Deck the hulls

I wasn't really going to spend the whole day in the shop but it sucked me in. Again. I faired out the gunwales with the belt sander, fixed one wacky deck beam that we somehow made an inch too high, and just, in general, stared at the boat, trying to figure out the next moves. There are a few things we just can't help doing to Norman's original design. Like the floor ribs have these plywood flanges on either side that turn the top of the rib into little swimming pools for rot microbes. We put in some drains so the poor microbes will have to find another place to party.

Greg came by wanting to lend a hand. I gave him the sander and he sanded. And sanded.

And sanded. Moe's entire guts are all smooth and lovely now. Thanks Greg!

Meanwhile I mortised in the deck beams. Oh, the joy of having a set of really sharp chisels. I spent most of my life thinking chisels were those blunt things that you pound through nails and wreck otherwise nice looking cuts with. No, they can be lovely tools.

 

And there we have the deck framing.

Now I have to frame in four strange triangular bulkheads that fill up a bunch of the voluminous cockpit.   Then the decks, seat, oarlocks and hatch lids. And some more paint.