Second Pair of Planks

I had to glue the second pair of planks on in to stages, one plank yesterday and the other today. This is because I don't like putting screws through the planks at the stem, it makes holes that need to be filled when the screws are removed. So I use blocks with a V shaped notch and clamps - there are 2 in the bow photos below. There is a lot of twist in these planks and they are difficult to pull into place individually. Pulling them both in together, fitting the notched blocks and clamps would need 2 people. On the next planks I will try clamping "handles" to the edge of the plank and pulling them together with a Spanish windlass. If it works I'll post a photo.

There are a lot of homemade wooden clamps in use below, about 30! As I said in an earlier post, they work well and are cheap and can easily be modified to suit different situations.

Here is the stern end of the plank, not so much twist here and the end is held down on the transom with a couple of long screw clamps. These clamps are a bit precarious but provide enough pressure to hold the joint together - just don't bump them or they will fall off!

Here is yesterday's plank.

Before fitting the next planks I am going to shape the outer parts of the keel and fix them in place. This will be easier to do now while I can get closer to the centre of the boat.