.........and speaking of Australia

Here's a couple pictures of the boat my brother and I built for his son on my last visit to Geelong just South of Melbourne 2 years ago

New Years

It's been a while since I've updated. I went back to work on the house after August but here I am getting the final piece applied of the 2nd layer of 4.
I'm off to Australia to visit family next week.

August update

Here's an update on the boat. I'm about 1/2 way down the 2nd layer of veneers and once I get through the tough turn I'll step up to a wider plank

So here's the 1st layer of veneer as I head back aft towards the stern. If you haven't dealt with "edge set" before, cold molding a boat will make it very clear. It's all about letting your plank lay naturally before you spile. I'm using plastic binding strap off of a job site to hold down the planks and in regards to staples, on this 1st layer I've found my best luck with 3/8" and 1/2" staples fired from a gun that uses T-50 staples. The green tape you see is just barely catching the oak apron and sternpost to keep the glue from passing on down the side

I thought I'd pass along a picture of the hull about ready for planking. The hull will be covered with 4mil plastic, the planking stock will be sorted according to widths and lengths and off i go with the 1st layer of veneers.....Probably get started next weekend

Probably not an OSHA approved maneuver but here's how I cut the scarfs for my ribbands.....I did an 8:1 cut and it seemed to work like a champ. I cut and glued up a dozen or so after work Friday night and finished installing them over the weekend.....
I'll now get into fairing the apron, stem and stern post in preparation to planking.......

Here's a pic of the mizzen mast I made back in Febuary. It's a hollow "birdsmouth" mast made of some old growth fir I had laying around the shop. I put solid blocking at the place of shrouds, the area of the boom as well as the top and butt so I should be pretty well covered for any fastenings I need to use. I glued it using west system, clamped with a hose clamp and then used wire ties before moving down the length of the mast.