Goodby Dave Boat #3, Hello Dave Boat #4

I returned boat number 3 yesterday and we finally got Dave boat number 4 to my house and I'm figuring out what all needs to be done and in what order. The hull is still on the building jig and I'll leave it there until I get the fiberglass on the outside of the hull. Before then I've got a bit of work to do one the hull.

The first thing will be to make the outer stems which are in effect, the bumpers of the boat. The inner stems are in the boat, they are what the planking strips fasten to on the ends of the boat. I've got to make the outer stems which I'll do with laminated strips of oak. I've cut the pieces and am soaking them in water to soften the fibers before I steam and bend to shape. When I've them made I'll glue and screw them to the inner stems and cut them to match the shape of the hull.

You can see in the picture that Dave had made a full length deck top and coaming skirt which will be joined with the hull after the hull is fiberglassed. For several reasons we're not going to use the whole deck. I'll cut part of the deck out and make the boat more of a canoe and less of a kayak.