Marginalia

 

(to start of project)

Blogging has been light lately. Between doing taxes, family obligations, etc., boat progress has been a little sparse. On top of that, there are no dramatic changes during this phase. You just kind of sand and smooth ‘til you’re tired of it, then quit for a few days and start again. At this point, though, the fairing is essentially done.

The next step will be adding skegs, and from here on out the boat will take on weight quickly, so flipping will not be so flippant. Because of the way I’m doing the transoms I need to visualize how the skeg, transom, rudder and hull parts will come together before committing. Hard to do that upside down, so gave me an excuse to turn one up again. Just walking into the room is nice – the smell of cedar, the gentle curves, smooth surfaces – but turning them over is a sensation like the humming of a gong. You just can’t help but go “wow . . .” Continue reading “Final Fairing”

Staple Holes Filled 

 

(to start of project)

Some people really hate this part, but I love sanding and smoothing. It’s slow work, but the wood goes through a pleasing transformation, both visual and tactile.

Before sanding and fairing, the staple holes, sloppy joints, and other imperfections are filled with a mixture of glue and sawdust. The first trick to filling the staple holes, and making them less prominent, is to make them smaller. You do this by soaking the wood well with a wet sponge. This causes the wood to swell and the holes to close up. In some cases, almost completely. Since the outside of the hulls will probably be painted, this is not so important now, but getting the technique right here will help later on the inside. Continue reading “Filling and Fairing”

Transferring Gap to the Last Planks

 

(to start of project)

I almost missed one of the more charming traditions of boat building, until Tony in Montana reminded me.

The last plank added to a boat hull is known as the “Whiskey Plank.” This is the plank that finally closes up the hull completely, making it viable as a boat for the first time. It’s called the Whiskey Plank because, traditionally, when this plank was finally put on, everyone in the boat shop got a shot of whiskey to celebrate. In my case, by the time I got these troublesome little pieces of wood in place I was past ready for a snort of something strong.

Continue reading “Whiskey Planks”

 North hull down to the last gap.

 

(to start of project)

With a new sense of purpose, got the next to the last strips all done. That’s a total of 8 strips in two full days of work. One last strip on each boat will close up the hulls.

The split strip should work fine. The narrow width even makes it easier to flex. Otherwise, at this point it takes wedges to hold the strips in place against the previous bead, plus bungies, plus staples.

 

Continue reading “Mind the Gap”

 

South hull flipped.

 

(to start of project)

There are only two more strips to go on each side of each boat. Until the boats are christened appropriately, I refer to them as North and South. South has the more difficult finish, since one strip won’t fill the gap. I decided to flip it over and have a look at the inside. If the hull/keel joint looks messy I’ll bail on this tough stuff and run a router down the seam and finish off with a nice accent strip.

Continue reading “Early Flipping”

 Bungie Chords to the rescue, again.

 

(to start of project)

Wow. The last two strips on each side are incredibly difficult. If I’d known how difficult, I surely would have taken another tack.

There’s still a lot of curve in this section, in the direction the strips don’t want to bend. But the strips are short so you can’t get any leverage. Pushing them into place takes both hands, and they still spring out of the slot and pop you in the face. Plus, each strip has to be cut exactly to size, with bevels and long tapers on both ends, which means prying them into place multiple times as you shave and refine the shape. I haven’t broken a single strip until this point, and I broke four on Saturday – one for each strip that went on successfully.

Continue reading “Down to the Skinny”