I've now 92 hours in actual building time here. Surprisingly, the rewards have far outweighed the struggles. I had suspected more drudgery to this. Honestly the worst part has been the sawhorse veiling and unveiling. That shouldn't even be an issue with a larger space. So, I'm pleased. One of the benefits of building your own is the ability to customize the vessel to your tastes and wishes. Some are intended. Others are serendipitous. This goes beyond the boat's shape, though some may play with that. I haven't (at least not intentionally). The manual accompanying the plans is quite complete. However, I've studied the process enough to consider a few changes on my terms. Some are in detail. Some in technique. Neither is necessarily better or worse, but perhaps more justly a chance to experiment. No 2 boats are alike primarily due to the nature of wood (no 2 trees are the same) and secondarily due to the fabricator. I feel I've profited from a few accidents so far, but mostly this has all been a learning process. It's nice to master some tools and techniques, at least on a competent basis.
Got the initial shear strips on at 1/2 width and have toyed with a racing stripe down the center line. I dug through my wood pile and located some mahogany scraps I can ripped to accent the stripe. Some scarfing will be required, but the tight grain makes it all but invisible. Look past all the clamps for a view of last night's cobbling ...
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| Racing stripe |
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| 1/2 width shear strips. blue tape prevents deck to hull gluing. |
How Blogger arranges these photos I can't figure. the post rarely reflects the draft. this last pic shows mostly tape, but also a strip after cut by pocket knife to approximate bevel after which hand planing gets it true and then, ... lots of tape. the stems have such an upward sweep that the strips have yet to stay put. I hope additional adjoining strips will force compliance.
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| Bow with a roll of masking tape! |
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