Wrapping Up
I've been given the honor of writing up the final project blog. As I try to decide what to write I find myself wondering if it isn't actually a penalty of some sort as there is so much left to tell!
This 3rd week has been a whirlwind of activity as we set about finishing our various tasks. One motto for the project was to "start big, finish small" in the sense that we recorded the largest structures first and worked out down to the small, minute details. It seemed that this week most of us were firing out 2-3 drawings a day on small things such as individual steps, single timbers, or small fastening details.
On Tuesday we finished the last of the total station work, coming up with a grand total of approximately 650 points shot. Shooting the points and taking measurements on the exterior of the beakhead proved to be a remarkable feat of organization due to time constraints (we only had 3 hours each morning to use the cherry picker), weight restraints (the lighter the load in the cherry picker the further it could reach), and availability restraints. Poor Theresa seemed the busiest this week finishing up all the work in the areas that only she could access due to her distinction as the lightest one in the group. It seemed she was constantly bouncing from one take to the next and back again. Lyz spent much of the time operating the cherry picker having had previous experience. She also became the official organizer of the group, keeping drawings and data in order. Eric and Professor Stewart were constantly having to pick up and move the total station to captures those 3 points here and 5 new points there and oooh, those 2 points can only be seen from there. Peter avoided a lot of the chaos as he worked diligently at drawings that needed to be completed on board. I spent much of my time either upside down or reaching from precariously odd angles at extreme heights. If I wasn't hanging out of the cherry picker straining to reach that far corner location to place a target, I was at the top of a ladder reaching only slightly more cautiously for yet another important joint or edge that needed to be shot. I had a blast, I cannot say the same for those "spotting" me.
By Wednesday individuals would frequently find themselves with nothing to do, though some odd job could always be found. Pulling off all the labels from the hull, rescuing all of the sticky tack from the back of targets, typing up the point catalogue, gathering scattered gear, and helping those who were still drawing take those difficult measurements helped the week fly by. Thursday morning found us wrapping things up for good. We took our last pictures and gathered up our gear for the last time. We spent the afternoon on a field trip to Stockholm's Maritime Museum where we saw an amazing collection of ship models. The museum is also home to some archaeological remains of other vessels. And today we've all been going different directions as we finish last minute shopping and packing as we prepare leave Sweden tomorrow. That reminds me, I hope someone remembered to clear out the fridge...
To wrap things up, the project was on overwhelming success. It was an incredible learning experience for all of us involved, students and instructors alike. In one of the earlier posts I was labeled the "veteran," this being my fourth ECU field project. I can honestly say that this project went the most smoothly, was most satisfying, and most fun out of the four. We worked incredibly well as a group and we can all step back and be proud of what we accomplished these past three weeks. The 3-D model of the beakhead is well underway, the notebook for sketches is full, and after three weeks of climbing around we managed NOT to break the Vasa (and a huge sigh of relief is given by all)!
This 3rd week has been a whirlwind of activity as we set about finishing our various tasks. One motto for the project was to "start big, finish small" in the sense that we recorded the largest structures first and worked out down to the small, minute details. It seemed that this week most of us were firing out 2-3 drawings a day on small things such as individual steps, single timbers, or small fastening details.
On Tuesday we finished the last of the total station work, coming up with a grand total of approximately 650 points shot. Shooting the points and taking measurements on the exterior of the beakhead proved to be a remarkable feat of organization due to time constraints (we only had 3 hours each morning to use the cherry picker), weight restraints (the lighter the load in the cherry picker the further it could reach), and availability restraints. Poor Theresa seemed the busiest this week finishing up all the work in the areas that only she could access due to her distinction as the lightest one in the group. It seemed she was constantly bouncing from one take to the next and back again. Lyz spent much of the time operating the cherry picker having had previous experience. She also became the official organizer of the group, keeping drawings and data in order. Eric and Professor Stewart were constantly having to pick up and move the total station to captures those 3 points here and 5 new points there and oooh, those 2 points can only be seen from there. Peter avoided a lot of the chaos as he worked diligently at drawings that needed to be completed on board. I spent much of my time either upside down or reaching from precariously odd angles at extreme heights. If I wasn't hanging out of the cherry picker straining to reach that far corner location to place a target, I was at the top of a ladder reaching only slightly more cautiously for yet another important joint or edge that needed to be shot. I had a blast, I cannot say the same for those "spotting" me.
By Wednesday individuals would frequently find themselves with nothing to do, though some odd job could always be found. Pulling off all the labels from the hull, rescuing all of the sticky tack from the back of targets, typing up the point catalogue, gathering scattered gear, and helping those who were still drawing take those difficult measurements helped the week fly by. Thursday morning found us wrapping things up for good. We took our last pictures and gathered up our gear for the last time. We spent the afternoon on a field trip to Stockholm's Maritime Museum where we saw an amazing collection of ship models. The museum is also home to some archaeological remains of other vessels. And today we've all been going different directions as we finish last minute shopping and packing as we prepare leave Sweden tomorrow. That reminds me, I hope someone remembered to clear out the fridge...
To wrap things up, the project was on overwhelming success. It was an incredible learning experience for all of us involved, students and instructors alike. In one of the earlier posts I was labeled the "veteran," this being my fourth ECU field project. I can honestly say that this project went the most smoothly, was most satisfying, and most fun out of the four. We worked incredibly well as a group and we can all step back and be proud of what we accomplished these past three weeks. The 3-D model of the beakhead is well underway, the notebook for sketches is full, and after three weeks of climbing around we managed NOT to break the Vasa (and a huge sigh of relief is given by all)!
posted by Amy at
8:48 AM
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