The hull inside is now strengthened with epoxy fillets and fiber glass cloth, and it is time to start building the seat framework. To give room for the motor well, I started the back seat one foot ahead of the second cross frame.

The wood frames are easy enough, but making them comfortable, in a well planned layout is the most important goal of the present. Notice the chair, with a straight edge on the seat, which was my pattern for setting the angle for the bench. The back of the bench follows closely to the angle of the seat also.

This is not a couch to slouch back and watch TV. It is an upright posture to interact, talk maybe, and be prepared for hammer down on occasion. Once the mockup is complete, it is time to get out the trusty dowel drilling jig and make some holes.

The dowel strengthened joints will be another long lasting part of the boat construction. All the way along, I am thinking how I can build the current part in such a way that it does not become the weakest Link.

Below the four seat frames are dowelled and assembled to the boat longitudinal frames. The cross frame top over the seat will eventually be cut out, and moved behind the seat for more support there.

Next, layout for the front seats begins. A complicating factor is the possibility of two flip down seats behind the driver and copilot. It’s a fine line between ample personal distance and wasted space, as this boat is intended to have short run seating for eleven.

There’s plenty to be nervous about on the things that need to be figured out on the fly. I do prefer to get it right the first time, not like the sheer moulding I rebuilt today. I didn’t think the small knot was a problem, but the extra pressure needed to bend the moulding into the sheer line cracked it. I guess it was the weakest link.

A couple of hours on a repair detour and we are back on track. You are not lost if you are not out of time.

With the boat turned right side up, it is time to strengthen the joint between the cross frames and the hull planks. Epoxy is a wonderful sculptural and structural adhesive, and can be mixed with a variety of fillers to make more of a paste consistency. This can be a sticky mess, difficult to make it go where I want.

So, I put the thickened mixed mess in a Ziploc bag, and cut a small corner cut on one end. As far as I remember, this is similar to how my mom used to do some special decorative frosting on the cakes of our childhood birthdays. By the way, sister Anne reported that mom would have been 95 yesterday, had she not passed away at age 45. I think she would have liked to see my boat frosting.

Then, I inject a bead into the corners, as consistently as possible. When shaped with a round nosed plastic tool, it hardens without drifting into a reinforced epoxy fillet.

The next reinforcement to the hull is to add fiberglass fabric into each of the bottom sections. When possible, the pieces are cut to wrap slightly up the sides, covering the epoxy fillets. This serves to further strengthen the frame to hull joint, but also stiffen the tongue and groove plank layer of Okume marine plywood.

When a coat of epoxy is applied to the fabric, it wets out nearly clear, and becomes a strong, durable, scratch resistant surface. As the glass fabric and epoxy are added to the outer surface, the hull will be a super strong composite of the plywood core between the E-glass layers.

The boat is making forward progress but the amount left to do is sobering. This must be like hiking a middle section of the Appalachian trail, where you have gone too far to turn back, but still an unimaginably long way from the end.

However, Aunt Marge Liechty recently sent a particularly encouraging note, which was a kind wake up, keep moving call. It is time to make another detailed list of little things to do, step forward to do them, and mark them off the list . .

Now that the boat has been turned upright, the exciting work of building out the cockpit begins, from the bottom up. The first priority is to make sure that water getting inside the boat drains well to the bottom back of the boat. The half circles in the middle will allow water to flow back to the transom.

The holes drilled in the long stringers let the side sections drain down.

The half circles in the middle will allow water from the sides to flow back to the transom box, where a bilge pump will be located.

The floor level was set at the height of the Alaska Yellow Cedar stringers, so the extra unneeded plywood of the cross frame patterns was removed. This makes a big space for seating, leg room, and some under seat storage.

Another step of progress, and some exciting days ahead!