted to the interior of the main tank but was overhauled. It had the ability to break down the waste into solid particles of mot more than 10mm in diameter. At some time in the past a stench pipe (a pipe that allows the tank to ventilate gasses created by fermentation to air) had been fitted from the tank up through the forecastle decks then up the foremast where the gasses were vented to air. While investigating this fitting it was found that the gasses were being vented into the upper forecastle work space since the pipe up the foremast had been disconnected and destroyed in times past. Little wonder the crew had complained on occasions of a nasty smell in their work place! That was fixed and again gasses were vented to outside air space. So that the reader may be comforted, the amount of gas (mainly Methane) ventilated was very small indeed and when mixed with air it would become virtually undetectable.

The newly renovated overflow tank in the chain locker.

The newly renovated main holding tank in the chain locker

What was accomplished at the end of the day was that Discovery had an efficient, working, waste water system in place, one that would last for a long time to come provided it was maintained regularly.

Next. Education and Involvement.

The Royal Research Ship 'Discovery'. Part 20.

Restoring the Sharp End

References to the bow and stern of a ship to the landlubber simply mean 'the front end' and 'the back end'. Why not? That is how understanding is and forever will be! Spare a thought for those of us that were weaned on the language of the sea. The bow is the bow, not 'the front end', the stern is the stern not 'the back end'. Port is 'left' and Starboard 'right', except to my American friends who prefer right and left in their usual fashion of being always nearly right!! Oops! Diplomacy has never been my strong side. The deck is the deck, not the 'floor'; the deckhead is the 'ceiling'; the 'ceiling' is the inner hull planks of a ship. Confused? Good! I could confuse you more but I will leave that until later.

The 'sharp end' is a universal term that is well understood for the bow of a ship and it is there we turn our attention to next in this story of the Discovery. The forecastle head is a structure that rises above the upper deck of a ship at it's forward end (now I'm really stretching your mind!). Generally in old sailing ships its length was about one sixth of the total ship's length from forward. Its function was threefold; to provide reserve buoyancy; to shelter machinery and equipment; to provide accommodation. The latter two are easily understood but the former deserves a short explanation.

Reserve buoyancy is that volume of the watertight outer hull above the waterline when a ship is afloat; or, put in its simplest terms, it is the buoyancy that the ship has in reserve. Add forecastle accommodation to the natural hull above the waterline then that reserve buoyancy is increased. There is a fourth reason, one that soon becomes obvious in heavy seas when a ship is pitching into a large wave. If a forecastle structure was not present then it is possible that the bow would plunge into the wave deep enough to allow solid water to be shipped over the foredeck (the forward end of the ship). Add a forecastle then the ship has to plunge deeper into the wave before solid water is shipped over the foredeck.; added to this is the increased downward pressure exerted upon the wave by the reserve buoyancy provided by the forecastle, forcing the bow back upwards. There is more but this story is not a lesson in ship stability. Our focus was the main support beam in the forecastle that had suffered severe degradation.

Looks not too bad from the outside.

Inside is a different story.

Decay obvious.

Gets worse!

Removing original.

Removal nearly completed.

Ready for replacement.

The beam had to be replaced, there was no doubt about that. Opepe timber again would be used but to restore the beam using a single length of timber meant substantial interference into the original structure. That was not acceptable since it meant lifting an area of the forecastle deck, disturbing the fittings of the foremast and interfering unduly in the structure of the main aft bulkhead (the main end wall of the forecastle). The removal of the old beam did not present many difficulties and it allowed us to assess how best to make good the restoration. It was decided that the new beam could be constructed in two lengths using the original plans available, each formed exactly to the contours of the original. In order to leave all of the original fittings of the structure untouched the first section of the beam would be inserted on the port (left) side. after securing that section in place the second section would be inserted from the starboard (right) side, married to the first piece and finally secured. The following sequence of photographs show how that was achieved.

The port side section of the beam in place

Securing the new section inside.

The delicate operation of fitting the starboard section
 of the beam to scarf into the new port section.

Just a touch more please!

Done!

The work on deck that ad been planned to take place during the better weather months of a Scottish year went well and the results were pleasing. Below decks new and unobtrusive methods of telling the story of the ship were being evolved and put in place and those changes will be recorded here in a later part of this series. In the meantime the more unseen but no less important matters were being attended to, such as what to do with the waste water that accumulated from sources within the ship, such as the kitchen, galley, toilets, bilges and the like. The ship had been used, and with the improvements made would be put to much greater use, to host revenue generating events such as weddings ( a change in legislation now allowed for wedding ceremonies to be conducted on board), meetings, lunch parties, cocktail parties and dinners served in a unique historic setting, the Wardroom.

On the surface all of this may seem like good news. It is! However, the health and safety of the guests and visitors had to be given the highest priority and it was this that gave us another challenge. Toilets had to be clean and able to discharge waste to suitable holding tanks. When meals or snacks were served, plates and utensils had to be washed; the latter being the source of fatty liquid deposits that needed to be collected, contained and treated before being pumped into a final holding tank on board. When the waste water in this final holding tank reached a predetermined level, it was automatically pumped ashore into the City's wast water system. When the Project started in 2007 it was known that the waster water systems on board the Discovery had become unfit for purpose. The following pictures tell their own story.

An open intermediate holding tank open to air.

The interior of the same tank showing the pump.
Fatty deposits collecting on the surface of the water and ferment.

Horrible! You might say. You would be right, it wasn't very nice but at least the pump room where it was situated was sealed off from the main inboard spaces so the noxious odours could be contained within that space and allowed to vent slowly to air.

What did we do to bring the system up to a suitable standard is another story, one that will be told in the next part of this insight into the restoration and conservation of historic wooden ships. Discovery is not a typical example, she is a unique example!

The Royal Research Shp 'Discovery'. Part 19.

Camouflage and Cunning

The conservation and restoration of historic ships is a costly undertaking. Money is always scarce and this leads inevitably to money-saving methods being introduced which camouflage the real conditions underneath. Such was the case when the Oak beam at the forward end of the main deck in the crew's quarters was examined. This beam, historically, was of great importance since into it was carved the ship's Official Number and Net Registered Tonnage. The official registration of ships came into being many years before Discovery was built but it was probably the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 in the United Kingdom that formed the basis of ship registration as we know it today. By looking up the Official Number in the Register one can find the detail of the ship; its name; where it was built; who built it; who owned it, etc., etc. The Net Registered Tonnage was a measurement, not a weight. That may seem confusing but it was arrived at after calculating how many cubic feet made up the spaces available for the carriage of passengers and cargo. In other words the earning spaces as it referred to a merchant ship. The total space in cubic feet was then divided by 40 and the result was the measured net tonnage of the ship (40 cu. ft. = 1 ton). This information was used for all sorts of purposes, port charges are a typical example.

The beam was therefore of great historical significance and the pictures below show the condition it was found to be in during our examination.

Surface of beam belies what is underneath

Hints of trouble

It gets worse!

Digging out

Total decay

Not a pretty sight!

Truth revealed.

Fibreglass packing from inside of beam.

At some time in the past fresh water had been allowed to slowly penetrate the timber and, gradually, it decayed to the state we found it to be in. But wait! Evidence collected showed that someone had found the problem before we did. That someone may well have wanted to cure the ill but could not afford to do so. That well-meaning person decided to rout out what decay he could, pack the voids with fibreglass with a filling compound then pass it off as original. Cunning eh!

What at first seemed to be a straightforward restoration job became a major one. To remove the whole beam that contained some sound timber would have amounted to vandalism. So the beam was cropped (cut) until rot was no longer obvious, then, we cut it about three feet into the sound wood where the decay spores had not yet travelled and scarfed (set in) a new, accurately fashioned, replacement piece of Opepe (a hardwood from West Africa, more durable and cheaper than Oak). The finished article proved to be very satisfactory.

Fully restored - a good job done!

While I'm on the subject of Opepe timber it gives me the opportunity to introduce another subject that dominates the restoration of historic wooden ships and that is timber conservation in its wider sense. Always the ideal in restoration is replace like with like; however, if what needs to be restored or replaced is timber that is known to be scarce with future supplies considered as unsustainable, then we must do what we can to protect that species. This is where advice from known experts such as TRADA in the United Kingdom come in handy in recommending alternatives. Opepe is considered an alternative to Teak and other hard woods since supplies are generally farmed and sustainable. It is now widely used in wooden ship restoration but is not a low-cost alternative. The price is lower than that of Teak but not dramatically so; although it does satisfy our continuing need to protect the other timbers considered to be at risk.

One of our ultimate goals was to ensure the upper decks were watertight.There are many modern sealants on the market that may well be tried and tested but our task was to keep as close to the original methods as possible. The age old method of routing out all of the Marine Glue (a mixture of Bitumen and Tar), the Oakum caulking and the layer of  Cotton that formed the watertight barrier between the seams of the deck planks was started. Caulking is a Shipwright's skill and in the United Kingdom, a dying one. I was fortunate that our main contractor was one of the few who had retained the skills and it was interesting to watch them at work. The tools they used were mainly original; a caulking mallet; caulking chisels; cotton twine; oakum; original Marine Glue that came in cans that had to be sliced open to release the solid material within; sharp hammers to break up the solid glue; a glue ladle and heat in the form of a bottled gas burner. First a strand of dry cotton twine was hammered into the bottom of the cleaned seam; a layer of oakum (twisted tarred Hemp) followed to be compressed down into the seam. Then came the tricky bit! A canister was partly filled with fragments of the solid marine glue, placed over the gas burner until the solid became liquid. This hot liquid was poured into the ladle to be carefully run into the seam until the level was just below the surface of the plank. In the act of pouring, the liquid becomes slightly aerated, as it cools in the seam small bubbles of air rise to the top to leave a solid mass beneath. Now is the time to pour a thin final coat of the glue, let it harden then scrape off the surplus that protrudes above the level of the plank. Hey presto! The seam is watertight and will remain that way for some time if the deck is provided with proper interim care. This involves regular washing with salt water, sometimes with a very fine sand mix that can find its way into cracks in any seam that may have deteriorated slightly, thereby providing a further barrier to the ingress of fresh water. If it is known that the salt water used may contain some nitrates from the runoff from agriculture lands or elsewhere, it is advisable to include a diluted fungicide in the salt water. This prevents green algae growth on the deck where there is little or no traffic.

Shipwright caulking.

Solid sealant fragments before heating.

Heated ready for use.

Ladle ready to fill.

The art of pouring.

Finishing.

And finished.

The bad news is that the marine glue sealant will not last forever. It has an enemy that we ordinary mortals look upon as a friend. The sun! That glowing orb in the sky that rises in the East and sets in the West every day of our lives. That shining globe provides warmth and comfort, pleasure and sunburn, ripens crops to provide our everyday nutritional needs, but it has a sting in its tail in so far as our deck sealant is concerned. That sting comes in the form of rays. Ultra-violet rays that will, in time, break down the chemical compounds of marine glue causing it to crack and eventually reducing it to a powder. This may take five to ten years but will happen no matter what precautions are taken. Take none and you get a five year life; take some and you may extend the life of the sealant to ten years at most. The bottom line is that in order to keep the decks watertight, a section of the deck plank seals should be routed out and resealed during the fourth year after the whole deck had been sealed. Further sections should be renewed annually during subsequent years until a rolling deck maintenance plan has been established. Only by doing this will fresh water be unable to leak into the inner hull, with the added bonus that annual maintenance costs can be kept to a minimum.

That's enough for this part; next we tackle the restoration of the main support beam in the forecastle at the bow of the ship.

The Royal Research Ship 'Discovery'. Part 18.

Using Modern Techniques to Control Historical Troubles

Temperature, humidity and ventilation are the keys to the conservation of the inner hull of a historical wooden ship. Get them right and keep them right then condensation is unlikely to become an issue within the hull to harm any untreated or unprotected timbers. It was when looking at the various means of how to control temperature and humidity that I became aware of the mind-set of some companies (not all) who manufacture or supply such units or systems. The mere mention of a Heritage Lottery Fund assisted Project sent the income expectations of some into overdrive. 'Ours is the best system on the market and it will only cost £250,000 (US$390,000) to supply and fit', was the typical response. Get real!! The one thing that many of the suppliers and manufacturers failed to do was, 'get to know the customer'! Had they made the effort they would have learned that I was working on a tight budget and needed original thinking, not salesmen's chatter.

The system I opted for was simple. Portable, thermostat/humidistat fitted, manual control over-ride heaters and de-humidifiers. These would be placed in the different compartments, a heater at one end and a dehumidifier at the other. First however, a safe, tested, electrical supply had to be made available in all the compartments. When the electrical wiring that was already fitted was tested it was found that it too had suffered from the damp conditions on board. There was no other choice but to rewire the whole system, not by any old electrician but by a qualified Marine Electrical Engineer, one that fully understood the conditions that could prevail on board a historical wooden ship. Arbroath is a small fishing port not far from Dundee and has a history of building wooden fishing boats. Sure enough, a well-known and hugely respected Marine Electrical Engineer had his business premises in Arbroath and he and I got down to business.

The bilge pumping arrangements were a mess. Of a total of 16 pump locations throughout the bottom of the ship only two operated, the rest had succumbed to corrosion and lack of care over the years. The priority decision had to be to get the bilge system fixed and in good working order. Why priority? Well, when the dehumidifiers were up and running they would convert the excess moisture in the air back to water that had to have somewhere to go. Each dehumidifier unit would have a drain hose leading into the bilge where the water would collect. This water could not be allowed to accumulate so it had to be pumped out of the bilges by the bilge pumps, therefore the bilge pumps had to work before the dehumidifiers were activated. Now, a crew member could not be expected to run around 24 hours a day operating the bilge pumps to keep the bilges dry, so they had to operate automatically. How better to do that than fit each with a float switch, a device linked to an on/off switch that operated when he float was raised to a predetermined level by the accumulating water, the pump would operate until the water level fell taking the float with it until the mechanism forced it to switch off. The photographs show the new bilge pumps being fitted. Where possible the actual electric pump motor was fitted to the deck immediately above the bilge in order to provide ease of maintenance and protection from damp bilge conditions.

Ok! Now the water levels in the bilges could be controlled and in fitting the new pumps, including rewiring the electrical system, it seemed like job done! Was that it? Not likely!! What the managers of the ship needed was real-time information of the conditions on board in order to keep her in tip top shape. After discussing the matter with a number of companies it came down, yet again, to cost. Large  high-tech companies quoted silly prices. As is often the case, failure to look at what is at the end on ones nose often hides the obvious. A small Dundee company took an interest in what was going on and came up with an affordable and ground-breaking solution. The activity of the bilge pumps could be monitored, recorded and the results made available on computer using internet technology. The same could be done for the temperature and humidity in each compartment of the ship. The equipment was commissioned delivered and fitted. Discovery's Operations Manager then had the ability to read the results on his computer sitting in his office at Discovery Point.

Bilge pump control panel in the process of being installed

Bilge pump monitoring unit installed above panel.

Remote temperature/humidity transmit/receiver

Temperature/humidity transmit/receive mounted below bridge deck

The great advantage of fitting such equipment was, and is, that it provides an early warning of problems and allows Management to act quickly. For example, if a particular bilge pump shows unusual activity that could mean that a leak has developed in that compartment of the ship immediate steps can be taken to deal with the problem. If a compartment shows that the humidity or temperature require to be adjusted then the Manager is able to order the heater of dehumidifier's controls to be adjusted manually to lower or increase the temperature or humidity. The finer details of the equipment may be of interest to some, so anyone who may want to learn more can contact me by email john.watson32@btopenworld.com .

Next. Restoration continues and replacements are necessary.

The Royal Research Ship 'Discovery'. Part 17.

In the Bowels of the Ship

It occurred to me when working in the hold (inside bottom) of the ship one tends to ignore, or perhaps forget, what lies on the other side of that inner hull. Discovery was, for much of the first half of the Project, in dry-dock so the air in the hold was, by and large, the same as that on the outside. When she was afloat the level of the water on the outside was 12 feet (3.7 metres) above the keel, in other words nearly six feet (1.8 metres) above the average person's height. The deeper the water the higher its pressure, so all around the ships hull the water was pushing from the outside trying to get in. Ships, all ships and boats, are designed to withstand this pressure and so float. An interesting and perhaps more frightening statistic is of the deepest drafted oil tanker ever (now scrapped). When fully loaded the depth of water from her keel up her sides was 93 feet six inches (28.5 metres). Imagine working in the bottom of her engine-room of that ship knowing (or forgetting) that the depth of water above your head on the outside is nearly 88 feet (26.9 metres). Quite a thought!! So visitors when touring around the Discovery's hold spaces remain blissfully unaware that they, in fact, are walking underwater. I suspect those who may be of a more claustrophobic nature would want to get out quickly!

I told of the two-dimensional replica packing cases that shut out the ventilation in the previous part of this story. The following pictures show these again at the beginning of 2008.

The middle and bottom of these three pictures show the massive beams that run
across the ship that had been cut many years before to allow an unrestricted passage through the hold of the ship.

I promised I would show more of the unique construction of Discovery in relation to the magnetic free area around the observatory. This area was situated just forward of mid-ships (forward of the centre of the ship) and had a radius of 30 feet (9.15 metres). When the replica packing cases were removed we found large, forged, naval bronze, beam knees (metal angles that tied the cross beams to the vertical frames). We knew they were there of course but they had been hidden by the false replica wall for years. Not only that, the damp conditions around them allowed electrolytic corrosion to attack the fastenings and in places the inner planks showed signs of breaking down to their chemical component parts. The Lignin or Lignen (the component that holds the fibres of timber together) had been the first to suffer leaving cellulose residue of the fibres coating the outer surface.

The cellulose granules are on the left of the picture and the timber fibres on the right.

The Naval Bronze beam knees cleaned up. The pigeon holes between are described in the narrative.

As the false partitions were taken down, the inner ceiling (that's the naval term for the side) dried, cleaned and coated, the whole of the atmosphere in the lower hold changed significantly. Not only was the ventilation restored but the whole of the wooden construction elements were made visible. In the picture of the beam knees above you will note openings (I call them pigeon holes) between the frames of the ship. This was another secret of those who designed her and makes one realise that in 1900 the preservation of timbers on the outer and inner hull of the ship was uppermost in the mind of the architect who was involved. He knew that Rock Salt, and salt generally, had preservative qualities in relation to timber. It is a very fine line between decay and preservation so far as water is concerned. Fresh water with a density of 1,000 g/cm3, is harmful to timber; whereas salt water at a density of 1,025 g/cm3 acts as a preservative. Knowing this and knowing that the upper deck of the Discovery would, through the stresses placed upon it, leak from time to time, even though the Bosun would have had a running plan of repair and maintenance. So rain water would find its way down the ships side of the inner hull and, if left untreated, would slowly eat away the timbers. The treatment involved crushed Rock Salt being fed through the pigeon holes to form a barrier between the inner planks and frames, right from the upper deck to the bottom. So the cunning plan evolved! The fresh water that found its way between the frames and planks at the upper deck level, as it seeped down it was absorbed by the Rock Salt and slowly turned from a fresh to a saline solution.

A walkway having been constructed much earlier through the holds of the ship to allow visitors to safely travel through, doors had been cut through the once watertight bulkheads ( a bulkhead is a solid construction that runs across the width of the ship at designed intervals). How these bulkheads were constructed is another feature of note. They were built of Pitch Pine, double diagonal planking, not conventional vertical or horizontal aligned but diagonal with the diagonals on one side running in the opposite direction to those on the other. this gave the bulkhead a very strong resistance to horizontal forces. If an individual compartment should be flooded by accident or design the ship would remain afloat supported by the buoyancy of the other compartments since the flood water would have been contained between two watertight bulkheads.

This photograph shows the diagonal planking on what was the watertight bulkhead at the forward end of the coal bunker
on the starboard side. The people in the blue overalls are real, the one on the left is a dummy stoker holding a shovel lending a hand!

Next we enter the world of high-tech, bringing the modern methods of gathering information and using it to best advantage in the conservation of the ship.

The Royal Research Ship 'Discovery'. Part 16.

Restoration and Conservation Continues

It is an exciting occupation restoring historic wooden ships, you never know what will turn up next when working on one. The Discovery continued to amaze even the experienced Main Contractor who had worked on a number of such ships over the years. What is satisfying to the extreme is when a space that had been in decay and ignored for many years is transformed into something that provides a new and better visitor educational experience. The Engine-room of the Discovery is an outstanding example of this as the following pictures testify:

The Engine-room space before restoration.

And after.

Over the past number of years many new products have been brought on to the market that claim to preserve timber. They, generally, are produced as a result of research and development, either at universities or manufacturers. Such products are welcome but, and his is very much a personal opinion, lack long-term credibility. In order to continue to preserve the timber these products have been applied to they, generally, have to be reapplied at fairly frequent intervals to remain effective. A very good example of this is wooden garden furniture and garden decking. Most are supplied already treated, many do not say with what, those that do advise that you should refer to the manufacturer's instructions for that product. So the timber these garden items are made of may look pristine for the first year, weathered and vulnerable the second, then fresh water soaks into the wood and it starts to rot during the third year. It these items last beyond the fifth year without further treatment then you will have been one of the lucky ones.

In the good old days - hey! Those who built wooden ships, built them to last. The timber they were constructed with was well chosen. Pitch Pine, nearly decay resistant and contains a large amount of resin; English Elm, strong and durable and resistant to water; Teak, presence of Silica in the wood, contains natural oils and resists parasites; Oak, strong, weather resistant and the backbone and ribs of all early sailing ships. What about preservation then? Well, Pitch Pine with its natural preservative, resin, when given a proper protective coating such as bitumen or tar, didn't need any. English Elm, naturally resists water and given a similar protective coating, did not need any preservatives. Teak. Ah Teak!! A great mistake made by many is the failure to recognise the properties of Teak and apply modern preservatives. In doing so the life of Teak is reduced rather than increased. Why should this be so? Well, Teak is blessed with its own natural oils that provide more than adequate protection from decay and parasites and should a modern preservative be applied, the chemical balance of the content of those oils would be compromised and lead to an earlier breakdown of the structure of the timber. Oak, provided it is given an adequate protective, not preservative, coating and that coating is maintained, this strong, weather resistant and beautiful timber will remain in service for a long, long time.

In more recent times the chemical element Boron has been used effectively in  timber preservation and appears to be at its most effective when wooden structures that had shown signs of damp decay are steam heated to a temperature of about 73 degree centigrade, kept at this temperature for about 36 hours, allowed to dry before a solution of Boron is sprayed directly on to the dry timbers. The Boron solution penetrates the timbers and acts as an all-round preservative. The timbers in the forecastle of Discovery were subjected to such treatment 15 or 16 years ago and, so far, confirm the success of this treatment.
Rain, fresh water penetration spells the death-knell of all timber and must be prevented at whatever cost. Where softer woods, such as Pine, that have suffered surface decay are concerned, if the decay is removed and the timber dried, a liberal coating to near saturation by the age-old Raw Linseed Oil provides a cost-effective and historically used preservative. This ancient oil has been used as a preservative for centuries and produces a fantastic effect on new timber. Try this! Find a small piece of wood of whatever kind and sand it smooth. Wipe the dust off and then put two or three drops of Raw Linseed Oil on a small, clean cloth, then wipe the oiled cloth along the wood with the grain and see what happens. Do not put too much oil on the cloth and be astounded when you see your piece of wood come alive, revealing its grain as it soaks up the oil. Mahogany is the best wood to use in this experiment but any wood will do.

Back to the Discovery. The Coal Bunker was immediately forward of the Boiler-room and forward of this space everything had been enclosed along the starboard (right) side. Coal had been moulded from fibreglass and set up to make as if the Bunker was near full. An Electrical Control Room came next before ends of packing cases with the contents stencilled on them were ranged from floor to ceiling (deck-head in nautical terms) to form a solid wall forward of the Bunker. The cases were two dimensional but gave the illusion of being solid. The port side coal bunker had been successfully converted into a classroom earlier in the 1990s. A Store-Room then a Pump Room followed by another enclosed space, used as an office, made up the port side of the hold area.

Fiberglas mock coal and briquettes in Coal Bunker

Another view of the same.

We set about opening the compartments along the starboard side and the result was immediately obvious. Fresh air could once again circulate and the visitor could form a very real impression of the size of the ship's hold spaces.

The false packing cases.

False coal gone. The ship can breathe again!



In an earlier part I told of the magnetic free surroundings where delicate observations were carried out, charting the Magnetic Variation of the ship's compass in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean and adding to the accuracy of the general survey works undertaken. In the next part I'll explain further the extraordinary lengths the designer went to achieve this.

Meantime, try the little experiment I suggested using Raw Linseed Oil - its great!!