I am sorry that I have not updated you…its been a tough year and I hope to get moving again. I wanted to let all of you know “where” I have been since my last update—which as of today was 298 days ago!!! Last January! Its crazy to think that I passed my 5 year LJ anniversary and I missed it completely!

I have let a few LJ’s know that our life has changed immensely…I am no longer in Napa…but 500 miles to the south…Last fall we (near this time last year) we found out my mom had early stages of Alzheimers…this was not a complete surprise…but it triggered something in me…living 500 miles from where I grew up made it hard to be a good family member so I asked my wife what she thought about us leaving our home and jobs to move to southern California. She said: “I was wondering when you would ask me!” So we proposed to our family to move in with my mom if we could both find good teaching jobs.

Its not easy for anyone to walk away from TWO good jobs in this economy—but in teaching its a real no-no with the loss of tenure and seniority…its a huge risk for our entire future and this weighs on me more then anything. In fact in one interview I was called to the carpet on this—”why would you leave tenure/seniority in these economic times?” Because no one does it—it really effects mobility in our profession once you have worked a few years you are really stuck…

As the spring progressed we got pretty stressed—being parents, full time teachers, and homeowners—-and now another full time job (or so it felt) looking for jobs 500 miles away and getting our house ready to rent out meant there was no time for building…

The good news…My wife Sarah was able to find a great job…the bad news is that I was not…which has really weighed on me…I have some bad days…and more often as time passes so good days over not working. In the end it means that I get more time to spend with my mom, volunteer in my kids’ school, support my wife in ways I have never done (since I worked waaaaay tooo many hours). We decided that we could make it on one salary if we were super careful and rented out our house in Napa…(cant sell it now). So as long as we have a renter we will be okay…which we do for now—-but not in a full year lease…so we are holding our breath…

We have now been down here for about two months…I had some good interviews, but with school having started a month ago it looks like I am out of my profession until next year…so my worry will be—how will future interviews go with a hole in my resume…

My new focus—-on the good days I am proud to hang with my mom…and now that things are settling down a bit I hope to get back to woodworking…and work on the boats…I was able to bring all my tools and BOTH sail boats…and I am itching to get back to building.

My plan is to weave in house projects (which I have already worked on and completed some) and boat building…I am super anxious to FINISH the PDR-Puddle Duck Racer first since I think I can do once I start up full time again relatively soon…and then get going on the Weekender again…not to mention—-I started building the PDR so that I could learn to SAIL while I finish the Weekender…lol…Newport Harbor and the Back Bay should be great places to sail both boats…

Thanks for your patience…and encouragement…which has come in personal messages from many of you…

Matt

I am sorry that I have not updated you…its been a tough year and I hope to get moving again. I wanted to let all of you know “where” I have been since my last update—which as of today was 298 days ago!!! Last January! Its crazy to think that I passed my 5 year LJ anniversary and I missed it completely!

I have let a few LJ’s know that our life has changed immensely…I am no longer in Napa…but 500 miles to the south…Last fall we (near this time last year) we found out my mom had early stages of Alzheimers…this was not a complete surprise…but it triggered something in me…living 500 miles from where I grew up made it hard to be a good family member so I asked my wife what she thought about us leaving our home and jobs to move to southern California. She said: “I was wondering when you would ask me!” So we proposed to our family to move in with my mom if we could both find good teaching jobs.

Its not easy for anyone to walk away from TWO good jobs in this economy—but in teaching its a real no-no with the loss of tenure and seniority…its a huge risk for our entire future and this weighs on me more then anything. In fact in one interview I was called to the carpet on this—”why would you leave tenure/seniority in these economic times?” Because no one does it—it really effects mobility in our profession once you have worked a few years you are really stuck…

As the spring progressed we got pretty stressed—being parents, full time teachers, and homeowners—-and now another full time job (or so it felt) looking for jobs 500 miles away and getting our house ready to rent out meant there was no time for building…

The good news…My wife Sarah was able to find a great job…the bad news is that I was not…which has really weighed on me…I have some bad days…and more often as time passes so good days over not working. In the end it means that I get more time to spend with my mom, volunteer in my kids’ school, support my wife in ways I have never done (since I worked waaaaay tooo many hours). We decided that we could make it on one salary if we were super careful and rented out our house in Napa…(cant sell it now). So as long as we have a renter we will be okay…which we do for now—-but not in a full year lease…so we are holding our breath…

We have now been down here for about two months…I had some good interviews, but with school having started a month ago it looks like I am out of my profession until next year…so my worry will be—how will future interviews go with a hole in my resume…

My new focus—-on the good days I am proud to hang with my mom…and now that things are settling down a bit I hope to get back to woodworking…and work on the boats…I was able to bring all my tools and BOTH sail boats…and I am itching to get back to building.

My plan is to weave in house projects (which I have already worked on and completed some) and boat building…I am super anxious to FINISH the PDR-Puddle Duck Racer first since I think I can do once I start up full time again relatively soon…and then get going on the Weekender again…not to mention—-I started building the PDR so that I could learn to SAIL while I finish the Weekender…lol…Newport Harbor and the Back Bay should be great places to sail both boats…

Thanks for your patience…and encouragement…which has come in personal messages from many of you…

Matt

By 2012 it was so huge for its spot that it had outgrown its safety—-at some point someone had topped the tree years back…so the top 1/3 had these huge branches—-trees themselves really growing off the side of the tree which was waaaaaay too narrow to support itself.

There have been times when branches would fall…no big deal in a forest…but above a city sidewalk, driveway and two houses (including my neighbors master bedroom) it had become too dangerous. One branch could easily kill a person…if the top third cracked in a storm it would take out houses…and if the whole thing went at least half the block would be wiped out…

So we called around to the tree companies…and then I remembered that the former VHS Woodworking teacher had bought a portable mill a few years back…we had not talked in at least a year so I was not sure if he was still milling…he knew some reputable companies that would work with him to bring down the tree and then we could mill some of the logs…

The day it came down was a huge neighborhood event…they limbed the first 50 feet with a bucket truck…and then a huge crane arrived…and they brought down the top two sections with the limbs and limbed them on the ground. It was amazing to watch the crew…they were very safe—-and the best deal out of all the others—-so my “miller” steve helped get me a super good deal.

The best part—-was the tremendous relief I felt when they lifted the lowest 60 feet to the ground in one section on the crane…the core of the tree had a lot of rot—-so all the dangers mentioned above were nothing compared to what we could not see!!! The crane operator said he had not taken down a tree this big with this much rot…so I was so thankful that it was all down safely…

The pict below with the crane driver and the climber making plans shows how big (using them as a reference) the base of the tree was.

With the lowest 60 feet on the ground the crane operator said this section (with no limbs) weight 19,400 pounds!!!

Notice the rot in the pict above——and the rot went all the way through the first section and into the second section for a couple feet…see below…

On the ground they broke the tree up into 4 sections…two we trailored and two the crane lifted over electrical wires, my house and onto my driveway where we then set up the portable mill…

Here is the first log being milled…after this I joined steve on the right side of the mill and pushed for 2.5 days…so not a lot of picts…

Here are the results…MOVE OVER BOAT BUILDS…had to make room in the boat tent…

We cut my 20 foot slabs because they were too big and heavy for me to handle on their own into 12.7 foot “benches” and the wider/shorter ends were still 6 feet long…I am thinking LOVE SEAT for the back yard…so I have 4 slabs in the two sizes (8 slabs)...

And now…my house without my friend…my tree…I am sad but happy everyone is safe and I got some wood out of it…

Sidetracked is my new boats name—-since this little boat has sidetracked me from my bigger sail boat build (Weekender Sailboat).

Since my last update I have only had weekends—-but other then traveling last weekend I have worked at least a little bit on the boat (s) each weekend…little things…LOTS of filling and sanding…

Today I “applied” for the hull registration number on the pdracer.com website and ordered my HIN plate (hull identification number). Pretty exciting!

I worked a lot on the PDR this weekend..my goal was to get her ready for two things—-fiber glass on the bottom and sails…I got close…

I filled all the screw holes and smoothed them last week…and then started on covering the airboxes (decks) and bow…I also cut out the airboxes to fit in the deck plates…

Still to come—-spars, glass bottom, mast step and sails…PAINT…my goal will be to do some fairing (smoothing) the boat bottom during the week so that I can glass the boat bottom next weekend…

Above the decks are fit but not trimmed…below shows them all nice and trim…

The pdr.com website has a nice section on it…but basically gives ideas for many…

The plans I am following call for a sunfish sail set…making the spars and rig…

I am leaning to following the plans…just because I will have all the details to follow…even though the pdr website describes many options—-there are no “exact” instructions…

SORRY no new photos….but I can tell you since my last Weekender (my other sail boat build) blog I have worked nearly every weekend on one or both boats even if a little bit…and I am making progress…which is why I am getting ready to think about rigs…

So here is what I have done on the pdr: lots of sanding and hole filling, air box divider, air box deck plate holes cut and perected (dry fit deck plates), clear epoxy inside air boxes…cut deck pieces, stern and bow pieces.

NEXT UP: glassing bottom, mast step, mast (and spars), deck plate final glue in, deck, stern and bow…make sail, PAINT…BAM…some of these jobs will take 20 minutes…some longer…so I think I will get pretty far with a three day weekend coming up…

STAY TUNED…PHOTOS coming…

For those of you following my new little PDR Sailboat build the weekender is actually the boat I started with…got pretty far this past summer…and then BAM…life started again as summer ended and I did nothing on the boat until this week…in the mean time I started building another little sailboat that I will finish soon…so that I can get out sailing while I finish this boat—-but that is all a side note now…You can check out that blog here.

At Thanksgiving my father in law said he would like to come help me on the Weekender when they came to visit this week for Christmas…and I was so relieved because this step we took yesterday I could not have done on my own…

Ted is not a boat builder—-but he is a master builder (houses and furniture) ...and his patient thought process and good questions helped us get through the build…all I know is what the plans (and dvd with the plans) say…so combining that with his building knowledge got us through these steps…

Before yesterday the boat looked like this…the boat bottom had been glued and screwed onto the keel last summer…and then we added the transom.

From the above pictures the boat sat for 3 months as school started (the first 12 weeks are always the hardest) and soccer games took up most saturdays…by the end of the day we added the deck, forward bulkhead, cabin bulkhead (not to mention the many support pieces we had to do first…).

Some of the shots below actually look like Blog #18—-DRY FIT #2…but this time i assure you the boat is glued and screwed. We did leave the clamps on the stern deck/transom overnight because of the extreme bend on the transom…but I will take them off today…

Below is the overall boat…with all the CENTER LINES lined up perfectly. It was really good having Ted on this part…we discussed ways to determine the location of the cabin bulkhead which needs to be 65 inches from the transom…after discussing different ways he suggested we set up a dry line to help us get the distance and angle right…

We fit the deck on first…and then the forward bulkhead…

Next was determining placement and putting in the forward bulkhead, below:

I like these shots…

Next up we will put in the Lazerette…which may need to be re-made to fit the existing boat…I have some questions on how to do this…and will need to do some research…the Weekender Plans come with a great set of DVD’s but for whatever reason not much is mentioned or shown on the placement of this piece.

Thanks for looking…MERRY CHRISTMAS…

But today—-I finished off the hull by putting on the bow and transom pieces (boat ends). Seemed to take me forever but its done…and now once the epoxy firms up I will start working inside the boat…with only one more week of school….WOOT I cant wait!

This is the finished shot…you can see my other sail boat build in the back…

This last shot is a bonus shot for my brother to remind him that Santa Claus IS coming to town soon…

Next steps: trim the bow, trim a few other spots…cut port holes in the air boxes, add the bench and deck pieces…then the lots of sanding…and add the mast “box”...actually before I close in the air boxes I will seal them and maybe paint them…

Do i need to paint INSIDE the airboxes? Or just coat in clear epoxy?

Okay…gotta go…let me know what you think…by the way—-she is looking like a tank…

Matt

So here it is…THE BOTTOM is glued and screwed…and went pretty well…Sarah helped me which made it all possible…

First I had to let the bottom bend over night…the ends had the toughest time flexing all the way down…so I was a bit worried the bow end would not go down…

Then I realized that if we set a bunch of clamps closed…and then screwed it down.,..we could just keep moving the clamps and that’s what we did…and it worked pretty well…

(A) Here is the boat after a night of the bottom ply (3/8”) being clamped down…

(B) You can see that the bow would be hard to clamp with the angle the clamps (we ended up doing it last with the stern and sides all screw down…then SARAH the hero sat on it…since she is so light I had to also stick my knee down.

(C) Before taking the clamps off I drew the lines on…so that I would know where to screw along the inner panels. The outside panels would be no problem…it worked well since I could not see any screws poking through…

(D) And there she is…all screwed down…with epoxy…we had good squeeze out (not too much and not too little) outside and inside so I am pleased…NOTICE the extra ply along the bow edge—this will be trimmed back to allow for the bow panel after the epoxy sets…

(E) This is looking underneath the boat—-it looks like it sealed really well…and inside one of the airboxes…its amazing how firm she feels after the bottom was on…AND YES PAUL—-I went along the outside edge to scrap off the extra epoxy.I didn’t climb underneath to do the inside though…

Well…that is it for a couple days as we head out of town…but in three weeks I have come pretty far…and looking forward to finishing the hull this weekend…who knows…by the following weekend I may have a finished boat!!!

(A)The first step to going three d was the framing pieces that connect the panels. The first piece I made did not work…I was going to put this piece in…and then another two small spacers (one in each air box). I quickly realized two things. One…how the heck would I screw in the spacers with the other pieces in…but more importantly I wanted a stiffer piece to go all the way across…

(B) Here is the 2×4 piece that goes all the way across and I like a lot better. (Notice the transom of the BIG sail boat in the back ground).

(C) I did this in the back too…one piece that goes all the way across…

(D) I had to patch a little spot…used this scrap that I trimmed and sanded flush this morning.

(E) I added more spacer blocks to stiffen up the panels…

This morning I trimmed and sanded down all the edges…and then we laid the 3/8 bottom panel on…the plans call for using 1/4” but in the research many builders went with a thicker panel on the bottom and I thought I should too….

Because it was thicker it needed time to bend and flex…so it is not sitting over night all clamped on…and tomorrow morning we will try to glue it on…then I will have a HULL in THREE WEEKS…it will stiffen up over Thanksgiving and I will flip it over on Saturday…I will add a picture tomorrow if we are successful with the boat bottom….

Since the sheets are only 1/4” you need a wider edge in order to attach the boat bottom, and decks…

In photo (A): you can see the first panel with I did after school one day before the weather got wet a few weeks ago…the leading edge the panel is where the bow or front of the boat will attach…

In photo (B): once I had the first panel done I decided to cut all the pieces for the next three pieces all together…which was much faster…you can see the stacks of pieces together…I glued one up a day over the next week…

In photo©: with panels 2-4 I used straight pieces which I then just trimmed the over hang with the circular saw.

Photo (D): then I stacked the panels together again (now with all stringers) and faired the edges again.

Photo (E): I cut out a notch for the stern cross piece…I may change this once the boat is flipped by making it wider…the cross/supports on the boat bottom are with 2X4 material and are much stiffer…

Photo (F): With four completed panels I was feeling good…so I made some spacer blocks and clamped up the panels. PLEASE NOTE—-the area I am sitting is NOT the width of the cockpit…its much wider.

Photo (G): Now I wanted to feel the actual boat size…so I put the cross piece in and attached the “bow” and “stern” panels on with clamps——this is the boat UPSIDE DOWN…

Next up…GOING 3D in WEEK 3….

See the blog…lots of pictures…

By the end of tomorrow I WILL HAVE A COMPLETED HULL…!! In three weeks! I am still not there on my weekender…

Here is the link:

http://lumberjocks.com/matt1970/blog/26609

HAVING FUN…and I WILL GET BACK to the Weekender…

A few weeks ago I made a big decision…to put my Weekender Sailboat (see blog on 1st sail boat here: http://lumberjocks.com/matt1970/blog/14831 ) on TEMPORARY HIATUS to build a PDR. My Weekender build has gone well overall considering that I have never built a boat…and I am learning a lot…but I find myself going on and off the build for months at a time. This summer I got a lot done…but then once again the coming of school put me on hold with all the duties of teaching consuming me…with the time off it got me back to thinking how badly I just wanted to get out and sail.

Over the summer I met a gentleman who was getting ready to launch a little sailboat he built himself…we talked for quite a while and he said that his little boat was his 15th boat and how he loved staying small so that he could get out on the water quick and easy. I was excited by his enthusiasm…and the knowledge of the Stevenson Weekender being known for an easy build for beginners (within reason) and easy to launch quickly…

But watching him launch his little boat and seeing him scoot across the water on the Napa River which is 5 minutes from my house got me thinking about how it would be nice to be able to sail sooner…and with a tiny boat to be able to run right over and launch right after work…also the napa river is perfect for this size boat…where as my Weekender I would have to go down closer to Vallejo to be able to sail comfortably…or further during my learning phase to a lake…

So as school started and I wasn’t finding the time to build…i was finding the time to look around on the internet…I found the PDRACER.com site…and just like when I found the Stevenson website a couple years ago I started looking at builder photo after photo…this site really did talk about a 2 week build…

Well it has been a couple weeks…and I am really enjoying the build…with a small boat the progress is HUGE…and with all I have learned on the Weekender I am putting to good use on the PDR. Tonight I clamped down the boat bottom—-so that the ply can bend…and tomorrow I will officially glue it down—-so I will have a completed hull in 3 weeks…and I may be able to row this thing in a week—-but with spars and sail a few more weeks…

This is a boat that would be great for anyone…

Here is the link to the site where I learned a lot: http://www.pdracer.com/site-map.php

Photos below: Below—(A): This is the outline of the hull. What makes this “box” boat a PDR is the first ten inches in the class rules…above 10 inches your boat may change…some people go crazy and put little cabins…again…you must stay with this hull shape to be a PDR…

(B): First you take 1/4” ply sheets and cut 16” wide panels (you need 4)—Hannah is starting to draw “station lines”.

(C) From the station lines you mark off points and attach nails…then a bendable piece to loft/draw curves onto the first panel.

(D): Next the 4 panels are cut out…two will be the outside edge of the boat…and the other two will be 7” inside to act as more support, a bench top—-but most importantly will form an air box along each side of the boat…some people put the air boxes on each end…but my research showed me that the side air boxes are the safest…

(E): With the 4 panels all cut I clamped them together and faired their edge to be the same…some people cut all 4 panels together at once…I chose to do each one separately.

ANd to my Weekender fans—-DONT WORRY…I am excited again…and want to get out and build…and I am super fortunate that my wife is supporting me…she gets the logic—-built this one quick…and then sail it to learn on…and then when the weekender is done…I will have some more sailing under my belt…

Next up—-THE PANELS…

I have an announcement for all of my patient fans…I have been doing some boat building lately…in fact I can say that I may be sailing by the end of thanksgiving week…but certainly by Christmas break…

I have to start a new blog to show you what I have been doing…check back here for a link to the new blog…

I decided that I should take some pictures before I pull it apart and glue on the new transom…as I said in the last blog I am glad that I did another dry fit since the first dry fit the boat was not as far done…so with the parts closer to finished I have a much better idea of the prep steps and was able to come up with a list before I am stuck with wet epoxy…

Its been a busy week with soccer practices and games…but i may put the transom on tomorrow…so—-did not want to do it with out pictures on this dry fit—-even though some of these pictures look like the first dry fit blog…

So this blog is really just the pictures for the details on the previous blog…for more details click back to blog #16…

Below: The First picture shows the NEW transom…I am really happy with the over size and will just trim off the edges later…

Below: The 2nd picture shows the “inside” edge of the transom…the fit is really nice where it touches on the boat bottom.

Below: The 3rd picture shows the deck clamped on to the new transom and stringer…it looks like the deck slopes down to the right…but it actually slopes slightly up…and the “right” edge—-or edge closest to the view is over sized…like the bottom…once all glued up I will trim each side off before putting the sides on…

Below: The 4th picture shows one new slight concern…remember the boat bottom has a notch that allowed it to slide up higher on the keel?...I realized that would affect the deck…it now also needs to move up slightly…at least right now the tip comes past where the existing space is for it. My worry was that the boat bottom and deck need to match—-but I am okay as long as the widest part of the deck is over the widest part of the boat bottom—-right?

Below: The fifth picture does not really show it…but the other issue is where to put the forward bulkhead…the plans call for the small stringers (or supports) that the forward bulkhead attaches to on the bottom is 24” behind the keel/keel stem joint…but since the boat bottom is up 1.5 ” that means the forward bulkhead should be too…this was at least my thoughts the whole time—-but with a more accurate dry fit I was able to confirm that the sides of the forward bulhhead come out much more correctly to meet where the boat sides will touch…so I am feeling good that the correct position should be 22.5”...

I COULD do two one of two other options to keel the forward bulkhead at 24 inches…I could add addtional girth or width to the sides of the bulkheads so that the boat sides still have this support….OR I could re-do this bulkhead and just make it wider…The reason why these two options may be necessary is that the position of the forward bulkhead determines where the mast/mast box will go—-will 1.5” forward be that critical—-remember—-it will still match the plans in relation to the boat bottom and boat deck at 22.5”...
Let me know what you think…

Below: Picture 6th picture just shows the new transom…and if you look closely you can see the notch which allows it to reach below the boat bottom…giving it grreater coverage…

well…this was supposed to be a short entry…lol…my students always say I talk too much…

Well I was hoping to assemble the hull this weekend…but it did not happen…it all started on Saturday morning when I had a friend over to help Saran and I put on the transom…in the Weekender DVD it is one of the parts they really show a lot of muscle power so I wanted to do it with extra hands—-and in this case it was good to have John over.

John is a nice guy I met in my sailing class last year…and we have stayed in touch…he has helped build some boats, has wood worked professionally and is now building a boat of his own—-so his expertise and insights were good this weekend…

We started to glue up…and screw in…I had been bending the transom for 10 days of so and it helped…but in the end I just did not like the fit down on the boat bottom…we could not get it to go…this is because WAAAAAY back when I built the boat bottom I thought I was being super smart and made the “stringer” or edge joiner on the back edge of the boat bottom to wide (thinking extra hefty here was smart) but it did not allow the flex needed bring it up…

SO with the epoxy still wet we discussed options…keep going and re-enforce later…or pull it off now before its too late…

At first we moved forward…but after a second attempt I just did not like the fit…and we pulled it apart…wiped it down where epixy was spread and went to plan b…

In the convo we realized making the bottom of the transom longer would work…but with the keel there I would once again need a notch (lol)...

So…saturday morning was blown and I pouted the rest of the day…

Sunday with a new head of steam I took the “old” transom and used it to trace a new transom…extending the bottom and sides…with a notch…this turned out to be a good thing…now I have an OVERSIZED transom…dry fit and bending perfectly in place…

This morning I decided to dry fit the rest of the boat again with the deck fully on…previous dry fit was “loosely clamped” and this time I screwed inthe transom to the stern post and clamped it to give it the right shape…this allowed for the deck stringer to be clamped on which allowed for the deck to be fit into place on the right curve…

I slid the cabin bulkhead in…and clamped…and then the forward bulkhead…

And made my last to-do list…before the real assembly—-after going through all that I am glad I had to re-do the transom…it will not have the same issue before as it is oversized…and I will just trim off the excess once glued on…

Okay….sorry no picts…oh ya—-DID I MENTION SCHOOL STARTED…tomorrow is the beginning of week FOUR already…so it was nice to actually work on the boat again this weekend…its been a crazy busy start to school…but it should slow down a bit…and I can breathe…

SO BREATHE…if feels good…pictures next time…

THREEEEEE DEEEEEEEEEEEE BABY! This morning we officially “assembled two of the assemblies”...and it went well…everything pulled down nicely and I am really pleased…

Since the dry fit blog (#13) I was really busy going down my list and made tremendous progress…it felt so good that we almost did today’s step last week…but it turned out to be to chaotic—-as it was the day before our last summer trip…but now she is done—-and we cant go backwards now!!!

Well…not much else to report…the pictures show the work…even some sawdust for warren…

Next Steps: glue on the stern blocks (which are ready to go); slide in the transom and glue and screw it onto the stern block and then bending out onto the back of the boat bottom; then the deck can fit into position; and then the bulkheads will slide under…

It should be really exciting this week…stay tuned!

But I need your advice…below are pictures of the keel which is braced between two 2×10’s…remember in my last post I reported a slight kink…and the dilemma on whether I should screw on the bottom and push and pull on the keel as I go to straighten…

But Paul—-shipwright made a really good suggest and today I got two 12 footers to sandwich the keel…his suggestion was to either: “clamp, screw or bolt” the 2×10’s…right now as the pictures show it is clamped up….so here are the questions:

1) if I do nothing else—-just clamps—-how long should I leave it…?
2) I could take the clamps off, and BOLT the sandwhich—-if I do this I will also wrap the 2×10’s in plastic and trim them down—-so that their edge goes BELOW the keel top…this would allow me to keep the “sandwhich” and then still move ahead…the sandwhich could stay on for as long as I want…
3) what other ideas?
4) I could pop off the clamps tomorrow and it looks good???

This was a good practice run…I learned some things about what I need to do …and now seeing all the parts together will allow me to move forward…and I now have a game plan…

The first pict is of the keel…the last month it has been laying flat on my garage floor with bricks on it in spots since it seemed to have a kink in it…I think it helped but its not perfect…when I glue and screw the bottom on I will have to unkink it as I screw it down…

While it was laying flat I filled the upside screw holes with epoxy so I wont have to do it later. I also worked on trimming the stem with one side flat…

The next pict shows the boat bottom…since the last update I sanded and filled all holes on the bottom so that I wont have to do it again. This assembly is ready to go…it is a bit tight and we had trouble sliding it all the way up the slot…so when it has epoxy spread all over it will be tougher—-good for me to find this out now…I have not put the stern blocks on the back for this very reason…and now I think I should wait as was advised…glue the bottom on first…then fit the stern blocks on after…

The next several pictures show the bulkheads and the deck with clamps holding it all down…many of the pieces will bend and twist into place as we glue it up…so it was not a perfect view…but it was neat to see the boat together…my goal for the summer is to get the boat in this shape—-but not loosely there…all glued up…

Now I have my list of to do’s to put this together for real…

Summer so far has kept me busy writing a grant and wrapping up school work…and its crazy to think August is around the corner…

BUT the GOOD BOAT NEWS…TODAY we assembled…drum rolls….THE FINAL MAJOR ASSEMBLY before we assemble the assemblies…today we took the 5 seperate deck pieces and glued and screwed…and we finished!

It was hot out on the patio…and the epoxy was hardening QUICK at 93 degrees…we even had a smoker!!! One of the batches started smoking after heating up so quick…

WHen we got to the stringers we had to work quickly as it hardened pretty fast…but it was fine…besides the heat on the patio it went pretty well…thanks to the assistance of my lovely wife…

The pictures arent real exciting this time…but I can tell you—-I have been looking at these 5 parts leaning SEPARATELY against my shop wall for a year and it feel really good to have the last major assembly done…

Sarah thought I should sweep off the dust before taking the photos—-and I said—-this IS FOR LUMBER JOCKS!

Next steps...let the deck firm up…and during that time return to the keel…I need to do some more trimming to the nose and stem of the keel to make room for the deck…I was concerned about a slight kink in the keel as it sat on my stand so I took it off the stand and laid it flat on my garage/shop floor and put bricks on the high spots…and since it is laying flat on one side I will try to use my router for that final trim…and also I figure I can patch the screw holes on one side…so less to do down the road.

The boat bottom is ready to go…and the keel is super close…so I hope to put the boat bottom onto the keel this week…and then??? the big assembly day—-THREE D soon…

I dont think I can add too much too my 3rd year anniversary except to say that I am still proud to be a member of this site…I still check in often although until the past week the last few months have been pretty sporadic….

This biggest change since last year—-I think I continue to learn a lot in the shop and from people here…and I think the biggest thing I am noticing is being less affraid to try new things and techniques…and just basically have fun…

Like I said the last few months I have stayed out of my shop…and not really on the site much, but that is the first long segment in 4 years since joining and meeting so many good people…

The biggest achievement still seems to be the fact that 4 years ago I was asking for help on deciding to buy a Shopsmith and then last year I started building a 20 foot sail boat…crazy…with out this place neither would have happened…

Okay…hope to be on more…and get back to the boat building…but the little barn I just posted tonight got me itching for the shop again…

Hope all is well…thanks for all the good comments and sense of community…so many good people have kept me here for so long!

Matt