A Royal pain in the Chine

     Sort of bogged down.  Getting the chine logs (which provide for mechanical connection between the side and floor of the hull) warped to fit at the bottom the hull is, well, not fun.   Here is where haste to get materials will backfire.  The Teal is a 12 foot boat, but the chines and gunwale (top chord rails to us landlubbers) are going to be far longer than that.  When poking about Home Depot, I wound up getting 14 foot stock, which was barely adequate for the chines, but too darned short for the gunwales.  Well, I tried with miserable results to scarf and additional bit onto the gunwales, but the first attempt did not pan out.   I have found another source, but it would have been better to develop a Bill of Materials before I got started.

     Also found what an utter joy (did I say joy, I'm sorry, that's not the word) of pulling the chine up to the stem and trying to hold it there to run a screw in.  The book says to use a Spanish windlass, but the pieces don't more very well, and there is a slight other issue getting in the way.  Hmmmm?  Well, I varied from the plans (oh, old timers, quit snickering) as I wanted the chines to be more than just cut off on the end, you know, something rounded or such.    Fine, but you have to cut the end off first and then lose your handle (if your Spanish windlass doesn't work) to have a helper reef the chine over.

One little departure from plans can create much more fun than desired.  In this case I wanted the chines and gunwales to come together at the front, either as a point or a rounded point.   That is a very hard compound curve to cut out, and I failed miserably (both times).  I can always go back and fill the slot, or do what's in the original build and  cut them off square at the end of the hull.

This is the stern end.  You'll notice I had no fun pulling the chines over to the stem and getting them to stay put.  When you secure this, use a LONG screw, as you need to secure into the stem or the chine will just tear the luan right off the stem and you will not be happy.  The bolt through the end will substitute for the non-existent Spanish Windlass as I will drown the joint in Titebond II and then draw up the bolt, and then leave the mess for a few days and hope it sets up tight.  We'll see.




     In retrospect, I can think of a couple solutions to this issue, but of course I didn't think of those at the time, so I got a good pile of stuff from the cussword box and let at it.   No, that doesn't yield better results but.......