And so it goes

More varnish, more sanding, more varnish, and so it goes.  To 'N Fro is getting a grander "wow factor" by the day.  She is scheduled to leave the shop on August 28, so the finishing touches are truly underway.  Sanding happens early each day, and to prevent airborne dust from becoming one with the varnish, tacking and varnishing are reserved for the end of the day, after the daily shop cleanup.  Alas, WoW does not have a dedicated finishing room. Aside from protecting the wood from sun and moisture, there are two purposes for varnishing a boat: varnish provides the beauty of a deep, warm finish that can be achieved in no other way, and it is a character builder and teacher of humility for boat builders and volunteers alike.

Newt sands around the window frames

Bruce gives the transom yet another coat.  Look! I can see myself!

Carolyn covers up Newt's excellent sanding with yet more varnish.

The CHAD kids are done for the Summer, so Tuesdays and Thursdays will be a bit quieter, and the mean age of the WoW team has just quadrupled until Autumn.  Before they left, however, they finished the bulk of the work on their Bevins skiff.  Since our prior post, only a week ago, they completed planking the bottom, and caulked it with cotton.  In addition, they completed the second (and final) planks on both port and starboard, riveted them in place, and even flipped the boat.

Bottom planked and sheerstrake clamped in place for riveting.

Sheerstrake rivets drilled and seated.

Caulking the bottom

Wow! Look what we did!

The Comet restoration is moving along.  Lee epoxy filled some gouges in the deck carlin, which also serves as the coaming, prior to painting it.  The new mast step got another coat of varnish, and is ready for installation. The new step will give much better strength to the mast base by distributing forces over a wider base as well as 3 instead of 2 floors. It has a full 1 inch slot instead of the old 3/4 inch slot.  As an added bonus, the new step is also consistent with the original design of the boat.

The old mast step

A new wider, longer step.

A beefier tenon was cut on the mast for added strength.