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.