Warm afternoon

I got the keel set up on a ruff dolly to make it easier to work on the keel. Spent the afternoon shaping and sanding the keel, also worked on a hand rail. I bought the cap board today. I hope to be able to get it on the keel this weekend-we'll see.
Susan

winters day

Today was a school holiday so instead of working on the boat I spent the day with my son. We went to the lake and did a shake down run on his puddle duck sailboat.

Into the glue pot

Finally, I had a day off and the weather was good all at the same time. I pre drilled the holes in one set of the keel boards with a countersink. When I put everything together this seemed to help. The glue was kind of weird, easy to mix,but it kept having lumps. Hopefully the lumps don't give me any problems. Today I plan on getting the keel ready for the cap board-shaping and sanding.
Susan

Moving forward

We now have the keel and stem cut out.  It's now ready to be glued and screwed together.  Unfortunately Susan has to work the next two days so it's on hold until Thursday and hopefully we'll have the right temperature to get it done.  Living in Florida has a lot of advantages when you're building a boat.

Going to the lumber companies (we have two besides the usual Home Depot and Lowe's) she has found out somebody else in town is building a boat.  And we're in a medium size town in Central Florida.  I think whoever it is has got a head start on us because when she goes looking for something he's already been there looking for it.  Great minds think alike?  Anne

redo

After agonizing over it all night and all morning Susan decided to go get more wood and redo the keel because it was just a bit off.  I think that's a prudent decision since the keel is like the foundation of the boat and since I don't swim very good I want this thing to sail good. So onward we go.  Anne

saws and other tools

I had no idea what went into picking out a circular saw.  It's been a week of researching, going to stores and picking them up because the weight is a big consideration, comparing blade sizes and how easy they were to get new blades, more internet researching, more store visiting, and finally yesterday a new circular saw which appears to be working out fine.  I think the keel looks pretty good but we'll see what the boat builder decides to do.  Definitely need some saw horses.
Anne

First cut

Today I made the first cut on our pocket cruiser. I cut out the keel. Don't think I did a great job though, I might end up recutting the whole thing. I am going to sleep on it.  I bought a new circular saw today because I needed something light that I could handle. I bought the craftsman evolv.  I had to do all the cutting on the ground and now I can hardly move. I am going to have to get some work tables, for my health. On the up side our boat may not be perfect, but she will definitely have a lot of character when she is done. Can only imagine the paint job the kids will all pick out.
Susan