Chine bLog

At the beginning of Howard Chapelle's seminal tome Boatbuilding, there is a 4-page introduction in which Chapelle goes through the entire building process at a 10,000' level. After talking through getting out molds, cutting the rabbet, and installing deck beams, Chapelle devotes the final paragraph to a subject that one must assume is of equal importance to the others: the "moaning chair." He writes:

In every amateur boatbuilder's shop there should be a "moaning chair"; this should be a comfortable seat from which the boat can be easily seen and in which the builder can sit, smoke, chew, drink, or swear as the moment demands.

I raise this, obviously, because I have had to spend some time in my own "moaning chair" of late, and since I don't smoke or chew and had already had my nightly beer, it was swearing that was the business of the day.

You will notice two things in this recent picture. On the good news front, I finally have attached the seats to one side panel unit and then attached the other side panel unit to the opposite sides of the seats and brought both sides together at the stem and stern post. In doing that, I should have been working with completed side panel units, chine log and sheer clamp attached. So what are those clamps doing along the sheer, you may ask? Therein lies a tale...

Voila, the seats are ready. I have been working on them at night or during glue cures, and they have come along well. Here is the middle one. The plans specify cut-outs on the ends of the seats; I added my own flavor of these cut-outs.

I have also installed both chine logs, and last night the bow and stern stems on one side. Here is my handiwork on the bevel for the chine logs meeting the stems, since I moved them inboard. It wasn't too bad to cut and my joints are close enough. I am ready to begin the process of attaching the seats to one side panel and then the other. Stay tuned...