Phew, almost there! What with the Thanksgiving holiday and all, we've been busy NOT building a boat. Rather, we've been lounging in a turkey-based tryptophan torpor with friends and families. It's been nice.
However, before the gluttony took hold, we did do some actual work.
The port side is now completely closed up. Just some bungs to cut off and a little fairing to do. You can see that there's just this one plank left to go on starboard.
David spiled and cut the shutter out before the holiday.
It almost looks like a plank there on starboard, but closer inspection reveals it to be a spiling batten. The plank stock is on the bench to the right, glued up and ready to go.
We've begun taking out the molds so that we can install frames and floors in the spaces where the molds used to be.
Many of them did not go quietly. The problem with hulls that have tumblehome (the hull widens out a bit, and then gets skinny up top) is that you can't lift these molds straight up and out... the tumblehome gets in the way. So, we have to hack some of them out.
Lots of work represented by that pile. Good lesson in impermanence.
(photo credit: Karl Cressotti)
The frames and planking will now hold the hull shape on their own for the most part. We have left a few molds in place just for insurance, and placed cross spalls where we took out the molds to keep the hull from spreading out.
At last, we have reasonable access to the inside of the boat!
Don't get me wrong, though. It's still pretty cramped, as you can see from Karl's wedging himself back aft, but it's a lot better than before.
You can also really get a feel for the delicacy of the frames in this boat. They just look like noodles draped along the planking.
Of course, having a more or less open view of the inside of the boat is such a wondrous thing that we find ourselves frequently admiring the view.
The symmetry is so clear from the inside.
(photo credits: Karl Cressotti)
While David and Robin have been getting the shutter ready,
Karl and I have been fitting the floors that went in the mold locations.
A little oil to seal them, and they're ready to go.
Now, any good showman knows that you don't present the headline act without some rehearsal. Tomorrow's headline act is the shutter plank, and there's no way we're going to put it on at the party for the first time. That would be just crazy. Naturally, we practiced first.
Ooooh. Preview of things to come... Now, it may LOOK like the shutter plank is on, but it's only held in place by friction. No fasteners in yet, so it's not officially attached. Just a dress rehearsal, folks, but we now know that we're ready for the show.