Oh, It's a Boat!

Finally, the project is starting to look like a boat.  "Finally" may end up being the name of the boat by the way, one of the ideas for names submitted by my sister, Melinda.

Jumping ahead a little, here are some shots of my progress so far.

View from Stern to Bow

Floor Joists, Bulkheads, Side Panels, & Transom

The stitching process is very tedious, and turning out to be laborious at times, but still it is enjoyable to see the shape coming together. The first job is to stitch the two lower panels to the Keelson. (I've been calling them "bilge panels," but that is not quite accurate because as you can see they curve upwards quite a bit at the bow.  So I'll start calling them lower panels from now on.)

Lower Panels Stitched to Keelson

 One of the hardest jobs is getting the lower and side panels to conform to the proper curves at the bow.  Here I've poured boiling water on an old towel and allowed it to sit on the lower panels for a while.  The panels were much more cooperative after that.

Hot Towel in Bow

As you can see here I was finally able to make them come together very nicely.  Too bad I didn't get a "before" shot.

Lower Panels Stitched at Bow

The next step is to stitch floor joist 4 to the lower panels and then start stitching in the side panels.  There'll be a better shot of floor 4 later, but you can see it in front of the centerboard trunk.  Floor 4 fits into a slot in the keelson and into a cutout in the trunk.  The stitching wires for floor 4 also go through holes in the building cradle, which holds everything nicely in place.  In this picture I have floor joist 4 and the port side panel stitched in, and the starboard side panel almost done.  It is proving to be a lot harder to get the curves right on both panels, but especially the starboard panel.

Stitching Side Panels

Below is a better shot of floor 4.  You can see a little tab at the bottom center that slots into the keelson, and the notch in the centerboard trunk that the joist fits into.  Later it will also be glued to the trunk.  Apparently this particular joist is an important part of the structure besides serving as a place to attach the floorboards.

Floor Joist #4

Floor Joists 4, 5, and 6

The other floor joists have been stitched in.  The aft three joists are shown above.

I have temporarily stitched the bulkheads in, the forward two of which I hope will help me get the bow curves right.  Below you can see bulkheads 1 and 2 at the bow end of the boat.  You can also see part of floor joist 3.  Between bulkheads 1 and 2 is a storage area at the front of the cuddy.  That's what the two large holes are for--to give access to storage.  The battery will go in there also.  Note to self:  I don't know if it matters, but I have bulkhead 2 in backwards.  The smaller hole should be on the port side.  Good thing it is only in there temporarily.

Bulkheads 1 & 2

The below shot is from the bow end of the boat, toward the stern.  In it you can see part of floor 4, floors 5 and 6, and bulkheads 7 and 8.  The odd-looking shapes in bulkhead 7 will be removed after more of the structure is in place.  This will allow access to a crawlspace under the cockpit, or allow a really tall person to stretch out on the 8-foot-long floor.  You can see a slot in the middle of bulkhead 8.  That is where the cockpit floor will go.  The seats will be on the sides, with a narrow floor between.  This explains part of the shape of the cutouts in bulkhead 7.  The cockpit floor extends from bulkhead 7 to the transom.  If I haven't explained this clearly, you will understand it much better as the boat comes together later on.

Stem to Stern

Well I've got "honey-dos" so I probably won't be doing any more boat work this weekend.