More miscellaneous progress

This past week I first finished filleting all the seams along the bottom and the splashguards.  I then installed the mizzen mast step and assembled the ballast box with filleting compound, screws and nails.  You can see the box in the first photo.  It has two narrow compartments, and I will pour 25 lbs (11.4 kg) of lead shot into each, on a bed of caulk, after they get two coats of epoxy.  The ballast box will be covered by the middle floor plank.  In the meantime, the lead arrived by mail.  I wonder how the postman avoided getting a hernia or back trouble: 50 lbs in a small parcel was deceptively heavy and very awkward to lift.

I then measured and cut the cedar floor planks and tried them on for size (see second photo--they are not properly spaced or assembled yet).  The 30-inch-wide cockpit can be covered pretty exactly by eight 1x4 planks (3 1/2 inches wide in actual dimensions).  The part of the floor aft of the centerboard trunk and thwart will have eight such planks.  The forward part, however, has a middle plank covering the ballast box, so there are three planks on either side of that plus one plank ripped in two lengthwise for the edges.  On the starboard side I had to cut a notch into one plank to accommodate the centerboard trunk.  I also cut pieces that will connect the planks on their undersides from 1x2 lumber.

Then I mixed up a batch of filleting compound and did several things.  I put in floor supports on both sides of frame 5 (under the thwart) and on frame 7 (which is the bulkhead forming the aft seat and storage compartment).  The floor support on the main forward bulkhead (frame 2) is on already.  So now there are supports for the fore and aft ends of the two parts of the flooring.

I also glued on the boards for the oarlocks, which are centered 10 inches (254 mm) aft of the rowing thwart.  I widened the reinforcement along the top of the transom by adding another board.  Finally, I finished some details on the rudder and tiller and cut the decorative plywood top for the centerboard trunk.  I am now ready for the first coat of epoxy on the insides and decking.

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