it afloat if it ever got swamped by a wave or capsized.
Here is a view of the bow with a good look
at the Sitka spruce frame facings you've heard about. Please excuse the poor
picture quality
After fairing the frames and testing the fit with a scrap
piece of 1/4" ply, the boat was ready for a deck. The plans called for 1/8"
ply but that was a built too weak and too expensive. So, instead I used
5.5mm Mahogany Luan from Home Depot. I tested some with the "boil" test and
though it got quite soggy
,
the veneers did not delaminate. Lots of glue and screws later, I had a deck.
I found it easiest to attach the panel and then use a router to trim the
edges. Then I followed it up with a wood plane to make it flush. The bow had
a complex curve to it so I had to use 3 panels total for the entire top. The
seams at the bow were just butt joints.
This pic shows the lap seams I had to do since an 8 foot sheet of luan comes up a bit short on a 9 foot deck. I attached the front panel to the bow first, making sure its edge ended on top of a frame . Then I used a router (aka tool of the gods) to make the lap joint and then applied the 1 foot board to the stern sides. After some sanding to make the seam faired and flush, it looked pretty good.
Here she is with her final coat of Polyester resin, hardening up nice and even. Polyester is very unforgiving but can be much cheaper than epoxy if you learn to use it right.