Bottoms Up!

Well, with all this fiddling, you think I would put the bottom on this and get a move on.  Okay, hint taken.

Sawing out the bottom went fairly quick, though the final result came out roughly a 1/4" oversize overall.  That's not too bad, as that beats coming in under size.  I did have to wait a day to try to bind in a split in the chine (keep the knots facing in--the only knot and bang, the only split.......   I tried to put PL Premium (think an extra thick version of Gorilla Glue) into the cracked piece, cover with plastic wrap, and then clamp down with a piece of luan.  Well when I pulled the clamps, the joint lasted a whole five seconds before springing open again.  Probably should have used Titebond II.

Yeah, I thought I had this crack beat with PL Premium--5  SPROING!  Keep those knots on the inside folks. 

Well, since the split's going to be a pain, may as well put the bottom on.  Must note that this boat is gifted with "plan drift".  If you'll note, we had that bit of bother when we cut one of the sides in identical fashion.  This was resolved by cutting off the offending ends of the sides and putting longer butt plates on.  Okay, that's not bad, but what about those temporary frames than were glued in, and sank flush to the bottom of the sides......   Ahhh, that's a bit more interesting problem.

Turns out the 8 foot center portion comes within an inch of each of those frames, and of course there is no room for a traditional butt plate (as spec'd in the plans) to fit.   Gee, an inch?   Well I did have plenty of 1x2 stock and since  frames almost come down flush with the sides, what about just attaching the 1 x 2 to the frame and use that as a butt plate???  Well why not.   The items were cut and fitted (more on this), glued and screwed on and then allowed to cure a little bit.   When things were set up to my satisfaction, James (who was over since he wound up taking some glue home with him) helped me fit the bottom, starting with the bow portion.

This gives an idea of what the bottom butt plate came out to.  It is glued and screwed to the bulkhead and the bottom sheets are nailed to that (bedded in PL Premium).  Also shows to better effect the off balance cut of the side butt plates.  Oh well.

All sheets were laid on large beads of PL Premium and then nailed down with 1 inch nails.   What! no bronze nails?   Well, in the time period of building this boat, getting bronze nails (which won't rust if exposed to moisture) were a mail order item and the boat had progressed a long ways without bronze nails--so onward.  However, if I build another craft, I will go through the bother of ordering bronze nails for joinery, and copper nails for any clinched nail work (such as putting on butt plates).

We got the bottom on in very quick order (the advantage of working with two people).   Of course with the bottom laid down, without mishap, it was time to let the glue dry.   This gave the opportunity to pore over sail plans, as this will directly affect how we deal with the next major part of the boat--the mast!