Monday was a planking day. Planking days are nice- not only do you see a lot of progress in a short time, but the work is pleasant: all hand tools, careful and quiet movements, cedar shavings making things smell nice, and a pot of water simmering on the wood stove to help coax the tight bends and twists at the turn of the bilge.  By the time the planking is done, there will be two and a half pounds of copper tacks (around 1800) clinching the planks to the ribs.  The metal bands on the form bend the tacks over and back into the ribs as they are hammered in.

    

Monday morning                              Monday afternoon

Tuesday, I helped Aaron and Ellie at the farm next door.  We are building a walk-in veggie cooler for the Teen Ag Crew.

Wednesday, I was off to Belfast for the spring Small Passenger Vessel meeting with the coast guard.  Hopefully keeping the launch staffed and running won’t take up as much of my time this summer as it did last.

I finally got back to planking on Thursday, getting so far along that I was able to remove the hull from the form.  This is always a bit nerve-wracking.  The boat is so fragile at this stage.

A quick hour on Friday morning and the yoke and quarter thwarts were in and the rib tops trimmed.  This really stabilizes things.

Next week- stems, decks, deck thwarts, seats and the rest of the planking.