The F’oc’sle, or forecastle of the ship is the forward deck which most times housed the foremast. The instructions for this particular kit show the windlass (the gear that raises and lowers the anchors) running ropes through to holes in a forward wall and down to the anchors.
In actuality, this “forward” wall didn’t actually exist. Instead, the windlass ran ropes to a head beam which then attached to the anchors. If the ship were actually built the way the above picture illustrates, then the crew would not have had any access to the foremast!
My task was remove this extra bulkhead and make the ship more accurate. I trimmed the forward bulkhead, then added to support blocks to accomodate where the foremast hole will be drilled.
I then measured and re-cut a false deck that included the previously missing area.
The next step will to begin planking both the hull and the decks.
The Lehman Shipyard 