Monday, April 27, 2015

The Starling Project - Part 14

Let me tell you about a typical Whangarei weather scenario. The forecast was for a day of strong winds from the North East with heavy rain. In the morning as I began work on the boat it rained hard and blew like hell. In fact it blew so hard the Starling was getting wet from the deluge that began to stream into the carport. So I went to work and put up a tarpaulin to keep the rain at bay --- Yep, that's right, the minute I put up the tarp (nearly falling off the wooden sawhorses, hammer in hand, mouth full of nails) the rain stopped and the sun came out. Great! If there is one thing about Northland, you don't have to wait long for the sun!

Two bottom plywood planks are now glued and fastened onto the frames with screws and 'holdfast' nails. Again I had to fiddle around with a wood plane to get things to fit as snugly as possible.

 Thank goodness for gap filling glue is all I can say LOL !


5 comments:

Cro Magnon said...

Is this a kit, or have you cut everything from patterns? It reminds me of the balsa wood 'planes I used to make as a child.

Alden Smith said...

This is a small yacht I bought having won the auction on 'TradeMe'. I didn't see the yacht in person before I bought it - usually not a good idea, but as I didn't pay very much it didn't seem to matter at the time.
When I got it home I found all the plywood, but not the frame was rotten. So I have taken off the plywood and are now replacing it.
I have made cardboard patterns taken from the hull to assist the cutting of the plywood panels.

Ben said...

You are quite honest regarding your plywood joining skills 

Great progress! Your weather is as unpredictable and variable as ours.

Ben said...

You are quite honest regarding your plywood joining skills 
Your weather is as unpredictable and variable as ours.

Alden Smith said...

Ben, Yes! As I mentioned in the post, I am glad that epoxy glue is a great gap filler, although the joins are not too bad and I am getting better as I go along. I have just nailed and screwed on the starboard side plank (having lunch as I type)- only the port one to go and then I can turn the hull over and begin on the deck (which will be tomorrow, as the grandsons arrived and there is no rest for an old babysitter).