Gilding the Lily

About 80% done on the Amanda Louise's dagger board cap ornamentation. Ordinarily, this sort of thing would only be reserved for the figurehead and stern transom.

Priming the Nutshell Pram

When it comes to boat building, there's little that is more exciting, glamorous or all-around romantic than priming. There's the prepping, the mixing, the rolling, the blast oven that was my garage this weekend, the process of sanding and checking and repairing small scuffs and nicks with auto body repair gel; the smell of the primer (part of a balanced breakfast; the component list includes butane and calcium,) the smell of acetone, washing brushes and buckets and roller pans.And now I've got a boat with three solid coats of pollution grey that I will never see again once the paint goes on. A weekend well spent.

Time Lapse of Carving Name on Boat

Used a dremel tool with engraving and grinding bits I carved the name into the back of the pram, then washed her down with denatured alcohol and sealed her with a very light layer of epoxy.  Spent about three hours on the garage floor.  Sweet fancy Moses, I hope my knees forgive me one day.

Mast Step Reinforcement

Considering how thin the mast step is along the bow transom, we thought it might be a good idea to reinforce it with a small oak block. My father cut it, I routed and polished it up. Ready to be mounted.

Building the Nutshell Pram

Puttied up screw holes, polished down the hull and seats with 220 and 400-grit sandpaper, coated the seats in three coats of high-gloss varnish.

Seldom get a good, full-body shot of the boat. Here she is, seen from the prow. Note that the hole in the bow transom supports the painter; a rope tied to the forekeel.

Mast Building: Getting it to fit in the mast step

Spent about an hour and a half whittling it down with a power planer and random orbit sander to get it to fit in the mast step. Next time going to save myself the time by originally cutting the mast about 1/10th smaller than is absolutely needed. Will also help make way for the varnish.

First Sailing Weekend

Making a Stopper Knot

Overhauled the running rigging and launched the Springtide. Had the lake almost to ourselves this weekend, save for seagulls, great blue and green herons, and a noisy band of terns. Temps in the 40's with winds so light it took us two hours to run as many miles.