I released the clamps holding the hull for taping and flipped it keel-up. Pressed paper inserts from shipments of wine make excellent pads between the boat and the tabletop.

It’s miraculous how rigid these floppy strips of plywood have become. That’s engineering, boys (not mine, but engineering just the same).

There were ~180 stitches in the hull. To remove their external manifestations, I had to clip each one in two places, and then take a second pass to trim any excessive stubs. Call it four hundred squeezes of the clippers.

A few minutes with the orbital sander confirmed that 80-grit disks will make quick work of smoothing the hull, level any remaining copper bits, and round over the seams. That’s this evening’s work.

Sanding was transformative! This collection of plywod panels held together by wire and glue suddenly looks and feels like One Thing.

Visible edges disappeared first. Scribed lines and penciled notations (“top aft bulkhead” “111 inches”…) went away next. Before long, I could walk from one end to the other letting formerly hard joints flow between my index finger and my thumb: no splinters, no copper barbs. When I (rarely) felt even a hint of an edge, I put the sander back to work for a few seconds. I called it a day when I could walk from end to end while nothing but smooth wood passed through my hand.

This feels like magic; this is why people get into woodwork. (No! I am not going down that road: I just want a boat.)

Tomorrow

I’ll mix some filler for a couple of voids near the bow and stern, knowing that the sander can finish what I start by hand. I “should” do that tonight, but my next series of tasks and projects says I won’t get to the next big step (epoxy in fiberglass) before Sunday no matter what. So I’ll take the time to go over the hull with a finer grit first (I bought the sander and plenty of disks and I intend to use them) before plunging into wrapping the hull in glass. Snags and catches will be banished as will any left over hard edges.

On the horizon: the foredeck has a scarf joint 10-12 inches from the bow. The wood grain will not match. What should I do at the scarf? An inlay, a line of stain, nothing?

Mostly, I am relieved that the decks will still fit with room to spare even though the boat is a few inches longer than spec’d.