It's waterline time, which means it's an opportunity to play with toys! Isn't that why we buy so many of them?

Well, I played a bit with the traditional horizontal pencil trick by using a table saw blade height jig I have but then had another thought -my laser level.
But first, some setup is required, regardless of the method.
I first leveled the vise in two directions as accurately as possible. Next, the plan's "baseline" aligns with the bottom of the sternpost so I called that y=0". Since the keel doesn't rest on the baseline due to the position of the boat in the water, I needed a solid measuring point to approximate the keel's rise. I chose the upward turn of the keel toward the bow and from the plan measured a rise of y=0.5". I then set the hull into my vise with the sternpost resting on the bottom of its clamp (y=0), then clamped a 0.5" high scrap of stock in the other clamp. Since the 0.5" rise falls above the clamp, I carefully rested the keel on top of the wood and tightened the other clamp. Plenty stable for this purpose.
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Now for the practice run. From the plan and at Bulkhead H (at the great beam) I measured from the top of the stanchions down to the waterline and attached a piece of tape for reference. I chose this relatively center position since the hull is fairly vertical. I then stacked whatever was around to raise my level line to that same elevation. I used the level's "self-leveling" mode so I didn't have to fuss with squaring everything.
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I left the laser where it was and turned the boat around to starboard and the landing points were very close to those on the port side so I I guess I did a reasonable job squaring the hull and vise.
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I'm pretty happy with the results and think it passes the eye test. I'll play a little more to dial it in but the waterline seems to fall as designed (or close) and at least as good as doing it by hand. Once I'm done practicing, I plan to mark the laser line with a series of pencil marks or pointed pieces of tape, then connect the marks with masking tape. What could go wrong?
Overkill? Maybe. Did it save some fiddling and set up? Yes! Opportunity to play with toys? Absolutely!!
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