Down the drain, in a good way...

Despite the dramatic thunder and lightning storms we have had over the last couple of days, I have managed to make some more progress on the Duck Punt build. There is nothing like working on a boat with nature playing her dramatic symphony right over your head. Even though my work space is outside, thank goodness it is covered!

Glassing and filleting of the second chine went pretty smoothly, if not actually very smooth. This time, since I had a better idea of what to expect, I kind of just slapped the epoxy in there and was more relaxed about drawing out the fillet and it went really well. At least it looks as good as the other chine, which is really all that matters at this point. Matching ugliness! 

Once I had the chine glassed and the epoxy was curing I moved on to the next step which was cutting out the space in the corners of the frames to allow water to drain through when the boat is heeled. I used a forstner bit in a hand drill to rough out the corner, and then used a drum sanding bit in my ultra crappy, (given to me for free,) rusted, chinese drill press and just pushed the corner in until it was the same shape as the drum.

The next day I decided that it was time to clean out my tool box and below you see the chaos that ensued. Still, a worthy project and one that desperately needed doing! (I told you that drill press was a piece of crap!)

Once the tool box mayhem was under control, it was time to do some work on the frames in preparation for installing them. I stacked and batch sanded them with my palm sander, and then used a round-over bit in my router to ease the edges so they would be comfortable when I am leaning on them. Below is a dry fit to check for adequate clearance for the fillet.

Another view...

Below is a close up showing the round-over and water drain. This view also shows the thickness of the frame. I feel like using the plywood uncut (without a joint in the corner) is going to give me a very strong frame with very little flex.

And below is another view of the boat with all the frames dry fit in place. Cool!!!

 I bought a chunk of African Mahogany to use for the bow piece, (over-sized so I could shape it in place) but I had to figure out a way to clamp it on to the angled bow while the epoxy cured. I am not proud of it, but below is true innovation at work...the poor man's angled clamp. Thickened epoxy and a huge rock, I really am a boat builder now!

Once the epoxy cures in the chines I will begin sanding the interior to smooth it in preparation for paint, and then I can attach the frames. I can then shape the bow piece at my leisure and glass it for extra impact protection. Phase three will then be complete! Then it will be time for side panels, gunwales, oar chocks, mast partner, etc, etc, etc...