Whiskey Plank

Progress slowed somewhat due to family considerations around Christmas and New Year.  However, I finally got around to cutting the sheer strakes for my Somes Sound.  I had to break into a new sheet of plywood, as the remaining scarfed planking stock was too narrow to fit my final sheer planks.  So I had to scarf some new stock and cut the strakes from this.

I fitted the strake on the starboard side today which seem to fit very accurately.  John Brooks states in his book, Glues Lapstrake Wooden Boats, that by the time you get to the final strake you will be an expert at planking- can't say I am an expert, but for sure the final planks go one more confidently that the garboards!

It's a traditionally styled boat, and as far as I understand it is tradition to celebrate the final plank with a whiskey!  So the bottle is ready, but until we get the final strake onto the boat, it will remain unopened...
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I also started building my centre board trunk.  It's quite an enjoyable break from the routine of planking, which is quite repetitive.  The plans include full sized drawings of the trunk, so it was reasonably straightforward to create a template in 1/4" ply and use this to create the trunk sides using a flush trim router.  I say "reasonably" because it did take a while to comprehend the new terminology - trunk posts, trunk logs, trunk log cleats, etc..etc.!

Similarly I used the finished trunk sized as a template to finish the trunk posts and ensure that the trunk ends align perfectly.

I'm hoping to get the trunk completed this week-end and get the final strake fitted.

Rough cut centre board post awaiting final  flush trimming

For those of you who are similarly about to embark on building your first wooden boat, I can vouch for the advice which I received that as you move through the project, some of the mist clears and things become more comprehensible as you progress.  I'm hoping that this optimism on my part is not misplaced!