Hull Sides
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Now that we have a proper dolly for the boat to sit on, it was time to resume construction on the hull. The four caster wheels on the dolly allow for easy repositioning of the boat in the garage or out in the driveway.
A one eighth inch masonite panel was sacrificed to make templates for the hull sides to be sure that the front hull panels would fit the sloping angle at the stem. A one half inch adjustment was made to the lower front corner of the template to get the panel to fit snugly against the hull bottom and stem.
Most of the panel fitting was done singlehanded. Driving an eye screw into the outside edge of each dolly leg formed a lower attachment point for a bungee cord. The bungee cord was then stretched up over the edge of the deck and hooked to the inside edge of the deck to form a tight loop to hold the panel in place. The weight of the panel balanced on the dolly leg and vertical alignment was adjusted by wedges. A scrap piece of 1x4 clamped to the aft end of the panel as a leg support allowed for easy tilt control of the panel. Another bungee cord stretched across the deck and around the 1x4 held the aft end of the panel tightly against the hull leaving the front end clear for final markings and adjustments.
The final hull skins were cut from 6mm Okoume plywood, dry fit to the hull, and attached with a half dozen screws. When I was satisfied with the fit of the panel, the rest of the 75 odd screw holes were drilled and countersunk. A pencil was used to outline the location of all of the stringers to determine exactly where the glue needed to be applied.
Four methods were tried to determine the location of the screw holes. The first was to use an angle keeper as an adjustable tee-square with the handle pressed up against the edge of the side panel and the moving arm slid up against the deck or hull bottom to determine the height of the panel. This measurement was then transferred to the outside of the panel and marked. A second mark was placed " further from the edge to get past the deck or hull bottom to about the center of the stringer. Then all of these second marks were connected with a batten and a line drawn. The screw holes were drilled along this line being careful to center the holes between the existing screws in the deck or hull bottom.
The second method was to use a compass to replace the angle keeper and mark the hull more quickly.
The third was to make a template out of scrap plywood with a slot to clear the hull sides and an arm with a ledge to hold the pencil perpendicular to the hull at the same height as the center of the stringer. The template is then placed on the deck and slid along to mark the center of the stringer directly.
The fourth method was to use any of the first three methods to locate a few holes and screw the panel to the hull. Then outline the stringer locations with a pencil while the panel is attached to the hull. Then the panel is removed and the holes drilled in the panel from the inside using the stringer outlines as a guide. Then the panel is re-attached to the hull and the screw holes re-drilled from the outside to countersink the heads and extend the holes into the stringers.
Why were so many methods tried for locating the screw holes? Because at 85 screws per panel, or 170 screws per side, or 340 screws total, the whole process is just a bit tedious.
At least I had my new Milwaukee 18 volt lithium-ion battery powered drill / screw driver to make the whole thing easier. This is easily the best driver I have owned yet . light weight, powerful, long lasting batteries, two battery packs, microprocessor controlled fast charger, etc, and the fit to my hand is so good that it hasn't irritated the knuckle on my thumb where most of its weight sits making the Milwaukee worth every penny of its $200 price tag.
The portion of the front panels that formed the sides of the fore peak were primed and painted with Interlux primer and brightsides topsides white high-gloss paint. The same primer and paint was applied to the rest of the fore peak and the inside of the lazarette as these places would be impossible to reach after the panels have been glued and screwed permanently into place. At $32 per quart, the Interlux paint is a little pricey. But with paints you generally get what you pay for, and the Interlux paint has a lot of body to it and it sets up nicely to form a hard smooth plastic surface.