Measure twice, cut once?

Jan. 5-- More like measure ten times, still cut twice.

Surprise: the plan was right after all. The problem mold #6 was mounted too far forward, so of course it didn't fit. I'd looked at it and measured it over and over, and was ready to adjust it "by guess and by God" when I realized what I'd done. Rather than just move it, I checked the dimensions vs. the plan specs just for good measure (get it?) and found that the mold was as much as 1/4" off. The rule of thumb for the hull is a tolerance of 1/8", so I cut a new mold and sure enough, it fits like a glove. My apology to the naval architect for doubting him. I did have to make small adjustments to two other molds to get fair lines for the chine and sheer, probably because they were not cut quite right, but now I can make an accurate pattern for the sides.

Then I can begin building the hull. Everything to this point has been preparatory.

Traditional hull construction of sharpies and flat bottomed skiffs was much simpler. The builder just cut a gentle S shape into a wide plank or two and bent them around one or two frames. With an experienced eye that worked well, but there is no way to follow a design and get the hull shape as intended except by making molds as I am doing.