Up past the gunports

The second planking is progressing steadily, with the emphasis on steadily. One or two strakes in an evening is the maximum. Ah well, we’ll get there in the end.

Piet gave a tip for later: cover the joint between the plywood bulwark and the hull planking with a full width of the second planking, so that you don’t get two seams on top of each other. Two seams in the same place make a weak spot in the construction. That means a little forward planning, so that the transition falls exactly halfway across a plank. A good tip, because that bulwark is anything but sturdy as yet.

A weekend later the first side is closed up past the gunports. Although I really do try to do it as neatly as possible, the photo always shows up imperfections. In real life, fortunately, it’s all much less noticeable.

I repainted all the ports after planking, because the paint does get damaged now and then while fitting the planks. As a result I haven’t really sanded properly yet, wet paint and all that.

From the next strake on I’m putting Piet’s tip into practice. It was quite a puzzle to come out exactly at the halfway point, but it worked, and the bulwark already feels a good deal sturdier.

Piet let me know today that he won’t be completing his Diana build log here with the missing photos, but is writing up the build process on his own website instead, including a separate album on the rigging. I had already taken a look at his new site. It’s very good news that he’s going to cover the rigging, because that’s something I’m still rather dreading.