Ark etype

 

Doreen, a lovely lady from the Mauritius, told me "your boat looks like a little ark".  And by golly, she is right, I can't stop seeing it that way now. And I do feel like a sort of Noah.

I should really be sanding and painting the inner compartments, but I couldn't resist trying the 3rd planks. The good news is they fit pretty well. The bad news is I really can't reach the forward compartments that need sanding, epoxying and painting, so I will have to take the planks off again. Oh well, it was a good morale boost.

I temporarily put the seats and the cockpit sole in as well, and proped the cabin sides up, and had a good sit and a think about tasks to be done. Much easier than actually doing them. The challenge of getting the carlins fitted is looming on the horizon. I bought a more powerful table saw, which ripped the pieces ok, but generated a huge amount of sawdust. I am very envious of Campbell's dust extraction machine.  The charred bannister that Harald up the road gave me is a lovely bit of Oregon under the burned bits. I am thinking I will try my hand at making a birdsmouth mast, now I have the machine to cut the staves.

Chris suggested a sail on Monday, which turned out to be a great idea. It was a fantastic Winter's day sail, complete with a fantastic dolphin encounter. I know it will take longer to build the boat if I keep goofing off, but there will be plenty of days when I can't sail, so I am resolved to seize every opportunity.

Chris made a really nice video of the day:

Learning

 Gerard kindly helped me get plank 2 on last week. I had been fiddling round not making much forward progress, so his help getting over the plank 2 hurdle was much appreciated. 

It's great to see the structure taking on a more SCAMP-like appearance. I dare to hope that this might turn into an actual boat one day.

It sure is a beamy little thing, almost half as wide as it is long.

 I am pretty much finished this round of filleting and cleating. It has been a salutory learning experience and I hope I have learned something approaching patience. The effort today sanding the dodgy fillets that I put on yesterday when the light was fading and I was tired is a good reminder that it's just not worth it. Speaking of light fading, the quality of my late afternoon fillets has improved considerably now I am using a camping lantern and can sort of see what I am doing.

The precision of the cnc kit has really helped with the planks. Even Maggie the Quality Control Officer is impressed. She really likes the boat, something about all the compartments appeals to her cat brain. And on good days we get lovely afternoon sunshine in the carport and she can snooze contentedly curled up in front of the jig.Very companionable. Ozzie is now shut inside while I work, after a couple of incidents where he has taken himself off for a walk round the neighbourhood while I have been distracted with the boat.

Next tasks to finish off the compartments with a few more coats of epoxy and some paint, before they get too hard to access. And put hatches in the cabin sole and side seats.

Works will slow down for a while too, as a trip away and other commitments will soak up SCAMP time, but the project will take as long as it takes, and I am enjoying it.