Gunwales, Hardware, Daggerboard Install (blue Dhow)

June 30, 2018

The previous evening I was able to complete the blue Dhow's rigging varnish work, and thought I would save from posting that short work session.  The varnish work is complete, and it felt good to get yet one more item checked off the list.

This morning, I turned my attention to installing the gunwales on the blue Dhow.  I worked on the port side of the bow to start.  The process was to pre-drill for #10 wood screws and cup washers, and then install.  I worked the white oak gunwales as best I could around the sheer line of the Dhow, but had to settle for good up around the bow - both starboard and port.  I will come back and apply polysulfide in the voids which will minimize the less than perfect mating of the old Dhow's sheer line to that of the new steam-bent white oak.  Later in the day, I installed the lifting ring at the bow.

I worked my way aft on the port side, installing the forward seat and then the middle seat as I went.  I wanted to make sure that I did not place a gunwale screw where the seat thwarts would need to be installed, so I completed the seating as I worked aft.  I used the lower portion of the mast to help achieve position of the forward seat. 

 

Just visible in the left side of the picture below, I installed the middle seat.  Like the forward seat, I used the daggerboard and its brace to help locate the ultimate position of the middle seat.

With the seating installed, I then continued my work towards the stern of the Dhow, completing the gunwales install as I went.  With the gunwales completed, I liberally oiled them with boiled linseed oil and then turned my attention to the oar locks (see below), and installed all four of them on the inboard gunwale.

I then turned my attention to the daggerboard trunk installation.  I rough sanded the epoxy coating on the daggerboard trunk as well as the inside of the hull.  I wiped the surfaces clean with acetone, mixed a small amount of neat epoxy and then painted that onto the surfaces that would be bonded.

I thickened a batch of epoxy with 406 colloidal silica and 403 microfibers.  I applied a fair amount around the inside edge of the hull cutout (where the daggerboard slots through), and then placed the daggerboard trunk into position - using marks I had made previously to line up the positioning.  I then formed a fillet around the base of the trunk so that fiberglass would take the radius  - to be completed tomorrow.

Last bit of work was to install the rudder stock on the transom.  This was a fairly simple task, taking three bolts on the bottom bracket, secured with nuts and washers to a backing plate beneath the aft seat, and three bolts for the top bracket.

Total Time Today: 8 hrs.