October 2013

It's been a slow month for boat building.  I have managed to get a few good days of work in but I have not been able to work on the boat at my leisure (which to tell the truth would be all the time).  Even though actual work has been slow, I have made progress in other areas.  I've worked forward in my head how the next few steps will occur.  Sometimes I can get on a role and forget a few steps in the process.  Then I'll have to go back and figure out how to fix something that would have been easier to do earlier.  Anyone remember the frames on the transom issue.  Turns out I was just about to overstep myself again.  Before I complete the first layer of the hull, I needed to determine how I was going to create a surface to attach the ballast keel and add dead wood to the stem.  On the first point,  I have decided to go ahead make the first layer of the ballast keel from plywood and mark where the keel bolts and the floor timber bolts belong (so they do not interfere with each other).  I can then use this as a pattern to cut the hull material to the right shape at the hull/keel junction.  On the second point, I am adding two layers of plywood to the underside of the stem.  I am having to score the plywood (every inch for 20 inches) around the upper part of the stem where the curvature is most severe in order for the plywood to bend.  I'll then plane the edges of the plywood down to the shape of the hull.  This will give me a continuous mounting surface along the stem for the hull material as well as help bring the hull to a small curvature around the front of the stem.  I'll have pictures soon to illustrate.  Friday I'm going on vacation with my wife to the Florida/Alabama coast on the Gulf of Mexico.  I will dream of sailing, drink beer and not worry about life for a week.

Back from a well needed vacation in the Gulf.  I met Joe Shelby who is building a nice catamaran and is quite along on the project.  We managed to have a good time talking about building boats and drinking a little beer.  When I got back home I started working on the bow.  Dead wood needed to be added to the stem so the hull material can be attached and so that the bow will come to a nice curved front.

Two layers of 3/4" Meranti plywood attached to the bottom of the stem with epoxy and stainless staples.  This will be carved to the shape of the bow once the epoxy cures.

This is a close up of the bottom of the bow where I've added the material.  The filler boards end in a stagger where they will later taper down to the existing keel.

In this picture I have started to carve the stem filler wood to shape.  An electric hand planer is used to remove the majority of wood while a belt sander with 40 grit sand paper is used for the finish work.

Another close up of the stem showing the finished work.  

I've also checked the fairness or the bow.  This is a critical part of the hull and its also where the wood battens undergo the most radical changes.  I'm trying to ensure that not only is the hull fair but the same on both sides.  I have needed to change the angle of the face of a few of the longitudinal battens as well as add material in one spot.

Back to installing the plank strips.