Catch up on the build...

OK. So new house out of the way. New shop finally set up. Winter come and gone. Spring (cold and soggy) behind us. Smack dab in the middle of summer. What's been happening with the boat??

I'm going to blast through this with a few pix and comments and jump to the conclusion because...

PUFFIN IS FINISHED!!

Well...as finished as any wooden boat ever will be. There's still stuff to do and I'm sure I will make modifications to what I've done so far once I get to sailing her. But...the hull is built, the rig has been rug, and she is ready to go get wet!

But...how did we get from my last substantial post, to where we are today? OK.

So I had just finished installing the decks. Then I got side tracked by making Joel Bergen's lovely wooden blocks. And then I got further side-tracked by learning how to splice rope. All of that was just a diversion from facing the fact that I would eventually have to put the dreaded coamings on. It turned out to be not so bad.

I figured this would be messy work, so I covered the insides with plastic to avoid gooping them up. Using jury-rigged clamping system to ensure that the transom coaming fit nicely into the correct angle and curve. Talk about a complicated little piece of wood! Two different curves cut on the X-Y axes, and a bend and cant angle on the Z axis. A lot of head-scratching for the boy who got D's in math at school.

I used a combination of 9mm ply and laminations of 3mm ply for the half-circle at the front end of the cockpit. I've kept my coamings deliberately low. I wanted a bit of a back rest in the cockpit, but mostly just a splash-guard to keep deck water on the deck and not in the boat. 

Here you can see the final shaping of the transom coaming to match the curvature of the transom. 

Testing out the positioning of the oar locks. 

 I decided to try my hand at carving a name board for Puffin. I spend some time on the road for my job, so I figured this could be something I could do while traveling. I feel sorry for the housekeeping person that had to clean up the pile of wood chips and dust I left behind at the Marriott Courtyard in La Crosse!

Blank basswood board on the Courtyard bed coverlet! 😝

Name sketched out 

Bas Relief carving. Lots more work to go on this piece. It's as far as I've gotten...

Almost done now. In keeping with the "Puffin" moniker, the outer hull is painted black and white. The rub rails are finished bright. I chose Grand Banks Beige for the deck and coaming. I think it looks very traditional and elegant.

A few finishing details and we're almost ready for launch. 

Carved brazilian cherry horn cleats are a nice contrast to the deck.

Leathering of the various moving/chafing bits. Here is the mainmast partner on the foredeck. Note octagonal shape and bronze boat nails. Way back, I decided to keep the lower mainmast octagonal and then round it as it approaches the mast hinge. Unnecessary, but a nice little detail.

Port side jib sheet comes through the coaming into a cam cleat. Oar locks mounted. Laid decks oiled with teak oil...even though it's really just white oak.

General view of the inside of the boat. I think it looks nice with the bright white paint, oiled decks and beige coamings.