Sheets and Sheers

Man.  Time flies!  It's been far too long between posts.  

We've been keeping happily busy on the boat these last weeks, and making progress- progress that feels pretty big!  We've begun to attach the plywood to the frames!  She's looking more and more like something that will someday float...  hopefully...  

We've put together another little time-lapse video for you-  entitled:  "How Cody and Beth wrestled a 16 foot by 4 and a half foot, 165 pound sheet of plywood up onto the bottomsides of the hull." 

 Or something like that.   

 It's a good thing we have access to some climbing gear.  

And that was just the first sheet!  These days, we've got both of the big amidships sheets on, as well as the aft sheets.  Tonight, we're putting the first pieces on the topsides.  You can see one of them in the next photo, just being cut and fitted.  

The plywood sheets really make a difference to the look inside the hull.  We've flipped these next photos upside down- to make the boat look right side up.  

Looking forward, down at floor level.  

Looking aft, at the handsome transom- complete with stern post.  

There's a lot of bracing in this photo, which makes it kind of hard to see the boat itself.   

In order to be able to attach the topsides sheeting, which will go along the sides of the boat, we need to get the sheer piece laminated into place.  You can see it in this photo- it runs along the bottom of the frames, is curved, and has a few clamps on it.  The sheer line is the most important aesthetic line of the boat.  It's important that it runs fair and smooth, which is why we're upside down on the table trying to get a good look at it. Looking at it right-side-up makes it easier to see the curve properly.    

More clamping!  Laminating a sheer piece into place.  

I hope you all are having a happy weekend!  We certainly are.  Yesterday was quite the Saturday, filled with sunshine, some granite routes with the Mannions,  a drive to the Great Salt Lake Marina, a cold coke with a 107-year-old Navajo Sailor named Paho, a few introductions and invitations to go sailing, a little bit of sanding and epoxy work for good measure,  some chinese food, some frozen yogurt, and this.

Whew.  Good times.