Here we go again

We start off building a new design with a clean slate. A new coat of mis-mixed bargain paint from the hardware store. It makes the shop look a lot bigger.

With the side panels already scarfed, we need to start on the bottom--since it's 53 inches wide and sixteen feet long, we have to bevel four edges at eight feet each to generate that kind of width. That's a lot of beveling, so we just do it all at once.

 That's a two inch thick, sixteen inch wide, eight foot long bevel.

While that is glueing up on the floor in the background here, we build the strong back. It is a very rigid, plumb, square, and level cage designed to hold each rib section at exactly its proper position in space. If it works, the sides and bottom will wrap on there smooth and fair, like a velvet glove. Of course this usually doesn't happen.

On go the ribs, many with their bulkheads already installed.

Everything has got to be just so.

Each rib tip must be plumbed to the section lines drawn on the floor, and anchored firmly.

And now for the big question: did we create the perfect bevels on a fair set of ribs, and did we put them all in the perfect place?

O. M. G. 

Every bevel and curve came out fair. Every one. This has never happened before.

Even that insane rolling bevel on the bow post, which twists from 45 degrees to a whopping 54. This call for a dram of whiskey.

Boats are people too.

Although it was a wicked cold day the sun was shining brightly. Which translates into power for the tools and lights. This will be our first solar-built boat. Here is today's photovoltaic production--a schematic of thirteen happy solar panels, and a blue bump of production. That should become an awesome blue bump in about six months.

Meanwhile up in Moab the Eddyline boys are creating the aluminum version. Their CAD guy fed all our numbers into the computer and spit out this cool green boat. Now all they have to do is have the laser cut out the parts. And weld it together.

And here is what happens when we get (so easily) distracted. Last evening we lofted up a wee 30% version of a Briggs boat. Maybe it can be a cradle. Or a coffee table. Or a bookshelf. Or a dog boat.