Early Construction Pictures of our 8' Sailboat

Larger Much Larger Huge Studing the plans. At first they seemed complicated and terse. But after a little effort, all of it made since, and nothing was missing. Larger Much Larger Huge The plans came with full-sized cutout patterns. Larger Much Larger Huge Laying out the patterns on the wood. Larger Much Larger Huge Forming the hull. The "Seat Tank", in the center of the boat, is already glued. Larger Much Larger Huge The hull being formed. Larger Much Larger Huge All joints were filled with expoxy resin, and clamped. Resin took 6 hours to harden. We used a lot of resin, and made a mess of it. Larger Much Larger Huge This pic shows the sides of the boat attached to the chines. Chines are the strips of wood at the bottom of the sides. The inner keel is the strip of wood down the middle. Larger Much Larger Huge Another view of the sides attached to the chines. Larger Much Larger Huge My son Tim is happy as we start to glue and nail the bottom on the boat. Larger Much Larger Huge Bottom is on, but it is a pretty rough fit. Larger Much Larger Huge Glue joints are messy, but we have a boat. Larger Much Larger Huge I am triming the bottom to match the sides. This task didn't take long. Larger Much Larger Huge This is our progress after about 4 days of work. Larger Much Larger Huge A lot of time is spent sanding... Larger Much Larger Huge We signed our names to the boat before painting the whole thing with resin... Obviously, I cannot spell. Larger Much Larger Huge A view of the boat after resin is applied over all the wood. Larger Much Larger Huge We are now cutting out the mahogany trim. This shows one of the four "breast plats". Larger Much Larger Huge The entire boat is eventully painted with high-quality marine paint (donated by Larry, our neighbor). Here, only the bottom is done. Larger Much Larger Huge While letting the paint dry, we have been working on the accessories, such as the rudder, centerboard, and seats. All these require many coats of resin and sanding, or varnish and sanding. Larger Much Larger Huge I am doing something horrible: cutting a hole in the bottom of the boat. Actually, this is by design -- it is the whole for the centerboard.