Once the hull is stitched, the boat is rolled over and the breast hook and quarter knees are installed. Each is epoxied and temporarily held in place with 4 sheetrock screws placed in pre-drilled holes. When the epoxy is cured, the sheet rock screws are removed and counter sunk brass screws are installed. The holes are then plugged with wooden plugs or epoxy “peanut butter”. |
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| With the breast hook and quarter knees in place, the hull is rolled over again and all the wires are tightened. Starting along the keel, tighten the wires one at a time, checking underneath to see that the joints are all coming together. Be careful to not overtighten and cause the wires to dig into the wood. This causes lines of compression that will show as dark lines in the wood when you apply the epoxy. However, these can be sanded out. Remember, sanding is fun. You will undoubtedly break more than a few wires, so you will be up and down putting new wires in and checking joints until everything is nice and snug. |
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| After all the wires are tight, flip the boat over again. Place the boat on a level floor with a 4 1/8” block under the bow and a 4 3/8” block under the stern. With tight wires in the hull, it fits naturally into this position. Run a string from the bow to the stern. Attach the string to the bow and run it through the center of the cutout in the stern, using a weight on the end so that it hangs down. You can use this as a plumb line to line the center of the cutout with the center of the future skeg. Then lay a large level, at right angles, crossways, resting on the sides. Block things up so that everything is level from side to side and the bow and stern are straight up and down (plumb). You want the hull as true as you can get it before you install the bulkheads and the frames. |
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| Place the Aft Bulkhead 26 1/8” forward of the transom. The rear seat piece will aid you in lining things up. Clamp it to the sides, making sure the bulkhead is vertical and square. Work forward to the Aft Frame, Forward Frame and Forward bulkhead. |
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| Use the floorboards to maintain the correct distance, keeping in mind
that you need to leave enough space between the floor boards for the brass
keepers that will eventually hold the floor boards down and 2 layers of
epoxy and 5-6 layers of finish coat on each floorboard. When all the bulkheads,
frames and seats are clamped into position to your satisfaction, draw light
pencil lines around everything, including the seats, so you can tell where
to drill your holes and place your epoxy for bedding. Drill as per the CLC
Manuel and wire in place |
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