Getting ready for the deck

Seems like I get to do something new everyday now. Instead of planking for, say, 2 or 3 months on end, now each piece of the boat takes a day or so. Even the parts which take a few days, like the carlins or bulkheads, take a different step each day rather than doing the same thing over and over. All in all, good fun. Every morning I wake up excited thinking about what goes on next.

Last time, the deckbeams were installed. All except for those around the cockpit opening, since the deckbeams can't go all the way across the boat. Around the cockpit there is a special deckbeam, called the carlin, which goes fore and aft, held in place by little 1/2-beams. This was one of the more interesting things we've installed on the boat, so I may bore you a little with the details here. The problem is the carlin is a curve, in 3D, somewhere out in space. And of course there are 2 of them and you want them to look the same. To get them right, you need to build a new mold inside of the boat. We used 2X4s clamped across the boat onto the sheer clamp. From the plans, I then figure out how far the carlin is from the side of the boat at a few places. I can then run a batten through these points on the 2X4s


The next step is to figure out how high the carlin is. Where the batten crosses the 2X4s, we screw in some additional 2X4s going up and down. Then we place the camber gauge across the boat and mark the 2X4. (Recall the camber gauge represents the curve of the top of the deck. . . we used it to get the curvature of the deckbeams). Voila! The mark represents the location of the top inside corner of the carlin. Not only do I now know where the carlin goes, I have a mold onto which I can clamp it into place.


We can't quite get the carlin into place yet because at the front and back the deckbeams are in the way. However, we do have the proper shape, the carlin is just sitting a little bit high. Since we have the correct shape, we are able to make our marks for the fore and aft joint, getting the correct angles and length.


After we cut the joint (the carlin fits into a notch we cut into the deckbeam), now we can install the carlin. We leave it clamped up with the 2X4 mold in place until we get the 1/2-beams installed as well. Even then, we leave a little structure in place to hold the carlin down until we can get the deck on.


Although you could put the deck on now, you'd have to be a little crazy. There are a bunch of other pieces which can be installed now which would be much more difficult once the top is on.

There are watertight bulkheads fore and aft, which will prevent the boat from sinking in the case of a knockdown.


Also, plenty of blocking along the centerline to stiffen up the deckbeams and provide backing for deck hardware.


Finally, Phil spent a day fairing down the aft end of the boat, so we're getting our first view of that dead sexy raked, curved transom that was driving me crazy a few months back.


Next time, knees and cockpit combing.

But before I go, figured I'd post some other shop pictures, since the place is really humming now.

Next to the mermaid, the Haj is almost re-framed, re-planked, re-stemmed, and re-transomed. If you look closely in this picture you can see the difference in color between the planks. They replaced every other one in order to close all the gaps.



Upstairs the small boats are pretty much planked. The A&R. . .


And the Whitehall. . .


Then way, way, upstairs, the Susan Skiff factory is in full swing. There are also 3 molds downstairs, so we'll have 7 Susan Skiffs going soon. Perfect opportunity for a susan skiff race to the lighthouse and back this spring.

Computer Desk!

Not much boat stuff this time, as we've been on holiday for a few weeks. So here's a picture of the computer desk I built while in Vermont at the Shelburne Art Center. The SAC (formerly Shelburne Craft School, the name I prefer and still use since the acronym, SCS, has a nice symmetry to it and can't be pronounced "sack") is where I first learned to use a table saw and router. They are now renting out their woodworking studio space to qualified folks (i.e. people who won't chop off a finger if left alone too long) for a monthly fee. They also do classes which I can highly recommend. It's a nice place with nice people. Nicole had to work over my Christmas break in order to save up her vacation time, so it was nice to have someplace to go and something to do during the day.


I still need to build a drawer for the little monitor stand (which can be moved around), and just how annoying are all those cords?


I'm really trying to stretch this out a bit. Food always makes a good picture! We made enchiladas for our New Year's eve party.


OK, time for boat stuff. Not much to report, except, you'll notice, the inside is painted.


We've also been installing the deckbeams, which are, of course, the beams across the boat which will support the deck. The beams are notched into the sheer clamp and fit tightly to the sheer plank. These are fun to make. Too bad we have to paint them, as they look really nice since we pick wood with grain that matches the curve of the beam.

I was originally planning to start the year off by lifting the boat up and putting the keel on, but it is at such a nice height right now, we're going to keep on chugging away at the deck for awhile. All the bolts that are needed for the keel are in the cockpit anyway, so the deck won't be in the way. Next time : bulkheads and cockpit carlins. Also, we have a bunch of new folks in the shop (6 new apprenti + an intern, with 2 more interns coming soon). They've been transforming the 3rd floor of the shop. It looks good. . . just needs a few boats.