Build log · Phase 4, Stern and quarter galleries

The black strake and the height of the wale

2 December 2018 · How-to

Now that the whole hull has been sanded I can start on the wale. First I stuck a strip of masking tape on each side to establish the height of the black strake. That took a great deal of measuring. In the end I decided to follow the sheer of a strake on the hull that I reckoned was at roughly the right height. The height itself I worked out by looking closely at the photos in Piet’s build log and at the profile drawings. The latter seemed to be half a centimetre out, but I now think it will be fine.

Then the black strake went on both sides, a strip of 3 x 0.5 mm. The manual says another six strips of 3 x 1 mm go below it, but that doesn’t seem right. The height of the wale on the profile view is only 18 mm, which brings me to six strips in total. That is also what Piet shows in his log, so I’m sticking to that.

The black strake is held on with CA glue. Not the proper way, of course, but I couldn’t see how else to get the thing to stay put. It was nice and quick, at least. After gluing I cut in the plank butts. I kept the plank length at 6 m as per Mondfeld, which is 9.37 cm at scale.

Port side with the black strake
Port side with the black strake
Starboard side
Starboard side
Seen from the bow, the black strakes sit at the same height on both sides
Seen from the bow, the black strakes sit at the same height on both sides
Overview of the hull with the first strip of the wale
Overview of the hull with the first strip of the wale

Piet thought the first strip sat nice and tight and that the wale would turn out fine. I hope so too.