But back to the beginning. I had to start at the bowstem today as the position of the hull is set off it, and the stringers are then set off the hull. So I pushed the hull up snug with the bowstem and then used a compass to trace the inside line of the hull on it. Went to the back and put two screws in the hull to tie it to the transom to hold the position. Went back to the front, got under the hull, lifted it up with my shoulders and then propped it up with a 4x4 and started planing the bowstem to fit.
I thought I'd be spending most of the day working on just the bowstem, but I got it right on the first pass! Cleaned up the bottom edge and using a spare piece of plywood and the planer I cut a little more angle in the shelves to make a little better fit as the angle is a little shallower up near the bow. Then I put a couple screws through the hull into the bowstem to hold it in place.
Next I went to the back and pushed the stringers forward in their slots until their tips just touched the hull up near the bow, marked their position at the transom, slid them back and cut them off. Made up a small batch of epoxy and peanut butter and glued the stringers in place. Then I cut the hull to length and put in two locator screws to hold it in place.
Then it was up to the horse at station 6 and some pulling and pushing to get the hull centered on the stringers. Underneath I went and two blocks were set flush to the stringers and screwed to the hull so that when the hull was picked up and then set back down it would return to its centered location.
A screw was driven up through the hull at the tip of the stringers and then again at station 6. One more screw was driven at the transom for the edge of each stringer and a string was pulled tight and a line drawn on the hull.
Then marks were made the full length of the hull at eight inch intervals. These marks will be used when I drive screws to pull the hull tight against the stringers. But the next step was to prop up the bow, spread epoxy on the top of the stringers and the hull, then made significant quantities of peanut butter and spread it on top of the stringers. Once I'd reached the point where I couldn't easily get to the top of the stringers, I set the hull down on the bowstem, reinstalled the screws and then did the same at the transom end of the hull.
And now it was time for the test. I set up the ladder at the transom and carefully climbed up on the hull. While kneeling astride the center of the keel I drove two screws on each side into the stringers. Things felt a little, uh, squirmy (that's a technical term :-), but as I worked my way from the transom towards the bow alternating sides and driving screws I could feel everything stiffen up.
Why drive the screws while kneeling on the hull? My weight helped to push the hull down in contact with the stringers, and the closer that contact, the better the ultimate strength of the joint.
Also, up near the bow, the 1/4" plywood was significantly humped up away from the stringers so my weight was necessary to push it down. The screws alone would not have been able to pull the plywood in contact with the stringers.
Even still, I had to drive additional screws to pull everything into place on one side.
And then to that squeeze out. I climbed under the hull and was pleased to find squeeze out along the length and both sides of the stringers, the inside and outside of the transom! Yay!
Then it was back to the transom to put in some more screws and nailed in some 6d nails. All of the screws in the bowstem, hull and transom will be removed tomorrow.
I pulled all the stray locator screws in various places around the jig, stringers and framework, did some cleanup and called it a night.
9 Hours