Painting Bottoms and Topsides

The whole shop was in painting mode, as the second Whitehall got closer to the water, and a double ended rowing boat in the ISM fleet each got bottom paint.  The job gave the CHAD interns a chance to learn some important lessons about gravity and the happy tendency for water to seek its own level.  Bruce taught a lesson in the using the laser level to mark the waterline.

First, the hull is leveled on saw horses, both for to aft and side to side using, in the case of the Whitehall, the keel as a reference point.  Then, the waterline level at the stem or transom is measured from the plan, and marked on the hull.  The laser level is set so that it points to that mark.  By pivoting the laser level, one person moves the light beam along the hull, while another marks the location of the beam every few inches.  The marks are connected and, voila, a good waterline is achieved.

The lapstrake Whitehall is primed, and the waterline has been drawn

 Work also continued on the 1929 Richardson powerboat, To 'n Fro.  A coat of topside paint has been applied and sanded, blemishes have been fixed, and it is ready for a second coat.  

The scarphed repair to the stem has been rendered invisible!

The hull is starting to look very nice.

 Bruce made some time to give a lesson on lofting, as he and the CHAD students began to prepare for the next small boat building project, proving once again that there is always something new happening at WoW.

The lofting table is the place where all WoW boats start their lives.

 While the press of priorities has drawn us away from the whaleboat for the past month or so, work is still going on.  Newt has been spiling, cutting, and installing ceiling, a tricky enterprise in such a curvy hull.  The last few sections are being done as the whaleboat moves closer to completion.

A full length ceiling plank sits on the bandsaw having just been spiled and rough cut