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At this point it is almost time to roll over the hull and begin work on the inside of the boat. But before you roll the boat over, make a boat cradle out of 2"x4"'s to hold the boat up off the shop floor. Lay down two parallel eight foot 2"x4"'s on the floor of the shop, about four feet apart. Then place two six foot 2"x4"'s across the ends of the first two boards and screw the corners together with drywall screws. These four boards will hold up the boat and protect it from any wayward drywall screws, nails or other shop-floor boat gougers. You really should have a helper at this point. Grab the boat by the gunwale, and lift it up onto its side. Lift up on the boat as you turn it over to minimize the weight on the sides of the boat as you make the flip.

Gunwales

Once you have the boat turned over, it is time to make and install the gunwales. To make the gunwales, you'll need four lengths of gunwale stock. Good vertical grain Douglas fir can be used, or oak, or ash. Mahogany does not make good gunwales. Try to find boards that are long enough to make the gunwales in one piece. Sixteen feet-one inch is the minimum length for one-piece "outwale" stock. Fifteen feet-eleven inches is the minimum length for one- piece "inwale stock."

Material list: gunwales

2) 5/8" x 1-1/2" x 191" Inwale stock 2) 3/4" x 1-1/2" x 193" Outwale stock 6) 1-1/8" x 2-1/2" x 4" Oak or ash oarlock blocks 24) 1-1/8" x 1-1/2" x 2" Redwood or cedar spacer blocks 4) Redwood or cedar tapered spacers. These spacers are 1.5" high, 24" long, and they taper from 1-1/8" at one end to 0" at the other end.
If you can't find any gunwale stock that is sixteen feet long, you can use a scarf joint to join two shorter pieces together. Make the scarf joints somewhere near the rear end of the boat where the gunwale is at its straightest. To join two pieces of 1"x2" stock end to end, I use a scarf joint that is 3" long. To make this scarf joint I use a radial arm saw jig that I keep hanging on the wall of my shop for just this purpose. But there are less elaborate ways to make a scarf joint. One method is to clamp the front end of one piece to the side of the rear end of the other piece--as if the two lengths were already joined together, but offset from each other 3/4", with the ends overlapping about six inches. Then make a long, slanted pencil line through the two boards. Cut through both boards along the edge of the pencil line. When cutting a scarf in this manner it is usually necessary to clean up the joint surfaces with a sharp block plane after cutting with the saw. When cutting end-grain with a block plane (like the rough ends of a hand-cut gunwale scarf) hold the plane at forty-five degrees to the long axis of the gunwale stock. Use a slicing motion with the plane to cut the tough end-grain of the gunwale. Once the joint has been cut, you have to make preparations for the gluing. Wet out the mating surfaces, and then cover one side of the joint with thickened resin. Use microfibers for the thickening. Wrap the joint in visqueen or waxed paper, and then place an 8" to 12" length of 1"x2" on either side of the joint. Then clamp the whole thing together with three or four "C" clamps. The short lengths of 1"x2" lock the joint together in proper alignment, and the visqueen keeps the alignment blocks from adhering to the gunwales. If you can find it, sixteen foot gunwale stock is a lot easier to deal with than shorter stuff that has to be scarfed.

Gunwale installation--general summary of events

Now you are ready for the gunwale assembly. The gunwales are bolted into place, but not glued. The first step in the gunwale assembly is to remove all of the strongback stations. In order to do this, you will need to cut the fiberglass that is covering the sixteen screw heads (these screws are located just below the gunwale edge of the hull) that are still holding the stations in place. You should have pressed some candle wax into the phillips head slots of these screws in an earlier step. Cut away a small circle of fiberglass and back out the screws. When you take the stations out the boat will collapse inward a little, losing some of the beam it had before you removed the stations. But don't worry about it. You will regain the shape of the boat in a future step. Before you can mount the gunwales, you will have to put stations two, three, four, and six back into the boat. These stations must go back in order to regain the shape of the boat before you install the gunwales. But before you put these stations back, you have to cut a notch out of the top corner of each station in order to make room for the gunwale.
You can't reuse the screw holes at the top edge of the boat (the wax filled screws that you just removed) because these holes are about to be covered with the gunwale. Redrive these screws right through the side of the boat, about two inches lower than their original location. Don't worry about these new holes in the side of the boat. They are easy to patch at a later date. After the gunwale installation has been completed, two 2"x4" braces are screwed onto the gunwales that stretch from one side of the boat to the other in order to keep the boat from relaxing again when you take out the strongback stations for good. These 2"x4"'s are called "temporary cross-gunwale braces." Drive 2 1/2" drywall screws right through the ends of the braces into the inwales on either side of the boat. After the gunwales are installed and the temporary cross- gunwale braces are in place, you can remove the strongback stations and proceed with the interior construction of the boat. After the front and rear decks have been glued in place, and after the rower's seat, and the front passenger seats are in place, you can remove the temporary cross-gunwale braces. The boat no longer wants to relax at this point.
Here is a summary review of events 1) take out the stations 2) notch the top corners of stations 2,3,4,and 6 3) put stations 2,3,4,and 6 back in place 4) install the gunwales 5) screw on two seven foot, temporary, cross-gunwale braces 6) remove the last remaining strongback stations 7) proceed with the interior construction 8) remove the cross-gunwale braces 9) paint the boat

Gunwale installation

Inwales
The first step in the installation of the gunwales (after you have put the five notched stations back in place) is to cut and fit the 5/8" thick inwale stock. Each inwale has two compound angles one at the bow, and one at the stern. To make these joints, measure the distance along the top inside edge of the boat from the top inside edge of the transom to the top inside edge of the stem. This distance should be about two and a half inches or so less than sixteen feet, but of course it varies slightly from boat to boat. Mark this distance along the edge of the inwale stock that will mate with that side of the boat. Then use a bevel square to mark the compound angles at each end. These compound angles each have a horizontal and a vertical component that are not given in the table of angles. Hold the bevel square right on the ends of the boat, first in the horizontal position and then in the vertical position to determine these angles, and to transfer them directly to the inwale stock. Once you have made the inwales, and hand fitted them, you can clamp and screw the inwales into place. Use 5/8" galvanized drywall screws driven from the outside of the boat, through the plywood sides, right into the inwale. You should be able to use the old screw holes that held the strongback stations at an earlier stage.

Outwales

Once the inwales are in place on both sides, you can proceed with the outwales. Keep in mind that all gunwale tapers, spacer blocks, and oarlock blocks are placed between the outwale and the outside of the boat. Start on either side by screwing an outwale right to the stem. Have a helper hold up the rear end of the outwale while you drive another screw about 12" from the first one. Walk around to the other side of the boat and repeat on the other side.
Once both outwales have been started with two screws near the stem, it is time to slip the first tapered gunwale spacer into the triangular slot formed by the junction of the outwale and he side of the boat. The sharp point of the gunwale spacer starts just to the rear of the second gunwale screw. Use a C-clamp to pinch the gunwales tightly around the spacer. Place this C-clamp two inches toward the stern from the fat end of the taper. Then bore a 1/4" hole right through both gunwales and the fat end of the taper. Use a three inch bolt and a nylon-ringed nut (a "nylock" nut) to hold all three pieces together. Then replace the two screws near the stem with 1/4" bolts and nylocks. Then move back toward the stern twelve inches from the fat end of the taper and pinch the gunwales together around one of the rectangular spacer blocks. Bore a hole and fasten the spacer block with a 1/4" bolt and nylock. Keep working backward, putting a spacer block every twelve inches, alternating from one side of the boat to the other, until you get to the first oarlock position. The first oarlock position is 3" forward if the 98" layout line. The second oarlock position is 3" to the rear of the 98" layout line. The third oarlock position is 15" to the rear of the 98" layout line. Keep in mind that these oarlock positions are somewhat arbitrary, and that their exact locations can be moved, at a later date, to suit your own personal requirements.
You should have made six 1 1/8"x2.5"x4" oarlock blocks in an earlier step. Before you install the first oarlock block, you'll have to bore a 5/8" vertical hole through it to receive the actual oarlock. After boring the oarlock block, it can be mounted in place between the outwale and the side of the boat. Use two bolts for each oarlock block, on either side of the 5/8" hole. Keep working back toward the stern, placing a gunwale spacer every twelve inches from the first spacer, and oarlock blocks at their designated layouts until you reach the location of the rear gunwale taper. The sharp end of the rear gunwale taper should be placed about six inches forward of the rear end of the boat.
Use a hacksaw with a course blade to cut the 1/4" gunwale bolts flush with the tops of the nylocks. Then smooth off the jagged ends of the bolts with a metal file. That's it. The gunwales are installed. Screw down the two cross-gunwale braces and you are ready to remove the strongback stations for the last time. Place one cross-gunwale brace in the middle of the boat, and the other one eighteen inches toward the bow from the middle.

Fillet the inside corners

The next step, after removing the strongback stations and installing the temporary cross-gunwale braces, is to fillet the "inside chine". You will also need to fillet both inside corners of the stem, and both inside corners of the transom. Refer to the filleting review at the beginning of these instructions. After making the fillets, you can wait a day until the fillets are cured, and then proceed to the next step (fiberglassing the bottom) or you can immediately proceed to the next step while the fillets are still soft. If you stop work and let the fillets harden completely, you will have to hand sand the fillets with 80 grit silicon carbide floor surfacing paper before going on to the next step. If you choose to glass over the fillets right away, you will have to wait at least an hour for the fillets kick and stiffen a little. If you try to glass over the fillets too soon, the fresh resin from the new fiberglass will dissolve the resin in the fillets, and the whole thing will collapse into an ugly mess.

Install the final layer of "inside-bottom" fabric

Once these fillets have been made it is time to apply a second layer of "inside-bottom" fabric. This second layer of fabric should lap the chine and "roll up" the side of the boat about 1-1/2". You will have to cut small slits in the fabric at the corners of the transom and at the corners of the stem to keep the 1-1/2" rolled edge from puckering.

Interior parts: Introduction

So, the next phase of the boat building--making and installing the interior parts--is ready to begin. The plans I have drawn for the interior parts of this boat are as simple as I could make them. If you build the bare-bones interior assembly described in these plans, there will be nothing to stop you from adding storage lockers and other elaborations at a later date.
These plans include several pattern-like drawings, seat-mounting gussets etc. Use the patterns to rough-cut the corresponding first from cardboard. Then fit the cardboard as best you can. Then transfer the cardboard to the scraps of plywood left over from the corners of the bottom panel. Then fiberglass all of these rough cut parts, top and bottom, in advance. Once these interior parts are fiberglassed, it's a simple procedure to hand fit them with a sharp block plane, and then to glue and fillet them into place.

Here is a summary review of events at this stage of the game

1) install the gunwales
2) install the temporary cross-gunwale supports, take out the last remaining strongback stations
3) fillet the inside corners
4) apply the second layer of "inside-bottom" fabric
5) install the rear seat
6) install the front deck
7) install the rower's seat gussets, rails, and rail bottoms
8) install the front seat gussets, rails, and rail bottoms
9) build and install the rower's seat
10) build and install the front seat
11) remove the temporary cross-gunwale braces
12) paint the boat
Before you begin work on any of the interior parts of the boat, it is important to establish an approximately level reference in the boat. To do this, you must first locate and draw a line across the bottom of the boat, from side to side, that marks the middle of the boat. Station #5 was located on the 98" layout mark. Draw a line across the bottom of the boat that connects the two 98" layout lines. This line marks the middle of the boat. Place a four foot spirit level on the floor of the boat, parallel to the long axis, so the bubble in the middle of the level is directly over the middle line marker that stretches across the floor of the boat. Now shift the boat forward and backward on its cradle as necessary until the bubble in the spirit level reads level. This is approximately how the boat will float in the water when it is unloaded. The front deck, the front seat, the rower's seat, and the rear seat are to be made level to this reference.

Interior parts

For all interior parts, use the following written instructions as approximate guidelines. Actual widths and dimensions will vary slightly from boat to boat. Always start by cutting cardboard patterns to fit, using a pencil and dividers for scribing lines. Cut the cardboard with a sheetrock knife. Once the carboard patterns fit, use it as a pattern to mark and cut the same shape from plywood. Do the final fitting with a sharp block plane. All seat gussets get glued, filleted and fiberglassed to the sides of the boat. How to glue gussets in place is desribed later.

Straighten the rear end of the boat. Hand-fit the rear seat

When you take out the strongback stations, the rear end of the boat invariably twists a little. But don't worry about it. You can straighten the rear end of the boat with a pair of C- clamps and a nylon clothes line. Once you have the rear end of the boat pulled back into square, you can install the rear seat. The rear seat will hold the boat square thereafter. To straighten the rear end of the boat, place a C-clamp at the corner of the transom that is twisted furthest away from the front of the boat. Place a second C-clamp on the opposite gunwale about four feet from the front of the boat. Connect these two clamps with bailing wire or a stout string, and pull tight on the string until it pulls the boat back into square. Tie off the string and then proceed to hand fit the rear seat. You should have the main rear seat piece on hand at this point, rough-cut to size and fiberglassed top and bottom. Use a pencil scribe and a sharp block plane to wear away at the edges of the rear seat until it drops down tightly into place. The front corners of the rear seat should contact the sides of the boat at a point approximately 24" from the corners of the transom, and one and a half inches down from the top of the gunwale. The back end of the rear seat should be approximately 5" down from the top of the transom. The seat should also be approximately level. Once you have fitted the rear seat, nail it temporarily in place by driving finish nails into the edges of the seat from the outside of the boat. Don't drive the nails all the way down.
Once the main rear seat piece has been fitted, you have to make and fit the rear seat cross-beam. This cross-beam is merely a 1"x4" vertical support that forms a right angle with the front edge of the rear seat. The compound angles at the ends of this cross-beam are not given in the table of angles. You will have to hold a bevel square onto the corners of the rear seat (first in the horizontal position and then in the vertical position) to determine these angles.

NOTE:

You may want to eliminate the rear seat cross-beam, and run a new piece of plywood from the front edge of the rear seat down to the bottom of the boat to form a dry storage locker. You would then cut a hole in the top of the rear seat and make a hinged lid for the locker. Any rear passenger would then sit on the hinged lid. To build a rear dry storage locker that really stays dry, you will have to "raise" up the edges of the locker opening at least a half an inch, and then fashion a contoured lid that fits over the raised edges of the locker opening.

Make Front Deck

The front deck (the way I build it) consists of a rougly triangular plywood deck glued and filleted into place at the front of the boat, with a vertically mounted board at its back edge, that glues to the back edge of the trianglular deck. That vertically mounted back edge (to the front deck) gives a flat vertical surface to lean against when you stand at the front of the boat. We'll call the triangular and roughly level piece the "deck." We'll call the side-to-side vertical piece the "leaning rail." I build both pieces by hand-fitting patterns first, where the patterns are made from cardboard or masonite. Then I transfer the cardboard to plywood. I also like to put the deck way down low, flush to the bottom edge of the front leaning rail. That forms a stripping basket for the front of the boat and/or a good place to store rain gear, etc.

Front Deck Leaning rail:

Measure back along the bottom of the gunwale, from the point where the bottom of the gunwale contacts the stem. Make a pencil mark on the bottom of the gunwale about 30" from the stem, on each side of the boat. Use a vertical spirit level to draw two more lines, one on each side of the boat, extending downward from the pencil marks (toward the chine). Measure the beam (the width of the boat) between the pencil marks in two places; measure the distance across, from side to side, at the pencil marks at the bottom edge of the gunwale. Measure again at the bottom of the vertical pencile lines, six inches below the first measurement. You now have two width measurements, where the top-most measurement is a little wider than the bottom measurement.

Use a bevel square to determine the side angles, at the left and right sides of the leaning rail. Cut a 12" wide piece of cardboard or masonite, about a foot wider than you need for the leaning rail.

Make a vertical center line on the masonite, in its middle. Measure out along the bottom edge of the masonite, left and right of the center line, and mark the ends of narrower of the two widths. That's the bottom of the leaning rail. Use the bevel square to mark the side angles. Extend the side angles upward all the to the top edge of the masonite (or cardboard). Starting from the bottom edge of the side angles you just drew, mark the spot (six inches up) that corresponds to the bottom of the gunwale. Mark that spot.

Draw the 3/4" x 1-1/2" cross section of the gunwale onto the masonite. Now cut the masonite with a skillsaw, following the slanted side angles you marked with the bevel square. Now cut out the knotches for the gunwale. Now, from the top inside edge of each gunwale-knotch, use the curved edge of a gallon can to mark a smoothly curving line, from the top inside edge of the gunwale to the top edge of the masonite. Bevel the side edges so the masonite fits nicely to the sides of the boat, and so it notches neatly onto and around the gunwale. When it fits just right, transfer the whole works to plywood and cut again.

Now make the front deck.

The leaning rail was the hard part. With the leaning rail pattern held in place with duct tape, take measurements and build a triangular deck that fits flush to the bottom edge of the leaning rail, so the deck is approximately level, with its front end down a foot or so from the stem of the boat. This puts the deck down lower than most other boat builders. But that's how I like it. A low front deck forms a convenient stripping basket for loose fly line and or a handy place for stowing life jackets and/or rain gear. The almost 12" high leaning rail is lot more comfortable to lean against than a narrow one. Building a short front deck (only 30" or so back from the stem) puts the weight of the front standing fisherman further forward, which helps trim the boat, especially with a rear standing fisherman.

Make and Mount the Rower's Seat Gussets and Rails

The rower's seat consists of two gusset assemblies, left and right, at the middle of the boat, that the rower's seat rests on. Two roughly trianglular gussets are glued to the inside of the boat, at the 98" layout line in the middle of the boat. Those guessets have a 3/4" x 1-1/2 knotch on the inside corner, to receive the corrresponding seat rails. The rails are just two parallel 1/4 boards that rest in the knotch at the front end, and die into the side of the boat (with a long, pointed compound angle) at the rear end.
I build the seat gussets and then finish nail them into place, with four nails (two each side) not driven home. Then I attach a temporary board across the middle of the boat, from gusset to gusset, held with C-clamps. Now the gussets are in place temporarily, for fitting. Then I cut two 1x4 side rail pieces, at least a foot too long. Rough cut a long slanted compound angle on the rear end so the side pieces are vaguely right (so they almost meet the side of the boat tightly). Measure the distance between the rower's seat rails at the front gusset position. Cut a scrap board that same length and screw it (temporarily, like a floor joist) between the other ends of the seat rails, so they are now held the same distance apart (the the space between the rails is parallel front to back). Prop the rear ends of the rails up custom cut wood scraps, so the rails are now level, the same distance apart and centered along the long axis of the boat. Use a sharp block plane to hand fit the rear ends of the rails, so they fit tightly against the side of the boat. Draw a pencil line around the edges of the compound angle, on the plywood side of the boat.
Now you're ready to glue everything in place. Wet out the edges of the gusset with resin. Trowel on some thickened putty. Hold the gusset in place and redrive the same two finish nails from the outside. Don't drive those nails home. They're only temporary. Put the same C-clamped temporary side-to-side board back in place. Use scraps of visqueen where necesssary, to keep the temporary brace from sticking to the gusset.
Wet out the inside of the gusset knotch. Wet out the rear ends of the side rails. The temporary floor-joist-like rear-end brace should still be in place. Putty the side of the boat, where you marked it. Hold the two parallel seat rails in place and then drive a single finish nail in from the outside, to lock the compound angle of rails in place.
When the resin has set you can filet the edges of the compound angle and the gussets, and add some 3" fiberglass tape. Now they're there to stay.

Make a Woven Rope Rower's Seat

The rower's seat drawing should be self explanatory. You can't actually make the rower's seat until after you have glued the seat rails in place. The parallel distance between the rower's seat rails will vary from boat to boat, and you want to make a rower's seat whose width is one quarter inch less than the distance between the rails. By the time the various parts are covered with epoxy and paint, the seat will (almost) fit snuggly between the rails. The rower's seat itself is a simple 1x4" framework with a woven rope seat in the middle, with two plywood-bottomed tackle pockets on the sides. The rower's seat itself fits flush and between the rails. To keep the rower's seat from falling downward, between the rails, the rower's seat has two roughly 18" long 1x4" wings glued and screwed to the top ouside edge of the seat frame. those wings should extend past the width of the seat about 1" on each side, to form a lip that catches the top edge the side rails the seat rides on. The various seat drawing (see the rower's seat links at screen left) also include a little more assembly discussion.

An Alternate and easier (solid top) Rower's Seat

The rower's seat frame is fourteen inches wide, and approximately 38.5" long. The actual length of the rower's seat is determined by the distance between the rower's seat rails. The frame is a simple rectangle, with three intermediate crosspieces added in the middle of the frame for extra strength. Butt joints glued and screwed are strong enough. Dadoed joints are stronger, but not absolutely necessary. A 14" x 40.5" plywood top is glued and screwed to the seat frame. The plywood top is wider than the frame in order to form plywood "wings" that hang on the top of the seat rail. The front seat is analogous to the rower's seat. But it is a little wider than the rower's seat. The actual width of the front seat frame is determined by the distance between the front seat rails. A series of 3/8" holes are drilled into the seat rails, spaced three inches apart, that correspond to a hole drilled into the end frame of each seat. 1/4" bolts and nylocks are used to fasten the seats in the various adjustable positions provided by these holes. Once the seats have been fitted and are in place, the temporary cross-gunwale braces can be removed.

Fitting the front seat mounts

The front seat is mounted on an adjustable track that is much the same as the one used for the rower's seat. Each mount consists of three parts the gusset, the rail, and the rail bottom. The rear edge of the front seat gusset mounts flush to a point four inches forward of the 80" layout line. The top edge of the gusset is 6" down from the top of the gunwale. After the gussets have been custom fitted to the sides of the boat, jamb them temporarily in place by clamping a scrap board to each gusset that stretches across the beam of the boat, from one gusset to the other. Nail the gussets in place from the outside of the boat, but don't drive the nails all the way down. Once the gussets are in place, you can make the rails. The front seat rails are similar to the rower's seat rails. The sharp, pointed end of the front seat rail starts at the 44" layout mark, at a point level with the top of the gusset. The horizontal and vertical components of this compound angle are given in the table of angles. After fitting the front seat rails, screw them temporarily in place with drywall screws. Then hand fit the two pie shaped bottom pieces. Once again, the exact distance between the two rails varies slightly from boat to boat. This is OK as long as the two rails are parallel, level, and at the same distance off the floor of the boat. The front seat will be custom made to a snug fit between the two rails at a later date.

Preparing the interior parts for installation

At this point all of the interior parts have been cut, hand fitted, and tacked temporarily in place. Draw a pencil line around each part to mark its location on the hull of the boat, and then remove these parts and set them aside. The next step is to glue the rear seat to the rear seat cross-beam, and the front deck to the front deck cross-beam. After gluing the front deck and the rear seat to their corresponding cross-beams, glue the four rail bottoms to their respective seat rails, and set these pieces aside to cure for a few hours. Once the glue joints have hardened sufficiently, these parts are ready to be installed.

Installing interior parts

Cutting and fitting the interior parts is the hard part of the job. Once these parts have been made, their actual installation proceeds rapidly. Install the rear seat first. Remember that the two C-clamps and the clothes line are still in place holding the rear end of the boat square. You won't be able to remove these clamps until the rear seat has been successfully installed. To install the rear seat, wet out the mating surfaces, and then spread a second batch of resin, thickened with microfibers, onto the edges of the seat itself. Use drywall screws driven in from the outside of the boat hold the seat in place while the glue cures. Don't get upset if a few of these screws miss their mark. All of these screws will be removed, and the screw holes patched at a later date. Install the front deck in the same manner, holding the parts temporarily in place with drywall screws until the glue cures. Glue the seat gussets in place with the help of temporary drywall screws, and then the rail and rail-bottom assemblies.

Filleting the interior parts

Once the resin has cured, pull all the screws and putty the holes. Then fillet the interior parts into place. Fillet the "underside-edges" of the rear seat, the front deck and the rail- bottoms first. Use a particularly stiff filleting mixture for these "underside" fillets. Then fillet the top edges of the interior parts. Use a slightly thinner filleting mixture for the "top-side" fillets.

Making the Hole for the Boat Plug

Most boat plugs consist of a rubber cylinder that can be expanded slightly by some mechanical means. Usually, a one inch rubber cylinder is expanded or contracted by twisting a metal "T" handle, or by lifting a metal cam lever. A one inch hole can be drilled right through the bottom of the boat to receive the plug. The best location for this hole is at a bottom corner of the transom. However, any plug that is simply stuck into a hole in the 3/8" bottom of the boat will stick out past the outside surface of the boat, where is subject to damage from passing rocks. The best solution is to increase the thickness of the boat at the bottom corner of the transom before boring the plug hole.
To do this, cut an equilateral triangle from plywood or from a scrap of Formica that is approximately three inches on a side. Use a wood rasp to custom fit the edges of this triangle so it can be fitted over the triangular corner formed by the junction of the chine and a bottom corner of the transom. Mix up about a cup-full of very thick resin. Mix the resin with micro balloons and microfibers until it reaches the consistency of peanut butter. Then trowel this thickened mixture into a bottom corner of the transom. Then place the hand-fitted triangle over the cup-sized glob of thickened resin to make flat surface over a thick, solid mass of resin. Clean up any squeeze outs. Once the resin has hardened, bore a one inch hole through the bottom edge of the flat triangle, downwards and outwards, and out through the chine to the outside of the boat. The bottom edge of the one inch hole should be flush with the bottom of the boat. Coat the inside edges of the hole with resin. This completes the drain hole for a one inch, expandable plug.

Preparing the boat for paint

Remove the two adjustable seats, and sand down any glue bumps or drips. Fill any dents with resin and micro balloons. Spread finish coats of resin (sanding between coats) as necessary to produce a clean, smooth finish.
Then paint the boat. Follow the manufacturers instructions for applying the paint. The best looking paint jobs are achieved with a spray-gun and standard auto-BODY techniques, but excellent results can be achieved with a good china bristle brush and ordinary oil based paint.

Wrapping Oars

Use 9' ash or spruce oars. I prefer ash.

Use rubber oarlock stoppers to hold the oars about two inches apart in the middle of the boat so you don't smash your thumbs together when rowing. Sand off any varnish from the shank of the oar on either side of the rubber stopper. Wet out the sanded area with unthickened resin. Wait about thirty minutes, and then brush on a fresh coat of fresh resin that has been slightly thickened with microfibers. Wrap 3/16" nylon rope around the oars on either side of the stopper, pulling the wraps tightly into the thickened resin on the shanks of the oars. Wrap four or five wraps on the handle side of the oarlock stopper. Tack the ends of the rope down with carpet tacks. Wind many more wraps around the oar on the blade-end of the stopper. Keep winding around the oar until a minimum of twelve inches of rope wraps are built up on the blade side of the stopper. Tack the ends down with carpet tacks. Repeat on the other oar.

Now it's time to load up the boat and take some friends for a ride!

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angle chart , Dave Ingraham

beavertail online plans

Introduction

README

Instructions

part one

part two

part three

part four

part five

Chine Patching

Photos

Straightening/

Diagrams/

Rowers Seat/

Stations/

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Roll over the boat