With the planking complete and the outer stem in place, it remained to fit the skegs and cut the centreboard slot. I extended the stem back to the transom using 25 x 20mm oak, leaving a 25mm gap for the slot - this offered a reasonable base for a router so that the slot cutting posed no particular problem (long cutter needed though - 12 x 60mm). The hull is reassuringly sturdy at this stage, so that I can clamber about on top quite safely. Sitting astride the hull and cutting the centreboard slot was a bit like inseminating a small whale! - I imagine (not that I imagine this sort of thing much!- well, not at all actually . . . .)The rubbing strips on either side are likewise of oak.
The skegs worried me a bit though; the positioning seems at first to be close to the centre line but if moved further apart they would need to be proportionately deeper. From the plans, the skegs already measure about 220mm at their deepest point, and at only 18mm thick, this seemed to me awfully vulnerable to sideways knocks, etc. The original cobles were recovered by dragging the boat, stern first, up the beaches, so that the skegs would be exposed to considerable wear, loads and possible twisting motions. On hard standing, the boats would have a 3 point support from the two skegs and the deep forefoot, leaving the centreboard area clear of the ground. My eventual compromise was to make them 30mm at the base tapering to 18mm, where they were capped with oak strips; I also reduced their depth and flattened the profile so that, on a hard surface, the foreward support would be just ahead of the centreboard slot. The oak strips running up the transom simply add further strengthening, similar to one or two of the cobles I'd seen on my Northumbrian visit. Later on I'll run a through bolt into a floor bearer for each skeg (I feel a bit like one of those early Victorian engineers, who over-engineered everything - just to be on the safe side!). Also at a later stage, I'll attach some keel banding but it's horribly expensive and I just can't bear to buy it just now. With the skegs in place, the hull has a decidedly fish like appearance.
It remains to give the whole hull a protective coat of resin before the 'interesting' task of turning it over. I'm using clear epoxy for the strake at the sheerline and several layers of Hempel's (Blakes as was) epoxy undercoat for the rest.
The mahogany gunnels and rubbing strips, I've decided to fit after turning the hull. I'm interested to see the weight of the hull once the mould is removed.
