At Last!

August 31, 2012:  "The companionway hood and dropboard retainers don't have any varnish on them yet, and I don't know what I'm going to do about that...." 

September 1, 2012:  "The boom gallows and the dropboards are now the critical path items.  They'll get some attention tomorrow..."

September 2, 2012: "The dropboards and boom gallows will still be unfinished wood when (if?) they travel to Port Townsend."

September 3, 2012: "I also whipped up some temporary dropboards.  The real, pretty ones will come..."

December 12, 2012: "In the coming weeks (or months), I am planning to strip her of her spars, add a couple of coats of varnish to them, and finish the long-delayed drop boards..."

February 3, 2012: "I still have to make a set of permanent drop boards.  Actually, the drop boards will be more difficult than I thought.  A search of the shop revealed that I do not have any bits of 1/4" marine plywood remaining that will be large enough to construct the drop boards from.  What to do?"

It has been a long time coming, but I am pleased to report that the construction of a permanent set of drop boards for Solitude III is underway.  I couldn't find any suitable plywood running around the shop and was contemplating desperate action when inspiration struck.  I still have a bunch of cedar strips left over from my Redfish kayak, why not put them to good use.  I could even do a little decorative inlay, rendering Solitude's compass-point logo in sapele and maple.

Construction was pretty straightforward.  I cut a bunch of cedar strips to the right length and glued them together edge-to-edge with wood glue.  Use the temporary boards as patterns for the new ones, trim the sides and cut the curve at the top.  A bit of trick cutting to get the inlay right, and the fiberglass and three coats of epoxy on both sides. 

Just have to sand and varnish and I'll be able to check this project off the list!

Gluing up the cedar strips.

The wood for the inlay

Dry fitting the long bits of the inlay

Fiberglass!