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Summer Breeze building notes - 
Day Five (Oct 12, 2000)

Today I made and glued the gunwales (also call rub rails by some) made the breasthook, the spacing blocks and laminated the mast. 

gunwaleclamp1.jpg (15036 bytes) gunwaleclamp.jpg (12492 bytes) The gunwales go about the same as the chine logs, and are the same dimensions 3/4" x 1". Still need to cut that compound angle where they meet the stem. (Unless you use the internal stem, then they can just run long.) The curve is a little more pronounced so take care when you're bending. I found dry fitting from bow to stern worked fine, but when unclamping the bow half to glue, go ahead and unclamp the aft half leaving a couple of clamps in the middle. This relieves tension, and makes it much easier to pull the bow end in.

spacerblocks.jpg (8918 bytes) The spacer blocks are the same 3/4"x1" stock in 3 inch lengths. They're glued just aft of each station line. The side butt blocks are in the way for two of them. You could just off set them a little, or cut away the butt block like I did. This doesn't effect the strength of the joint. The gunwales back the sides at that point. I glued mine on with Titebond II, which is a great waterproof wood glue. Many builders use it for joints above the waterline. 

breasthook.jpg (11453 bytes) breasthook2.jpg (9628 bytes) breasthook3.jpg (8100 bytes) What can I say about the breasthook? Get out your bevel gauge! It's a symphony of angles, and now I see why simple boat plans tend to avoid them. They have the angle of the sides and the rake of the stem. That would be it, if it weren't for my love of those nostalgic looking split wales. So there are those little tabs that take the ends of the inwales. If you're inclined to skip all this, you can flatten out your gunnels and glue a piece of ply there as a mini deck. Stiffen the edge with a piece of gunwale stock, and call it a day. It will serve the same purpose. I buttered it with generous amounts of PL Premium, smooshed it into place and held it there with a couple of clip clamps.

mastsaw2.jpg (10361 bytes) mastclamp.jpg (11664 bytes) I got an ordinary piece of spruce 2x6 for the mast. (actually picked through the stack for the best of the ordinary, and knots should be small) I snapped a line between marks 2" in from opposite corners. Did you follow that? This makes two tapered pieces 31/2" at one end and 2" at the other. I buttered them with Titebond II and clamped them. This board had a very slight curve in it. However, any tendency to bow can be canceled out by this process. I faced the cup of the bow inward... like this...( ).

That's it for the sawdust. Julie called me on her way home from work to see if there was a breeze. She said she was bringing us a picnic dinner and was ready for a sail. I rigged Featherwind and made us drinks, and loaded up the dog. Julie met me on the beach and we had a sunset picnic sail. The wind was so brisk we had to run up into the cat tails on the far side of Lake Swan while we ate. We then sailed by our friend's place to borrow a couple of Kayaks for our party this weekend. We cut quite a profile as we sailed home with those kayaks following us like little purple and red ducklings. Sometimes life is sweet.
Fair winds,

David Beede  simplicityboats

Day Six!