As usual, more scarf jointing, and heat bending to make the curve from the front of the cockpit to the rear.
I used cedar for the outside edges, and the center. I was considering using cedar for the entire deck, but it would have been too boring, and I didn't know if I had enough material.
I plain-sawed the rest of my pawlonia, tuned up the surface planer, and made 8' x 3/4" strips.
The plain-sawed wood yielded some interesting grain figures.
I extended the center deck strips to a form beyond the extent of the cockpit opening. The "whiskey plank" on this side is heavily clamped/taped/wedged into position. I hope it makes the transition from the bottom to the top work.
The final, Official Whiskey Plank-more like a splinter than a board.
I flipped the boat using the usual "rope" technique.
Everything looked pretty good, except that there was a little "hump" in the design of the ends of the bow & stern. I puzzled for a while about how to strip around it for a while, then decided to sand it down. I know that I can strip fairly without sticking to the forms 100%,
I had to move form #5 in the bow, and form #14 in the stern to make the center strip run fair. I actually considered leaving them out, but it looked like a long stretch between forms. Again, I can manage to run fair strips without "slaving" to the forms.
Again, I used scab boards to straighten the narrow center strip.
Observation and Revelation 😉 : If it looks straight, it is straight. In the end, your eye will tell you if something is or isn't straight or fair. In the past, I have come up with involved methods to align things by measurement, that looked crooked when done. Let the straight strips be straight! 😉
