<<<<< BUILDING THE GLOUCESTER GULL LIGHT DORY PART (8) >>>>>

I have dry fitted the gunwales a couple of times and found them a bit of a tough bend. Then I read the manual again ("When in doubt read the directions" is a universal statement of common sense widely ignored) and found that the bottom of the gunwales requires a thirty-degree bevel cut on the underside. So I gave one of my very helpful sailor mates a ring who has a table saw, tied the gunwales to the roof rack on my car and took them out to his place in the country. He is well set up with sheds and machine tools and stuff and helps me out from time to time. After half an hour cutting bevels on each of the gunwales and a 2-hour session shooting the breeze over a local bevy I returned to the Dory with a now near complete set of gunwales, With the timber removed with the 30-degree bevel cut I found the gunwales now bend around the sheer of the dory in a much, much easier manner. As I still have to plane a taper into the ends of the gunwales (which will further ease the required bending force) the final fitting, fastening and gluing job should now be a lot easier than I first thought it would be.

<<<<< BUILDING THE GLOUCESTER GULL LIGHT DORY PART (7) >>>>>

Stem laminated and shaped (second attempt).

Mistakes and setbacks are all part of the learning process. I had problems with the first set of stem laminations. In my first attempt I glued and secured them (see part 6) below) with temporary chip board screws, until the glue dried, which weren't of a strong enough gauge. When I came to take the screws out, four or more of the screws broke off. Shaping the stem with a hand plane and sandpaper is impossible with wood full of broken screws and as my attempts to remove the screws made a mess of the wood I cut my losses and totally removed the laminations. This means that all the work that you see in the last post (Part 6) has been to no avail at all. This sometimes happens in any project and is just part of the creative process. My second attempt has been a lot more successful and I am pleased with the results. 

<<<<< BUILDING THE GLOUCESTER GULL LIGHT DORY PART (6) >>>>>

I have not followed the building manuals advice exactly in regards to the stem, but I have followed the stem profile and the positioning of the stem relative to the building frame and mold stations. The reasons for not fully following the manual is that the plan is not clear regarding the stem and a bit confusing to me. Also I didn't want a "razor sharp" stem / cutwater, I wanted a tapered and rounded stem, which I feel is a lot more attractive. I built the taper into the stem when I was fairing the stem bevel. Doing this did alter very slightly the lay of the plywood sides but nothing of any consequence. In the photograph (above) I am laminating the first of two or possibly three laminations of a stem cap which I will round off to the taper already built into the stem.

The second stem cap lamination in place (glued, screwed with temporary screws and clamped) - and yep, a boat builder can't ever have enough clamps !

This photograph shows the thickness of the bottom panel (half inch thick) and the fastening screws at six inch centres. The 6mm side panels have also been secured with screws at four inch centers. The two different measurement systems (metric and imperial) are a function of the dory plans in imperial measurements (feet and inches) and the NZ metric system (plywood measured in millimetres). 

If you are reading this and contemplating building this dory don't be put off by my comments regarding the building manual, in all other respects the manual and its advice is excellent. Any difficulties once your shoulder is put to the wheel and a commitment made are readily solved with a little thought and patience.

 

<<<<< BUILDING THE GLOUCESTER GULL LIGHT DORY PART (5) >>>>>

Today I did a dry fit of the bottom panel (which is made up of two pieces of ply butted end to end). After cutting out the shape roughly with a jigsaw and hand saw (after scribing the shape with the ply laid on top of the dory) I screwed the panels temporarily (the forward panel 8 feet long, the one at the stern shorter) down onto the chines. I then proceeded to plane the panels first with a long plane, finishing with a small hand plane. The panels are now ready to be glued and screwed down to the chines permanently.

I had forgotten what hard work (brutal even) boat building is. At 75 years old, it's not exactly a struggle, but I do have to pace myself - here was me contemplating building a 123 foot Grand Banks fishing schooner before this coming Christmas from which to launch my dory so that I can go fishing for Cod on the Grand Banks off New Foundland (Something similar to the famous fishing schooner 'Bluenose', but I think I'll just settle for rowing the dory on Whangarei harbour. : > )

 It is pleasing to see the shape of the dory appearing. So far, she looks fine and fair with no distortions or flat spots. After gluing and fine fairing of the bottom panels at the chines the next jobs will be: fiber glassing the bottom panel, attaching a skeg at the stern and attaching the gunwales - then she will be ready to flip upright.