September - November 2012

I continued to add strips each week and to fill in all voids with thickened epoxy. When the ‘football’ got to within 8 inches of the keelson I found that I needed change the dimensions of the strips. I therefore switched to strips that were ½ inch wide and a height of ¾ inch. My rational was that I wanted the garboard planking to have a finished thickness of ½ an inch which is similar to the ½ plywood that is specified in the plans. Inserting the final strips takes careful cutting and splicing to get the tightest fit possible. All 88 of the strips were installed by October 31^st. At this point I have spent $1,298.97 and contributed 170 hours to the boat’s construction.

The weather is starting to change and it’s dark in the garage by 6 PM so my time to work on the boat is limited. Therefore I am applying thickened epoxy to all seams that show any ‘light’ and to start the leveling process of the hull. By November 12^th I have suspended work on the boat until the beginning of spring, which comes to our area in March.