Assembly

Here is the hull bottom assembled, with all but the transom stringer attached. You can also see that the deck has been assembled. The stringers haven't yet been attached to it though.
At this point, the hull bottom has been attached to the keel, and both rest comfortably on the boat dolly. Already the questions from the neighbors have begun ... "will it really be a boat ... like on the water and stuff?"
The bulkheads are dry fitted, and my mother is probably wondering how she managed to end up helping me build a boat instead of visiting with her grandchildren. You can see in this shot that the cabin bulkhead has the offset entry way, to make room for a second mast. Once the seats are in, this bulkhead will be cut into two parts, upper and lower, and the upper part mounted in the removable cabin.
At this point, the forward bulkhead and the transom have been temporarily mounted, and the deck is resting in place comfortably. You can see my wife posing with the boat. She's earned it, as she puts up with my dreaming and power tools at all hours of the day and night.
Finally, the deck is actually glued and screwed into position, and I can get to some work that will make a visible difference.
Here she is with both sides firmly attached.
Here you can see the dryfitted second mastbox and how it will rest in the cabin bulkhead. A bridgedeck will be mounted across this area for extra seating and if I can do it, extra beverage storage.
Here is a dryfit of the mastbox side coverings as originally designed. This has since been changed so that the entire mastbox is enclosed within the bridgedeck.
Note the bowsprit bits installed, the forward hatch cut out and the edges dryfitted to the opening..
At this point, the cabin bulkhead has been completely removed, save for some deck support bracing on either side.
Bridgedeck pieces and seat bottom pieces cut out to shape for the cockpit.
Here's the result of a few hours spent with bondo. At this point, the cockpit stringers are just resting in place, and the screw heads and voids have all been filled within the cockpit.
Here, the cockpit stringers along the bottom are glued and screwed into the boat, and the seat stringers along the port side and transom are installed with screws only.
Dryfit of the bridgedeck and seats in place. The bridgedeck looks really big here, but it will be trimmed back within the cockpit area, extending the seats, and ending just before the mastbox.
Caulking of the various seams in the cockpit area.
The forward mast stump, complete with hinge flush mounted fore and aft. The mast stump has been raised by four inches, bringing the total height to 51"
Here, the cabin sides are partially installed for a dry-fit check. The cabin has been squared off at the front instead of the round cabin depicted in the plans, and the height has been raised by four inches. I can sit in the center of the cabin at the front with my hair touching where the roof will be. The rest of the family has plenty of room to spare. You can see the vertical stringer in the corner of the cabin, used to stiffen the sides and prevent leaks. Also, below that stringer is what will be the starboard shelf. The side piece broke during assembly, so I'll have to make another before installing it. I did change the side piece slightly as it will act as not only a side stiffener, but also will brace the deck.
Here's what I have installed so far for the brace at the bottom of the mastbox. There will also be wood running from one hull side to the other bracing the mastbox fore and aft plus side to side, and the mast will be installed through the bridgedeck. It won't be going anywhere by the time I'm finished with it.
Here, you can see my scribblings, which will be translated into a piece running side to side vertically, replacing the stock cabin bulkhead with a new bridgedeck seat front. I should get that piece lofted and cut tomorrow.
Laminating the bowsprit from 1x4s. 1. First two boards clamped together. 2. Third board clamped to the first two.
Here's a few shots of the boat. Please ignore the clutter. I've had better photo days, but they were spent building, rather than playing with the camera. Anyway, as you can see, the cabin sides are on (dry-fit only), both mast stumps are in place (aft one held by gravity alone), and a couple of 1x4's are standing in for my bowsprit which isn't ready yet. It's supposed to be raining for the next few days, so I won't be able to haul her out of the boatshed until later in the week, but when I do, I want to take some better pictures as I'm not entirely sure about the cabin height yet, and I want some distance shots from various angles so I can see what she'll look like from a distance as well as up close. Anyway, that's where she's at for now. 6/2/2003
Lofted, cut to fit, and dry fitted the new cockput bulkhead. The mastbox is just resting in place for now, and leans slightly to port. This will be corrected tomorrow.
Dry-fitted the stringers that the cockpit fronts will attach to.
The new rail for the cabin shelves arrived today, amongst the boom pieces, gaff pieces, and the rest of the plywood I needed. This pre-assembled piece will save me hours of do-it-yourself work. If you follow the seat bottom stringer on the far side of the boat, you can see how the seats will extend beyond this bulkhead. I'm getting really eager to see this part come together.
This mess you see before you represents all the pieces required to assemble the cockpit, minus the seat backs.
See, it's starting to look more like a cockpit. We've got the bulkhead in place, and the seat fronts in.
This is more or less what it's going to look like when the cockpit is done. For now the seat bottoms are just resting in place. The bridgedeck will continue from this point forward, and the aft mast will rest against this bulkhead in the center, with additional supports running to the sides and front of the mastbox.
Here is the most labor intensive single piece on the whole boat to date. I laminated four 1x4's together, alternating the grain to prevent cupping and warping, in three separate lamination sessions. Then, I squared it off, and did a ton of sanding, then I trimmed the corners lengthwise, and did even more sanding. Finally, I set the circular saw to a 1/4" depth, and trimmed out the tip, and used a chisel and ... you guessed it, more sanding to finish it off. It's not quite as round on the tip as I want it, but it's close, and you get an idea of what an extra 12" of bowsprit.
The first coat of paint in the cabin, seat insides, and forepeak.
Bridgedeck - final trimming, including the mast stump opening, the supports, and the cockpit footwell rounding. I will be putting in either a fillet or thin plywood to round off the front edge where the seats meet the bridgedeck in the near future.
Here's a profile of the boat, complete with both mast stumps (aft mast stump not yet trimmed), the booms resting in place, and the clubfoot resting in place. You can see the cabin rafter, which is more arched than the plans call for, so that I have sitting headroom throughout. It's starting to look like a schooner ... I can't wait until I get the gaff jaws finished, and the masts done so I can get her rigged.
Here's a little pose by my daughter. She's about the right size for a figurehead, and is far cuter than anything I'd be able to carve. I'm surprised she sat so still, seeing as how she's sitting on my shirt on the trailer winch.
Here's my family, posing with the boat , complete with boom mock-ups.