Upper deck pinned down, balsa for the first time

The upper deck is only pinned down for now, because the first plank of the hull has to run exactly along the deck. What strikes me is that at the aft end the deck doesn’t meet the inner bulwark. On reflection I don’t think that’s correct, but you’ll really never see it again, so for now I’m leaving it. Jaques remarked that I could still raise the inner bulwark to the level of the top of the bulkheads, so that the deck does meet it. He’s right about that. Piet reassured me: it makes no difference, it will completely disappear under the hull planking later. That’s one thing less.

Then, for the first time in my life, to work with balsa, to prepare for the planking. I started with the bow. Nice work, though a lot of mess.

Piet definitely approved: this way you create a lot of gluing surface for the planking. He did warn that the balsa must not sit too deep relative to the bulkheads. Here and there in the photos he saw a bulkhead standing proud a fraction, and that gives subtle kinks in the planking. I think it’s fine here, because it’s only the edge and elsewhere the balsa runs flush with the bulkhead. I keep testing with a strip to see that there’s no gap. I did notice late last night that the starboard side still has a slightly too fat belly. A fraction more can come off there.