Starting on the inside- fitting the keelson

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Wednesday, March 24:  Yesterday I pulled the hull off the molds with the help of two friends and turned her over.  Turns out, the shell of the hull is still very light, so it was no job at all. It was a particular pleasure to see the boat right side up for the first time.  I had other obligations, so I got nothing further done that day.

Today I started work on the inside.  The first order of business is to make and fit the keelson.  I gave the inside a light sanding and carefully marked the centerline.  The bottom is in three pieces, joined by butt straps inside, so I needed to cut away the butt straps where the keelson lies.  Either that or notch the keelson, which would have weakened it.  Cutting the butt straps was awkward, and I made a messy job of it.  Epoxy will hide the poor work.  Then I pulled out my last remaining whole 2x6x16 clear fir board from its home inside the house, and fashioned it into the keelson.  I traced on paper the shape the forward end makes, a chopped-off V, and transferred that to a cutoff piece of 1x6 to make a pattern, adding the flare out and forward to meet the chine logs and the stem. The pattern fit into the boat, so I knew I had the shape right, and duplicated it on the forward end of the keelson piece.  Then I measured the angle the bottom makes with the transom and set the miter saw to that angle.  I gradually cut down the aft end of the keelson piece until, when I pushed down on the keelson to spring it into place, the length was just right.

I unfastened the molds from the strongback and set them aside.  The molds will help hold the hull in the right shape until all the inside structure is build.  I intended to also disassemble the strongback so I would have more room to work.  But I quickly discovered it makes a fine work table; I will leave the strongback up for now at least.

Tomorrown, weather permitting, I will epoxy and screw the keelson in place.  Before I do that, I will notch a couple of molds for the keelson and clamp them in place to hold the hull in the right shape.  I may even over-spring the keelson a bit, so that the lamination of the keelson, bottom and gripe together form a strong piece which will hold its curve and not try to straighten out.  The hull will be stronger if the keel assembly is rigid and not stressing the rest of the hull.