I also finally figured out why it was so difficult to post a comment. I didn't realize you had to sign in to leave a comment, since whenever I tried to leave a comment, I was already signed in. Anyhow, I turned off that requirement. Comment away!
The daggerboard trunks are installed, which allowed us to fit the thwarts, the seats that go across the boat. Not only do they provide a cozy place to sit, they also tie the boat together, so we were able to (finally) get rid of the crossspals (those temporary 2X4s that held the boat's shape and constantly got in the way). Well, almost all of them. There is still one up forward which we need to keep the boat from tipping over. We also got in the sole timbers, which will provide a place to attach the sole (the floor or deck).
Here is a close up of the daggerboard trunk / thwart joint. You can see how the thwart is notched for the trunk, making a bomber fit. The hole in the middle is for the daggerboard. The thwarts are made of 2X12 spruce. Josh and I spent about an hour picking thru piles of dimensional hardware to find the best 10 planks. Turns out we were just in time. Now the black flies are horrendous out at the lumber yard.
The fore and aft thwarts are 23" wide and are centered on the trunks. The center two thwarts (see 1st picture) are a little more complicated since they need to act as mast partners. The masts are attached to the boat in 2 places, the bottom, called the mast step, and a spot about 30" above called a mast partner. On an open boat like ours, thwarts usually act as mast partners. On decked boats, the deck is the mast partner. We'll have to tie the center daggerboard trunk into both of these smaller thwarts. It will involve big knees! Stay tuned.
Here is a good shot of the sole timbers. Ignore the piece of plywood which is just temporary flooring. Eventually, we will put in a douglas fir sole. But the observant long time reader might recognize the wheel from the boat flip.
In other news, we have received plans for the keel. Since these boats are being built traditionally as plank on frame, as opposed to the more modern plywood construction used on the original build, they are going to be heavier. So we get the keel design 6 weeks before launch day, rather than with the original plans. Nothing like just in time design. We are going to need a 1500 lb keel. The first step is to make a cut out in the oak keel to accomodate it.Before. . . 6" thick white oak at the bottom of the boat.
After. . . an 8 foot cutout. Actually, this is only about 1/2 of the cut out. It will take us about 3 person-days to cut and clean up this void. All I could think about while working on it was how much easier it would have been if we had the keel plan while this was just a piece of oak sitting on sawhorses rather than 2 feet off the ground underneath a large boat.
Next post . . . the lead pour.It is spring time in Maine and that means getting boats on the water. Since I'm doing the racing thing, I recruited my potential crew to fix up the shop J-24. Not a wooden boat, but still fun to sail. I wish I had a before/after shot, but here she is after a new paint job.
The small boats are also coming along nicely.
And finally, I've finished up the 1/2 model and the wall-hung cabinet project.
