The rubbing strips around the gunwales were fixed a few days ago, and the gap between the inwales and the strips filled with epoxy and iroko dust, which will seal the end grain of the plywood. I saw a nasty example of what can happen if the plywood is not sealed at the top edge. Water gets sucked into the laminates and that is basically it. Very hard to repair.
The other innovation, and departure from the plans, is to fit a mast thwart at station 2. Because the foredeck has been lowered it is no longer high enough to support the mast. The foredeck as drawn has a slot with two mast positions: sloop and yawl. Having talked to owners, and the designer himself, we all agreed that a single mast position some way between the two works perfectly well and saves a lot of unnecessary joinery.
The foredeck now makes a great place to sit, and the mast thwart has been sculpted to form a comfy backrest. I can imagine the owner's two children sitting facing forward, watching the bow rise to the waves and laughing for the joy of it all.
Oh, and managed to squeeze the outboard into the aft locker.
The spars arrived from Collars the other day and - what can I say? - perfection. Steve Hall down in Essex is making the sails as I write (or I hope he is, as the owner is getting a little twitchy).
Meanwhile the Ilur is nearly planked. The eighth strake is next followed by the sheerstrake which I intend to make in solid larch, so no worries about end grain or delamination.
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