MR SANDMAN

So, I didn't goof off on boat building during the holidays entirely, but almost. It seemed like the weekends that were nice I had something to do and the weekends I could have done some work were cold and/or rainy. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. 

I made a few of the small but important parts.  They include the gussets that will connect the sides to the stem, the mast box, the joiners for the sides (since I couldn't find a piece of plywood that is fourteen feet long) and the stringers and gussets for the transom and lazarette.

Important Parts

My son TJ stopped by the day I was cutting some of these. That was good because he helped me figure out the compound cuts that had to be made and then flipped around for the opposing side. It could get a little confusing. I asked him if he would like to run the saw but he declined. He said that he didn't want to be responsible for the part that breaks and sinks my boat. Geeest! I guess I'll have to take all the blame myself then. My plan is to keep all the water on the outside of the boat. Wait, if any of these parts fail I'm sure it would be because they were cut at the wrong angle. Yeah, that's the ticket! I sure hope TJ had those angles right!!

Since I knew that I wouldn't get back to the boat for a bit I figured it would be good to "train" my lazarette to bend like it needs to. I used one of the ratchet tie downs from my truck and clamped the stringer to the top for good measure.

Lazarette Class

When I got back to boat building I started with the bow gussets.

Bow Gusset

Then came the mast box. 

Mast Box

 Finally, I attached the lazarette.

Lazarette

Quite a Bend

Ok, so you know how whenever you see someone on TV or in the movies who is building a boat they always seem to be sanding it? Well that's the part I'm starting to get into... removing wood  a few dust particles at a time. Also, remember how I told you that the epoxy is toxic? Not only do you not want it on your skin but it would not be a good thing to breath it in. This looks like a job for..................look, over near the cooler, able to yank splitters out with his teeth, more fierce than a belt sander. It's a martian. It's a alcoholic (well maybe just a little). NO! It's.................SANDMAN!! 

MR SANDMAN

Is that a snazzy outfit or what?

I Didn't Even Get Seasick

Here is a short video of one of the designers of the boat I'm building, Mike Stevenson, sailing the Skipjack on Tomales Bay just north of San Fransisco. It's good to see the designer actively sailing the boat I'm building. It was a cold and rainy day with a stiff wind. He said that he only got knocked down twice! It'll be awhile before I will be sailing in these conditions. This gives you a good idea of what it'll be like when I'm done boat building and start sailing.