Hull nearly completed

(Once again, our fantastic system for emails managed to destroy my original email message, breaking it into pieces and unable to put it together again. Here's the text that was supposed to accompany those last 4 pix.)

I ended up working through the weekend this week. So I treated myself to a day off today (Monday) with the aim of playing with the kids and working on Shan Skailyn.

I thought the cutting and installation of the seats was going to be quicker. But that's about all I completed today. Still good though. Another great step toward getting her done. I also installed the filler strip over the gunwales to bring everything level with the seats. Once the epoxy is cured I'll use the router to clean up the edges (I glued everything slightly oversized) and sand it down.

For the strip over the gunwales I chose to go with a hardwood, thinking it would eventually save on wear and tear over the other option which would have been to use scraps of the 1/4" plywood that is left over. Also, when it comes to lashing the iakos over the gunwale when set up as a 16 footer, I would imagine I'll be happy it's all hardwood there. I noticed on Gary's boat that he has little metal covers over that area, I would imagine for the same reason.

Also, maybe I'm just a dunce and couldn't figure it out from the plans, but the three seats that Gary's plans show on the plywood cut outs don't seem like enough to take care of the needs of the 24' version he shows in the drawings. So what I opted for was to take the foremost seat (the one the mast passes through) as well as the aft most seat and make them out of some 3/4" ply I had sitting around. I dado'd the edges so they are recessed down and are level with the rest of the seats at 1/4" above the gunwale. I would imagine this setup is going to work quite well, though I'm sure I am paying a bit more price in weight.

Speaking of weight, I can't wait to see how much the entire hull weighs. Probably need to wait until it's all glassed and painted first. But knowing me, I probably won't be able to wait that long. Will weigh them soon I'm sure.

One more little tidbit that might be helpful for any other boatbuilders-to-be out there. If you're planning on using the bronze ring shank nails, you'll want about 900 of them just to be sure. I've kept running out because I shorted myself early on. By the time I'm all done, I'll probably have used at least 700. But I wish I'd put twice as many in certain areas along the chine and gunwales. I think I over-skimped there putting a paltry 1 nail per foot... sorry, I can't remember what all I ordered or I'd have a more accurate number.