The Wooden Boat

2-18-13

It looks like a boat and I can see the end. This week brought more sanding but it was at least interesting as it involved shaping. Most of this was on the bow. There was a lot of epoxy between the side and gunnels so I sanded and shaped it down as well as the top of the bow. It really turned out well. I had to fill in some pits here and there but it looks good. I then sanded down the rest of the gunnels and worked on the stern. Once the boat was flipped right side up and I sanded the corners of the chines and the ribs a little more. These areas are still a little rougher than I would like but I’m done with them. I also built up some epoxy in the back because the walls did not line up with the gunnels very well. So once that was built up I sanded it down to match the walls and the gunnels.

After the sanding and shaping was over Dad and I worked on making the benches. He went and bought some really nice red oak some of it was almost twelve inches wide. All of it was almost an inch thick. So this stuff is sturdy and will certainly hold me and a few of my friends. All of them turned out to be varying widths which is a little odd but gives it some character. We are also going to make an attachment that has a nice padded seat with a high back to use when I’m rowing. The plan is also to cut out some platforms to go on top of the seats to use to cast from. I need to get some paper to make a template so that we don’t mess up the nice piece of quarter inch birch plywood we will use for the deck. Next week I’ll be sanding some more and I think I might actually start painting. We will also work on the oarlocks. I hope to have it done by mid-march and certainly by the end of March.