One side closed

On Saturday one side was nearly closed. Aft I’ve managed with a single stealer so far, and I think one more will be needed. Forward it’s simply a matter of measuring and cutting the right width, which goes fairly quickly. As for the strips, I don’t quite come out even: the last one has to be a few millimetres narrower. No problem. Johan Verschuren is ahead of me again in the meantime; I’m in this for four or five years.

Sunday: the last strip fitted exactly. At the stern end it was precisely the right width, so I managed without a second stealer after all. The first side is closed. Now sanding. The lines will of course become a bit more flowing after sanding. I’m quite pleased with the bow, although there’s still a small kink in the curve. I’m sure I’ll sand that off.

At the end of the weekend I did a little sanding already, only with 80 and 150 grit and only at the stern. Also made a start on the other side. I marked the lines at bow and stern with my vernier callipers: place the jaw on each side and transfer exactly the line as it runs on the other side. Curious to see whether that turns out right.

Incidentally, I was two whole strips short, so I made two new ones out of four offcuts. Piet found that odd; he had about ten left over with Caldercraft. Then again, he always halves his strips before fixing them, and half strips I did still have.

Piet also warned against planking one side at a time: it can make the hull warp. I’ve kept a close eye on the hull and it is still dead straight. I secretly just wanted to have something finished this weekend. Piet couldn’t resist pointing out that ‘just wanting to get something finished’ is usually where mistakes are born.