One job I’ve completed is the off-centerboard pin. The trunk makes up the starboard side seat front so it’s out of the way for sleeping on the centerline. The pin is below the waterline and inaccessible one one side and awkward to get to on the other, so I’m trying to pay particular attention to make it watertight and rot proof. The inboard side has a plywood cap epoxied on inside the ballast tank while the outboard side has a removable cover so the pin can be removed. I made the cover from 1/4″ GPO-3 . The spot for the pin itself is epoxy thickened with 404.

I could have drilled and tapped the oversize holes, but it would be difficult to do and I likely wouldn’t have drilled the holes perfectly straight. So I made some GPO-3 threaded bushings and glued them in. I covered the cover plate and plywood with packing tape so I’d be able to get them off again.

Then I glued it in place. The bushings were about 1/16″ long so after it cured I removed the cover plate and sanded everything down flush.

Next I put the cover plate in my lathe and turned a groove for the 4200 to form a bit of a gasket. I also heavily countersunk the holes so they’d have plenty of sealant too. A notch at the 12 o’clock position provides an alignment reference, although I laid the holes out pretty accurately so it might fit in any orientation.

Next I needed a centerboard pin. I’ve had a 1″ diameter bar of titanium floating around after I machined my wife’s engagement and our wedding rings from it. I haven’t thought of anything better to do with it in nearly a decade so I made the pin out of what was left. I don’t recommend parting with the tailstock, but I forgot to take a picture until after I’d already cut it off. So I just stuck it back in place for the photo.

Next I drilled a 15/16″ hole and reamed it out to accept the pin with an adjustable reamer. There’s a 3/8-16 hole so I can get a bolt on it to pull it out when I need to remove the board. The starboard seat insides are finally done and ready for epoxy and paint. I still haven’t decided what paint to use though!

Not being the biggest fan of rowing, my buddy and I tried to set a Universal 5432 engine into the boat to see how it’d fit. It looks like it’ll be a little large, but the V drive should help with the angle.

Finally working on the last pair of planks. After dry fitting I primed everything with straight epoxy so the wood won’t absorb the resin out of the 403 microfibers.

Then I slather on the thickened epoxy with a notched spreader and use my two hanging strings and work platforms to support the plank. It’s been difficult hanging planks alone, but it all works out. I don’t generally take pictures during this step since my hands are gooey but I figured I’d take a few since this is the last set.

Then I come back and drive all the screws in, clean up the squeeze out, and make nice fillets at all the interior joints. It takes about 2.5 hours to install a plank and about 12oz of epoxy.

Planking is finally finished! Finishing the inside is going to be more difficult, but my wife has been out of town and I figure it’s a better use of the larger chunks of time I have. Between now and Christmas we’ll be non stop hauling boats out for the winter so I won’t have much time at all to work on it.

Next I installed the rudder hardware and made a mockup of the rudder head. I plan to weld it up from aluminum so it will all be one thing instead of building it up from plywood and bolting on the horizontal top that the push/pull rods from the tiller attach to.

Up forward I epoxied a doubler and some 5/8″ fiberglass pipe through the hull that will take a drain line from the mast box. I think the plans call for running it aft through the bulkhead and into the cockpit area, but I figure this will be tidier.

Then I put a big fillet between the bottom and lowest plank, two staggered layers of 12ox fiberglass tape, and then 6oz fiberglass cloth on the inside of the hull.

Here’s the port seat front installed and the top dry fit. The centerboard case makes up the front of the starboard seat.

It seemed like the centerboard case was the next logical thing to make, so I started on that. The edges are white oak and it was a lot of fun fitting everything together.

I wanted to help lock the frames in a little better before cutting the centerboard slot so I put on the next set of stringers. Here I’m scarfing the last foot or so on. The centerboard case is also finished on the inside and glued together. Two paint sticks taped together with a suitable radius worked ok for putting a fillet up inside.

Speaking of finish, I’ve been thinking about how to finish the plywood and especially the parts that will be impossible to get to like the inside of the centerboard case and the water ballast tank. I want this boat to be pretty bombproof so I decided on three coats of epoxy and two coats of Pettit Protect barrier coat. I put a single coat on a sample of plywood and buried it along with a control in the mulch of my wife’s flower bed. After a few months the control was soggy and starting to get soft while the other felt as light as ever and I didn’t see any signs of cracks or swelling. I’ll let them continue to marinate and see what they’re like in a few more months.

Next I cut out the slot for the centerboard case. It gets filleted and tabbed into the hull. I was pretty anxious and procrastinated a lot on my first boat before cutting the slot, but on this time I just measured and went at it with the oscillating saw.

Here’s the case dry fit. I also scribed the seat top to the curve of the stringer and added a 3/8″ doubler around the edge.

Once the case was installed I made a cardboard pattern for the next plank.

Then I scarfed up a 24′ long sheet of plywood and cut out two planks.

And here they are dry fit. I’m enjoying the height and angle of this plank since I could do all the drilling and screwing while sitting in an old rolling office chair.

And here’s the stringer beveling setup in action. It works really well and so far I’ve been able to avoid hitting any of the screws.