First varnish

A small but significant stage was reached this week when we put the first varnish on to Boat #1.

We also fitted the inwales and breasthooks to Boat #2.

Gunnels on

Another good week on Boat #1 in that the gunnels and breast hooks have been fitted. She is starting to look very smart.

There is a picture of the bow breast hook which I sourced from a Bangalay (eucalyptus botryoides) that I planted back in 1989.

The plan from here is to start painting Boat #1 while we get Boat #2 to the same point. After painting we will fit out the thwarts, kabes and footrests.

Major progress is being made on the oars with the first finished, from a shaping point of view, and the other 7 all at some stage of shaping.

Inwales affixed

This week we made and glued the inwales into the first boat. We have gone for the type that has a spacer between the two laminations that is stronger and makes the boat easier to pick up.

We also had a major sanding session on boat #2.

The oar team is going flat out on the eight oars we need. They even had a young helper.

Next week we will do the inwales for Boat #2 and maybe the gunnels for Boat #1