It's a boat!

We have our first boat.  Granted it's a boat in only the most technical sense of the word in that it could float and keep the water out, but you couldn't do much more than drift down river.  Still, a small milestone has been passed.

Last night we glassed and epoxied the chines and installed the sheer clamps with thickened epoxy.  The sheer clamp was constructed of three 8' lengths of 2x2 lumber that we scarfed together.  This very long piece was then cut along the diagonal on the table saw and trimmed to length to fit along the sheer.  Near the bow the sheer clamp is at the correct angle to accept the deck, but as the hull flares out towards the stern it sticks up above what will be the deck, so it's going to have to be planed down to make it flush.  We screwed it along the sheer with drywall screws to hold it in place while the epoxy dries.  Here's a picture of it; unfortunately it's not too clear:

For those keeping score, I've updated the name of this blog to reflect the fact I'm documenting the Portland fleet build now rather than just my boat, but I'm not going to change the URL at this point so that people can still find us.

Also, if there are any other potential builders in the Pacific Northwest out there lurking around, get in touch!  We can help out with materials, advice, and possibly shop space.  We want to have as strong an i550 fleet in the PNW as possible, so we're happy to help out to get other people's builds on track.

Finally, my wife is expecting our first kid (due in 4 days!).  At her baby shower they decorated baby clothes.  There were a few things left over that didn't get decorated, so I decorated one too...