More inside work

In the past two weeks I have been working away, trying to do as much as possible before serious cold sets in.  I cut, fit and glued side deck knees, seen on the left, which are awaiting 1x2 boards (already scarf-joined to just over 11 feet) to be screwed on their narrow faces.  The knees, inwales and boards will provide the base for 6-inch-wide side decks.

Then I made sure I do whatever needs to be done before the foredeck goes on.  It included extra beams between the two fore bulkheads, and reinforcements for the mast hole and for the halyard and snotter cleats (I'll explain later).  These are in the second photo, which shows the fore-end.

I also needed to put on a mast step for the fore (main) mast.  I had to calculate its placement from the rake angle of the mast (trigonometry again).  I glued two pieces of lumber on each side of the keel, and then laminated two square pieces of plywood and cut a two-inch round hole in them.  I finally screwed and glued all together (third photo).  I did the same for the mizzen mast, just next to the aft end of the centerboard case.

Then I laminated two oblong pieces of plywood (3/8 and 1/4 inch thick, or 9 and 6 mm) to make a rowing thwart, which will also be the mizzen mast partner.  I cut a 2 1/4 inch hole in the thwart and attached it to the benches in the right position (again I had to place the mast partner and mast step holes so the rake of the mast is correct).  The thwart is also supported by an oak board that protrudes from the centerboard case.  That's in the final picture.
 

I also glued together two pieces of oak molding of different widths to make rails for the sliding door of the fore locker.  These will have to be put on before the foredeck goes on, but the bottom one will be finally glued in place after all the surfaces are finished. 

Finally, I cut all the pieces of centerboard and rudder.  They are ready to laminate and finish (sometime in the winter).

That's a lot of work, and good work if I may say so myself.  Why does it feel like I'm not making progress?  I suppose because of unrealistic expectations.

For more progress, keep checking 176inches.

boatbuilder