Boat Form is Built

I made a lot of progress over the last week. My brothers have been a great help. Brother Joey came over last Wednesday and Brother Gary has been with me every step of the way. Gary and I went to the nautical area in Home Depot and bought the lumber to build the boat form. The boat is built upside down on this form (jig). I would have had a difficult time this week without their help. Also, my very best friends Terry Kohler and Dave Pohl stopped by to see this project (we all built airplanes together). While they were here, I put them to work holding the stringers on the form so Gary and I could get everything straight, level and square. Having my laser light from my airplane build was a great help.

I was able to get my keel cut and fitted. We started out with a twelve foot piece and trying to rip that piece of lumber on my table saw in my basement without help would have been a real challenge. No worries, simple deal with the right tool and great help.
My Shopsmith, was a perfect tool to do the horizontal boring in the "Knee".
Other big accomplishments were getting the "Knee" mounted to the "Transom" and the "Keel". It is all epoxy (glued) and screwed in place.

The next step will be to mount the keel to the "Stem" (front of the boat, bow) and the Frames". Gary and I are planning on doing this tonight. Then boat building will come to a halt for a few weeks. I am going to Guanajauto, Mexico to fly my Hot Air Balloon and then I will be taking a weekend trip to Chicago to visit my daughter and son-in-law in their new home.