After weeks of wild weather, we have been able to move operations out of the workshop and make the final preparations for hull assembly. We moved all the bits of boat out to the shelter, and got them labelled and organised into correct order. We spent a lot of time marking out the frame positions on the strong-backs as specified by the table of offsets. Its been a couple of months since we built the stong-backs, and I was concerned they may have settled a bit with all the rain and moisture. I was relieved that they were just as we left them.

A big job that I had been thinking about for some time was the scarfing. This is the process of gluing lengths of timber lengthways without compromising their strength. A properly done scarf joint is as strong as its host timber. I had received a lot of advice from other Easy builders, and at their suggestion built a couple of jigs. In the end I was able to use my Festool table saw in docking mode, for the 42mm stringer sections. The larger sections for the chines and kelson were done with a router jig. All joins were cut 12:1 which produces a 210mm glue face.

When the westerlies get going it rains sideways here in Tassy, and the height of our shelter allows for rain to enter. We decided to make up four covers to protect the hulls and frames. We purchased a large 9.5 x 7.3 metre tarp from the local discount shop, and Deb spent an afternoon cutting into four sections and hemming the edges.

We are getting excited and a little nervous to be close to assembling the hulls.