All Planked Up

So wooden boat building isn't wasteful eh? I have to say that the Scots pine I bought was cut to 3/4in, not the usual 5/8in which meant thicknessing down (don't you mean thin nessing?) to 12mm, or a gnat's goolie under half an inch. So that's about a quarter of the planks lost to shavings.  Or is it a third? Never one for figures.

Note the mixed measurements: sometimes mm will do, other times feet and inches. Just depends on what' being measured. Then there's a tad, a smidgeon and a fag paper fit.

I did manage to get two strakes out of every board, by a whisker, and lots of juggling of spile board. Satisfying to make the absolute most of the Queen's Scots pine (from her estate at Balmoral, don't ya know).

The Tammie Norrie is now planked up and ready for a long, enjoyable spell of sanding and cleaning. That'll be the first job for next week. Problems? A few. The usual ones trying to get out planks while avoiding knots and the blue coloured areas of sap, which I believe are the sugars in the timber. I was told it was winter felled, but I'm not so sure now. Maybe very early spring. Maybe someone can tell me.

So, mid-August, 20 working days down the line and we have a boat shaped object which, up until now, has been good only to keep my tools in. It's one of the nice things about building a boat: you build your own toolbox as you go, which means nothing gets lost. Well it does, but you know it's in the boat somewhere.

PS The sheerline has yet to be trimmed, just in case you were wondering...