Building a Skerry

Day 6 (3/10/03) - 1 1/2 Hrs: Yippee!! It appears that my first two panels came out okay. Tonight, I glued panels 2 and 3 together, using the same method as panel 1. I'm a bit concerned about the space in the scarfs of the #2 Panels. In order to have the panel faces even, I had to leave a 3/8" space. I read on the CLC forum that this shouldn't be a problem.


Panels 2 & 3 glued and clamped. The instructions say to tack the boards down to prevent them from moving. I don't want any extra holes, so I just taped them down with package tape. It seemed to work.	A 3/8" space in the scarf of the #2 Panels

Day 7 (3/11/03) - 1/2 Hr: I went everywhere trying to find a Rabbet Plane. I finally had to buy one from Amazon.com and it won't be delivered until next week. This is going to slow my progress a bit.

Tonight, I just scraped away the excess epoxy from the scarfs.

Day 8 (3/13/03) - 3/4 Hr: Since I still have the table up in the family room, tonight I pieced together the four lengths of outwale which are made up of three scarfed sections, a piece.

After the fact, I'm concerned about possibly not using enough epoxy. I just gave them a coating, but didn't glob it on.

Clamping the Outwale Scarfs after gluing

Day 9 (3/15/03) - 3 Hrs: Well, the time has come to move into the boat shop (ok, garage) where it is a balmy 15 degrees. Maybe, with all the spot lights I have set up I can get it up to 17.

Dressed in a wool jacket and hat, today I focused on some of the final steps before I can start wiring the hull (I'm still waiting for my rabbet plane). First, I sanded down the scarfs on the panels using my new ROS (thanks Ryan!!!), hooked up to the shop vac. The hose doesn't fit snug, so I used some packaging tape. I will probably need another 6 feet of hose when it comes to the larger sanding jobs.

Sanding the Panel Scarfs... Damn, it's cold out here!!!!!

I then marked the bottom panel for the location of the three frames. The instructions say "Measure on a diagonal from the bow." This leaves a bit to interpretation. I posted a question on the CLC forum hoping that one of the other few Skerry builders could help me out. Ray, whose building in Hawaii while I'm sanding scarfs in Arctic conditions, came through for me.

Anyway, the correct method for measuring the location of the panels is:

Measuring the location for the aft frame

Next, I drilled 1/16" holes, for wiring, on the bottom and sides of each of the frames. I then drilled 1/16" holes in the bottom panel (2 for each of the three holes that are on the bottom of each frame. One on the frame line and another 3/8" behind or in front of the line, depending on where the frame will sit (Frame 1 - behind, Frames 2 & 3 - in front).

The next step was to scribe a line around the bottom panel, 3/8" from the edge. To do this, I took a piece of strapping and put in a small nail 3/8" from one end.

I then placed this so that the nail was along the outside edge of the bottom panel, and the end rested 3/8" from the edge. I then placed my pencil against the end of the strapping. This, I simply ran around the entire panel, scribing a line 3/8" from the edge. Finally, I drilled 1/16" holes along this line, about 4" apart.

Day 10 (3/16/03) - 2 1/2 Hrs: Since I can't continue with the panels until my Rabbet Plane arrives, I skipped ahead to the outwales. The other day, I glued the outwale sections together. Today, I sanded down the scarfs (a lot of epoxy "squeeze-out") using the ROS. I then tapered both ends of two of the lengths, which will become the inner outwale sections. I tapered them using a 2" Block Plane.

Tapering 2 of the Outwales