There are a couple of other fixtures along the hull of the ship that are pretty straightforward but require specific attention. The steps (ladders) provide access to the deck (of course) and extend from the waist to the waterline. The Fenders are just strips of decorated wood next to the steps that protect the hull as barrels and other supplies are hauled aboard. The chesstrees serve as a sheave connecting rigging to the insight of the gun ports.
The steps are made from two separate pieces of boxwood fit together to create a decorative element. The smaller of the two pieces is cut with a scraper then glued to the ‘step’ portion. Each step is mounted to the side of the hull with the middle one cut out to provide for the scupper opening next to the gunport. The bottom two are painted black to match the main wales.
You can also see the fenders in the above photo. A simple affair, the fenders are strips of boxwood cut with a scraper to provide decoration then mounted in chiseled out areas of the sheer strake and drift rail.
The chesstrees are a bit more complicated. Also cut from boxwood, they are specifically shaped – thin at the bottoms but wider at the top to facilitate a sheave. I created these pulleys in the same way as the Catheads – a cut piece of notched brass inserted into a filed out hole.
The chesstrees are mounted just aft of the fixed blocks in the gun ports. Later, a rope will extend from the yards, through the chesstrees and into the fixed blocks. The chesstrees serve to lessen the tension and wear and tear from that rigging.
The Lehman Shipyard 