I wanted to do my first boat from scratch so to speak. So I bought the book, lofted the offsets, built the box beam got everything alligned, milled the strips (mostly WRC, some Douglas Fir, and some Cypress accents for the deck) and started stripping the day before Christmas. Last weekend I fit the last two strips on the bottom and I have been planing and sanding this week. Thanks to those who have helped me so far...and yes I have learned a lot while fairing the bottom.

Despite some very sharp cutters, I got some checking in the Douglas Fir. I think that what happened is that the cutter depth that was just fine for the WRC was too deep for the Fir. The Fir is used at the shear and 4 strips in the center of the bottom. Should I keep sanding until they are gone, fill them with thickened epoxy, or just forget about them?

I had no problem with checking on the WRC. Any thoughts as to if I am going to have a problem with the Cypress.

I am laminating up the external stem (Ash) tonite. You may see them clamped together on the Work-mate

Here is an attempt to post a picture from this afternoon. I am laminating up the external stem tonite.

Thanks again,

Jay