: Okay Edgar, you can't show that picture without an explanation of how you
: built that nose! Did you add that after joining the deck and hull? Very
: nice job. What kind of wood is the nose, bulkhead behind it?

Thanks Dave,... I call it a dognose.... Let me see if I can explain it...

The bulkhead piece as you call it is actually just station #1 - a small piece of pine screwed to the stem form to which the strips are glued. I strip to sta #1 and saw them off flush . Fiberglass the deck. To seperate the hull and deck I need to unscrew and saw sta #1 in half horiziontially at the sheer.

After joining the deck and hull again I glued a small 1/16" thick piece of sapele over the bulkhead piece and strip ends making that small divider piece you see.

The stem sticks beyond sta #1 about 6 inches. I file the top of the stem into an inverted V shape and cut a V groove into the bottom of a solid piece of sapele (1" thick with a hole drilled in it and shaped to form the bow
) which is glued onto the bulkhead piece and the stem. Then cut the remaining piece of stem off and sand the whole thing into a nice curve.

Then the 2 cedar side pieces are formed around a hole I drill into them to match the one in the stem and glued onto either side of the sapele.

Carve the cedar pieces so they are nice and rounded, then glass covers the whole shebang.... It is like a battering ram, very strong and makes it a lot easier stripping too...

Hope I explained this ok... it makes sense to me but then again I was there