The strips for the inwales are longer than required so I clamped them to the outside of the hull to pre-bend them. After they were dried, I fit the stern end using a sanding stick. The manual suggests to only glue the first inch or so and then try to trim and fit the bow end. I choose to cut and fit each side before gluing and after I was happy with the fit I glued the entire side at once and it worked out good for me. Next was the quarter knees. The instructions were not clear as to whether the shorter arm was against the inwale or the stern. After looking at the pictures and other build logs, I decided the longer arm was against the inwale and the shorter against the stern and bow transoms. I beveled the transom side and glued in place. The instructions for the seat and thwart frames were unclear to me as to how high they should be up the sides of the hull, but there seemed to be enough flat surface to make a assumption as to where they should be. I will find out later if I was close enough. The floor board cleats needed to be slightly curved to match the bottom of the hull but with the dagger board case installed it was difficult to try to put weights or clamps to hold them when drying so I decided to do what I did with my dory build and wet them with hot water, put the ends off the bench with scrap wood and put a weight in the middle of the pieces until dry. sorry, but I forgot to get a picture of this. After they were dry I glued them in the hull and again there wasn't any measurements given for proper placement so I just eyeballed it from the pictures. I used pins to hold in place while the glue was drying.
I read, reread, and reread the instructions on finishing the upper edges of the transoms and was confused as to what it meant by the corners at the sheer planks. I used a knife to remove a lot of bulk and then a sanding stick to finish, I ended up removing to much material and both the bow and stern ended up flush with the quarter knees and I don't think this is accurate. I am hoping it will not cause a problem with functionality and only be for authenticity.
The manual states the mast step has 2 pieces, one with a hole and one without. I could not find a piece without a hole so I glued both pieces together with the hole and then in place on the bottom of the hull.
The chain plate slots were kinda tricky for me also. I located the slots as best as I could figure out and drilled the hole at the forward end as the instructions stated. I don't know if my saw was the same size as they mentioned in the instructions, but it worked for me to create the slots. When I created these slots I did not realize there was actual hard included to be installed later in the build. My concern now is I made these slots larger than they probably should be but I will find out when I put the metal straps in.
The instructions talk about using the angle guide to sand one edge of the rudder gudgeon pad. I did this but they didn't say if this goes on the top or bottom. I seems that it should be on the bottom side of this pad to me so thats what I decided to do.
I am ready to work on the rowlock pads now. I am still happy with my progress and even though I may have made a few mistakes along the way I am not frustrated or discouraged yet and am still having fun with this new hobby.
More to come.
Dave.
