To the photo album.

0:00 First task is to edge join four sheets of 4'x8' plywood into sixteen foot lengths. Jim suggests to screw the plywood to a board to hold the edges tight, and glass and resin the joint with 3" tape. Allow to cure overnight, [whew it stinks!] [allow to cure a few hours, depending on temperature]

1:00 Flip the panels over so you can glass and tape the other sides. I found that temporarily screwing a board lengthwise to the [now] 16 foot long sheets helped control the wobble. If you aren't careful you can ripout the tape you just installed, I found that a quick fluid movement worked best.

1:30 Glass the backside joints.

[allow a few more hours for cure.]

2:00 Transfer the dimensions for the curved edges of the bottom plank, and one side to the plywood from the plans. I found that it was more important to try to layout a "smooth" curve, than to focus on getting extremely precise measurements.

2:45 Cut both edges of the side plank, and one edge of the bottom plank. Flip over the cutoff piece of the bottom plank and use it to scribe the opposite side of the bottom plank;, this ensures symmetry. Flip over the side plank and scribe the opposite side plank.

3:30 I cut the second side of the bottom plank and the second side plank.

4:00 Cut the first bilge plank, and use it as a template to layout the other bilge plank.

4:30 Tack, tape and resin the second bilge plank.

5:00 I use my table saw to rip 20 feet or so of 3/4" square pieces from some pine boards. Cut the transom, and molds A, B, C, D.

5:30 I choose to give the top of the transom a slight curve, with a sculling notch for aesthetic reasons. Plans call for a straight top edge of the transom reinforced with a 3/4" stick [which I think looks a bit out of proportion]. Also, the scaled height of mold A on the plans is 17" but the dimensioned height is marked 21 1/4"??? Use the scaled dimension of 17".

6:00 After the second bilge seam is fully cured, cut it to shape.

6:45 Cutting and gluing of the curved sculling notch on the transom.

7:30 Cut and fit 3/4" edge stiffeners on all four molds.

8:30 Layout the locations of the molds on the side and bottom pieces. Snap a chalk line for center on the bottom plank, spray clear lacquer on the line for permanence. Be sure that all molds have a centerline mark for alignment at the connection point to the bottom.

9:00 Cleanup the shop and start fastening molds to the side pieces with the boat bottom up. This is the exciting part, as in just a few minutes a pile of flat plywood takes the shape of a beautifully curved boat hull.

10:00 Stem glued in place, all molds installed!

11:15 Fairing of lines by shimming and adjusting the molds which I installed with drywall screws, and in a couple locations I need to trim the planks with a saw. It helps to "step back" and to use your "eyeball" to get the best curves. I wish that I had been more meticulous cutting and fairing curves on the panels why still flat on the floor. I conclude that it was more important to hold to smooth broad curves that to hold precisely to the dimensions in the plans, [as long as you keep side to side symmetry].

11:30 I decide against using the "wire ties" recommended in the plans. Instead I use masking tape on all the seams, which I discover makes the boat plenty rigid enough to turn it over. I have no regrets over skipping the wire ties.

12:00 Apply Bondo the inside seams with a tongue depressor, after carefully applying masking tape to control the gobs and blubbers. It pays to be very neat to reduce the sanding time. The masking tape on the bottom pays off big time when applying Bondo the seams on the inside because it serves as a "backer" on the joints to keep the Bondo neat and flush [instead of falling through].

13:30 Done with the inside, flip over and do the boat bottom. Before you flip it over put masking tape as "backer" on the inside of any joints that you can "see light" through. Masking tape again on each side of the bottom chines to control "blubbers" and proceed to mix small batches of Bondo and apply to the gaps in the bottom joints.

14:30 Clean up shop.

15:00 Set up and *attempt* to rip the gunnel strips from my beautifully clear 16 foot tight grain redwood 2x6 using my table saw. Such a long board is hard to handle and three feet into it the cut wanders off line, jamming the saw and threatening to ruin the board and I abandon trying to use the table saw. I recall reading Dynamite Payson's chapter in Building the New Instant Boats with the photo of him using a Skilsaw with a saw mounted ripping fence to cut long narrow strips from 2X boards. I run down to Home Depot and buy a ripping fence, [Skil part number 95100, overpriced at $10]. Wow does it work! I wish I had discovered this tool years ago.

16:30 The boat is 14 feet, and the plans call for gunnels from doubled 3/4" by 7/8" strips. I want a beefier gunnel because I hope to eliminate the cross pieces called for on the plan, I cut out double 3/4" by 1 1/2" strips [4 pieces]. I didn't realize how much bending goes in the gunnel in the up and down directions, and the 1 1/2" dimension is awfully stiff. Using lots of glue, I screw the bow end of the gunnel firmly into the stem, and holding my Makita screw gun in one hand, reaching a couple feet up the stem for leverage I pull firmly. I apply screws about every 4 to 6 inches from the inside out to ensure tight glue bond. I am barely able to bend the gunnel to shape. It is a good thing that the 16 foot gunnel leaves a two foot extension at the stern [on the 14 foot boat] as this leverage is needed to get a fair curve near the transom. I also realize that I am glad I bought clear tight grain wood, because the graceful spring of the gunnel gives the shear of the a boat a beautifully curved shape. I loosen some of the screws to the molds to allow the gunnels to seek a better curve. Knots in the gunnel strips would probably ruin the broad sweep of these curves.

[allow time for glue to set]

17:30 The second laminated strip of gunnel seems to go on easier than the first, I think because the first strip gives the shear much more rigidity than the 1/4" plywood alone.

[allow time for glue to set]

18:30 Hauled the boat out to the driveway [to help control the dust] and used my belt sander to round off the stem and to smooth up the Bondo goobers on the chines.

19:00 The wind blew the boat over which I had standing on it's side, and separates the two chine joints which were [weakly] attached by Bondo adhesion alone. I use super glue to temporarily hold the cracks back together & haul the boat back into the garage.

20:30 Pre-cut fiberglass cloth to fit the bottom panel. Mixing up about 1 pint batches at a shot, I apply the polyester resin first to the wood, unroll the cloth onto the sticky bottom [I had rolled the cloth on a paper tube for ease of handling], and then I apply resin to fill the weave of the cloth. I can tell that there is an art to applying resin to glass, and I don't qualify as an artist . Finishing the bottom which I lapped over the bottom panel-bilge panel chine, I add an extra layer of glass to this chine by running a piece of 3" tape. I move on to the side panel-bilge panel chines, applying a double layer of tape. Also to the transom joints and the stem. The strips of tape are offset slightly per Michelak's instructions. I can now tell that the boat will take more than the one [$28!] gallon of resin I had hoped to find adequate. Knowing that I would need to buy another gallon, and seeing the cutoff scraps from the bottom glass cloth on the shop floor, I decide to add a double layer of glass to the front 4 feet of bottom of the boat. I figure that this would be the first part of the boat to contact the rocks and that it could use the extra strength. The bilge and bottom panels come to narrow points at this locations and seem weak and in need of reinforcement.

[allow time for resin to set]

21:00 The next morning *most* of the resin has set, except some small patches which make me wonder if I messed up adding the catalyst, or perhaps the garage is too cold. I remove the last of the screws, take out the molds and flip the boat over with the intention of taping the inside seams. Suspiciously, I unroll the remainder of the 50 yard roll 3" glass tape I have and find that I am about 12 feet short of what I need to finish the inside in one operation. [Thinking back on my calculations I decide that I only figured the length of the longitudinal seams, and didn't add in the tape needed to do the stem and transom joints.]

22:30 The stores were closed so I move on to cutting and gluing the oars. I initially considered buying oars, but the selection where I live is limited and the oars they did had were too short, too heavy and too expensive. I notice that the boat needs some more torsional strength, but I hate those cross pieces on the plans. I scheme up a plan to cut down the plywood molds and rebuild them into plank seats, front and back in lieu of the cross braces.

23:30 Some of the resin *still* hasn't set 24 hours later, so I apply a second coat of resin [with double dose of catalyst] over the sticky patches [which solves the problem] and I vow to be more careful measuring out the catalyst . I then trim the glued up oar blanks into roughly a hexagonal cross section using my jig saw.

25:30 Smoothing of the oars first with my belt sander, then with by Ryobi random orbital sander. First I aim for a perfectly round taper to the shaft, but then I decide that this boat isn't a work of art and I compromise and accept "quick and dirty". I give them a coat of spar varnish which takes all day to dry in the cool air. I also notice that the oars aren't exactly straight, curving maybe an inch from centerline over their length.

27:00 I apply the interior tape and resin and am starting to getting the hang of it now. I learn to pull the tape along as I go to give is some tension which helps to make the tape lie flatter. Overall I think I used about 60 yards of tape and 1 and 1/2 gallons resin.

28:00 Where I had initially hoped to omit the cross braces I now decide to install them [I could always remove them later if I so chose]. I also cut and install the stem pad at the bow.

29:30 The plans call for a simply angular skeg 3/4" thick, but I expect that the skeg will take a beating and think it should be more stout. So, I laminate double layers of the 5mm luan on each side of a 3/4" blank and some Bondo. Being inspired at how easy it was to contour the oarblades yesterday, I choose to shape the skeg like a dolphin fin, for aesthetic reasons more than anything else. I mount this in a bed of Bondo putty, and then add a couple layers of fiberglass in resin to aid attachment to the boat.

32:00 Ugh, I curse the wax that floats to the surface of the polyester resin [which must be removed to allow paint to adhere] and I curse all the drips and blubbers which nearly impossible to sand off.

32:30 I apply some white Zinnser "1-2-3 Bulls Eye primer sealer stain killer" paint to the interior on the theory that this is the stickiest paint I know of *and* I know I didn't get all that wax off.

33:00 Sand the "wax" off of the fiberglass I used to connect the skeg to the bottom.

34:30 I cut a templet to match the shape of the side plank to transom "quarter knees". I check the layout several times as they need fancy beveling in order to fit the cant of the side to the transom. Using a knotted piece of 2x12, I choose wood with curved grain matching the curve of the quarter knees, which I then install in beds of Bondo.

35:30 Rip, shape and fit the 3/4" x 1 1/2" keel runner. I mix up a batch of Bondo to bed the keel. Working as quickly as I can, I try to draw the keel tight to the bottom plank by the strength of the screws screwed in from the inside. This only works for about 80% of the length of the keel before the Bondo sets up. Oh well, I guess there is no harm. I run a bead of latex caulk on each side of the keel to hid the mistake and to smooth things up.

36:30 I regret using straight marine spar varnish on the oars and the transom trim, so I mix a 1:1:1 ratio of linseed oil, turpentine and spar varnish which is much less viscous, penetrates the wood better and handles more lightly. [I learned this recipe in a woodworking magazine a few years back and use it to finish the pine furniture that I make.] Then I proceed to put white primer on the bottom side.

[Wait for paint to dry.]

37:00 Screw on the oarlocks and find my PFD, it is time for a test run! [I can't wait, she looks a bit splotchy with a single coat of primer paint and promise to apply the finish coat(s) of later.] Getting her on top of my minivan is a trick, and I drop her once due to the slipperiness of the gunnels which still have wet varnish on them. Finally I get her on and I triple tie her down. Zoom, I am off to the lake. I haul her down the ramp balanced on my head. I launch and *wow* she rows like a dream. Her length and light weight lets her accelerate nimbly and I feel smug zipping past the dock full of rental boats [which I have rented before and which row miserably.] I immediately notice and approve of the effect of the enlarged skeg, which causes the boat to track a rock solid steady course. I wonder if the 7 foot oars could be a few inches longer, though the handles just touch in the middle. I don't think the experiment to make some longer oars would be worth the while. I mark the spot on the hull to put foot cleats, and it feels squirmy to not have an anchor for my feet while sitting on a loose bucket and rowing.