Sneak Peek

Needed a little motivation to keep going on the finish work, so we pulled off the tape and stuff covering the deck to get an idea of what the boat was going to look like when we get done. Starting to look nice!

As you can see, the white cockpit side panels provide some nice contrast between the rails and the deck. We could not get the exact same Minwax stain we used on the deck, so the rails were done as close as possible. The difference between the oak (rails) and luan (plywood deck) probably makes this unnoticeable.

People might think the oak extravagant on a boat designed to be inexpensive, but we only used two 1"x8" by 10 foot boards to rip the 1/4" strips from using the table saw. Total price increase for the oak versus the pine was about $20 - not that much but it took a lot more time to do it this way.

Since the rails are laminated with glue (Titebond III), we have acquired a bunch of C-clamps. We steamed the inside and outside 1"x1/4" strips to make them bend easier, but all the 1/2" by 1/4" strips in the middle went in without any steaming. I'm sure you would not have to steam anything if you had an extra set of hands.

Please don't look too hard at the mess in the garage. Balancing three bikes, lawn mowers, snowblowers and another sailboat (my Falco hanging from the ceiling) makes space at a premium. The $10 folding saw horses are great work areas, and excess styrofoam offcuts protect the hull.

The varnish work looks pretty good in the photos - up close you see every flaw and sanding scratch. I guess when the boat is on the water people don't see the same things you do as a builder.