Step #11 — Bottoms Up!

While perusing through my blog, my friend at 20 Something Passions said to me, “But, your boat has no bottom.  I guarantee it will sink!”  I was pretty sure she was right, so I didn’t experiment with her hypothesis.  Thanks to my non-paid little helpers for painting underneath the seats, the bottom was ready to be built.

Remember, plywood is typically sold in 8 foot long sheets, while my boat is over 9 feet long.  When I added extensions to my sideboards, I used a method called scarf joining.  I did the same exact thing for the bottom to connect two sheets into one.

While the boat was laying upside down, I placed my scarf-jointed plywood sheet over top.  I had to weigh the board down with items in the garage so I could accurately trace the shape of the bottom.  I traced the edges with a pencil and used a jigsaw to cut it out.

Weighing down the board to trace the bottom

San Miguel and a bag of rice—evidence that a Filipino lives here

Just as the sun was going down, I used little nails to temporarily tack the bottom of the boat down.  (I don't want to leave metal pieces in my boat, so I will take the tacks out after I seal the bottom from the inside).  The unfortunate thing about working on the boat in the suburbs passed 8pm is that I fear angering soccer moms by making too much noise.  If I was working on this in the city, I think the sound of hammering would be soothing compared to screaming sirens; and if I was working in the country, no one would hear me at all.

The bottom is cut out and tacked down!

I took the boat in the garage and sealed the bottom from the inside.  I filleted the bottom just as I filleted the seats in Filleting and Fiberglassing.

We're getting there!