Back in action

OK ALL

Been on a bit of hiatus. I've been working like it's going out of style, my back has been totally thrown out (getting better slowly), and I haven't been feeling motivated. That's changing. I'm running out of wood. There are things to do. I'm hoping to pick back up the momentum and get this project back on track!

The past month hasn't seen much project. I've been piecemealing it together bit by bit, but essentially, the seats are cut out and the seat cleats are cut and beveled. No gluing because the temps have been hovering around 34F 2C in the garage. All easy and self explanatory, except for one thing (bow seat) which I will get to next. Bevels were marked, by the way, by lining up the cleats to the BH's and taking a pencil and marking my boat's angle... Storer recommends 11 mm on all cleats, I do not recommend that it would be too much on some portions of my boat. A custom and accurate bevel is just as easy as a pencil mark!!!

Some obligatory GIS pics:

First: Framing for the bow seat. Notice the shim on BH1... If you remember, dear intrepid reader, BH1 is the only BH that sat correctly on the chinelogs, every other BH sat too high and I had to shim the bottoms to meet the bottom panel. Hence, on BH1 I had to shim the top to meet the bow seat. This will necessitate a shim underneath the ply that will back the center cleat on BH1 as well.


Bow seat almost in place:


Detail of the cleats meeting at the stem. Notice rudimentary notches cut to accomodate the fillets around the stem:


The seat slowly moving forward. My experience with the bow seat thus far will differ from the plans. I would strongly suggest marking out the bow seat on the ply per the plans in the manual, (remember the 15mm extra!!!) THEN take measurements from your boat itself and map them out on top of the lofting you've already taken for comparison. My boat has a slightly different shape in the bow than the plans are expecting, and my seat will fit, it's just going to take lots of shaping and a little luck to make it fit without any significant gaps. Don't sweat it like me, just back up your measurements with what you have on the ground in your workshop.


Stern framing, note my space heater for when I decide to glue. The transom center cleat support had to be notched to fit around the backing I glued on for the rudder bolts. Woops, I didn't leave 6mm to squeeze the support in. Also, the angles are all off. Something doesn't add up, either the height of the transom cleat, BH4, or the angle of the transom itself. OH WELL!


Rear seat is fit. This one went smoothly, just a little annoying. A little gap on the port side, but no big deal, it will be covered by the epoxy fillet. This seat fits better than the bow.


No vertical supports have been cut yet, I'll do that when I glue everything else in place, that way I'll get a nice solid measurement and they will custom fit without things moving out of the place.

I'm struggling with scarfing the "real" gunwales, they are not going as easy as the chinelogs did. Next up, mast step and partner. Maybe after that a marathon gluing session and then I can work on blades, mast, spars, etc. etc. Onwards into the new year with my GIS!