Getting close to the finish

 In the past week I first carved the letters of the boat's name on the rubrails near the bow, in English (starboard) and Greek (port).  I used a borrowed gouge and sharpening strop and my own rubber mallet to do so, and it was tricky but ended up being good enough (first photo).  I then nailed and glued the decorative top on the centerboard trunk.  I sanded all tops and insides again and put on a first coat of epoxy on those plus locker doors, oars and masts.  Then I filleted the keelson-to-garboard joints on the inside bottom and cut out a scoop on the transom to fit an oar to use as a scull.  I had to stain the transom reinforcements (which are aspen and very pale) to match the plywood, and used epoxy tinted dark with Minwax stain.   Finally, I drilled the holes for the oarlock sockets with a 7/8 inch spade bit, glued on some reinforcements for the oarlock boards from under the side decks and drove a couple of screws through from below on each one for good measure.

I then sanded the first coat of epoxy and laid on a second one.  The weather has been quite cold, so to encourage curing I kept  the garage door closed and gave the garage the occasional blast from a space heater; the combination made the fumes pretty bad, and I was very glad to be wearing the respirator.  The boat is looking beautiful already!  [second photo]  When the decking is painted and the insides varnished it will look even better.  After that I am going to highlight the carved lettering with gold paint (nail polish actually).

Then I drove to Marblehead on Lake Erie and bought a new trailer from Islander Marine.  The winch strap hook needs something to attach to.  I planned to reinforce the bow from the inside and put a long welded eyebolt through the bow, and the inspection port hole makes that possible, one more reason I'm happy I cut it.  Unfortunately he winch hook is too thick for the eyebolt I bought, so I exchanged the eyebolt for a U-bolt.  I need to drill two holes but should be even stronger.

In the coming week I plan to varnish the unpainted surfaces, paint the decking white, install the inspection ports, put in the ballast and assemble and coat the flooring.  So hopefully the boat (except the rigging) will be ready, almost to the day, a year after I started.

Then it will be time to set up the rigging, with blocks, cleats, wooden eyepads, metal eyestraps, bullseyes, snaphooks, a minimum of 64 screws, four kinds of line (sail lacing, halyards, sheets, snotters, tack downhauls, painter, anchor cable, miscellaneous loops, etc., etc.), and other fun stuff like knots and eyesplices.  I already bought all the screws I need (it was tricky and I may have forgot something) and a piece of closet rod for the mizzen sprit (I already have one ready for the main) which needs epoxy and varnish.  Also I will put leathers and rope buttons on the oars.  At the very end I will also make a boarding ladder from rope and oak boards.  I think I will tie the top end in a single loop to hang from an eyebolt or cleat.  So actual sailing may not happen for a while, but I hope soon at least to launch the boat, row and scull it, check for stability etc.

boatbuilder