Hey Chuck, Sandra,
Been out of touch for a while. Haven't stopped working on boats, just stopped talking to people!

I finally got tired of waiting on Matt's family and sold his Jeep on ebay to post his bail. Once he got over losing his ride (and the hefty commission I charged) he finally decided to finish the project we started last February (author's note: "most" of that sentence was a lie!).

Regardless of how it happened, we did get back on the project awhile back and as everyone knows there is a time when you work, work, work, like crazy but not much is happening to take pictures of. I call that part of the project - half-time. But now all the hull sanding and epoxy work is done, every new step has a major visual impact (at least to the builders).

After determining where we wanted the seats and thwarts, scuppers were made in the inwales by clamping the two gunnels together and drilling a half inch hole in either end of each scupper then removing everything in between. Note, there are no scuppers in the seat hanging area and the area where the two thwarts are mounted. This resulted in scuppers with rounded corners which , to me, look nicer than square corners. Matt then spent a day filing and sanding the scuppers. Both inwales and gunwales were tapered the last three feet of the bow end to help keep the front from looking too bulky. Because of the tumble home near the transom clamping the aft end of the gunnels proved "interesting" but no match for a couple long pipe clamps. We added a 2" #12 brass screw (countersunk) to the ends of the gunwales as they were under considerable stress.

Once the epoxy holding the ash gunnels cured, we added 36 1-1/2" countersunk brass screws to the inwales in consideration that this is a powered canoe and may be subject to increased stresses. Next, I removed the bit of hull that was protruding between the gunnels with a belt sander which made the dreaded final trimming and shaping a breeze.

The two thwarts are held in place with mortise and tendon joints into the inwales and augmented with brass screws hidden underneath. Because this canoe will be used for weekend long trips, there are two thwarts to make securing the gear in "dry bags" much easier (or maybe Matt wants to keep his beer cooler from sliding around - your choice!).

After some discussion, we added quarterknees to the transom in case Matt gets bored with the 1958 3.6hp Elgin he is planning to use for power and decides on a bigger engine. I'm not sure the bottom of the hull is stiff enough to plane a loaded boat - something that will be answered soon with water trials. The quarterknees were sketched right onto the ash scrap and cut with a band saw, they do have a one inch hole in them for tying off stuff in the transom area (holes hidden by the clamps in the photo). That was Matt's idea!

The rough work on the deck has been done - its highly marbled ash and about 18" long (one foot wide at the widest point). There will be a coaming on the deck as well. The seats, plans from Green Valley Boat Works, (https://www.greenval.com/)are nearly done, they are hanging in a corner of the shop by fishing line waiting a final coat of epoxy sealer. They will be caned with synthetic cane - I think (hope) Matt's wife is going do the cane work.

It won't be too long before she is done - a really fun project that I learned everything I needed to in preparation for Tentboat and the skiff she will carry. To be continued...

Larry Pullon