And We Have a Mast

Of Bowsprit and Mast

While I was in Colombia, my Dad cut some nice fir from the property, shaped it, sealed it and varnished it. Here it is bolted (loosely) to the bow. Isn't it amazing looking?

He also bought a really nice, long piece of spruce for the mast -- 18 feet!  Now we begin the process of shaping it, tapering it and making it round. 

The Beauty of Neat Epoxy

This is sort of a catch-up post, from mid July, when I finished shaping and finishing the rudder and centerboard. Beautiful, especially with the different layers of plywood showing. 

Making Sawdust, Among Other Things

There are two really important pieces of the boat that we had not, until recently, constructed: one of them makes the boat go straight, and the other one makes it not. 

First is the centerboard...

I really like the pattern created by the different layers of plywood. 

And the rudder is pretty sweet, too!

Add to that almost a whole day of trying to get the centerboard's hardware in place inside the boat. 

In the final photo, you can see the pin that the centerboard pivots on, so that it can be pulled up into the cabin. If it's not straight, the centerboard won't pull up perfectly into its box. If the two sides aren't precise, the pin won't slide easily through the box (they are loose as shown; that pin goes in later).  You can see where the pin goes through the centerboard in the first photo: no, not the giant hole -- that's for lead ballast -- the tiny one in the upper right!

Fixing a Hole

While radio stations and gasoline producers seem to be constantly trying to "get the le(a)d out," boat builders are trying desperately to get it IN. 

For extra weight on the centerboard. 

Just kidding; lead is a neurotoxin. It's really caviar. 

And I'm not sure if you can tell that I put three hours of work into this today, but I did.  I like it. 

Rudder and Centerboard

We got pieces for the centerboard and rudder cut out and glued together this weekend. The curves came out pretty nicely!