February 1st, 2004
I'm back to working on the skiff. My lovely wife has suggested that finishing the Jumbo by mid October would be a good thing and that if I can muster the courage and gumption to get moving on it then we can have a giant boatlaunching party for all the relatives, friends and Tolmanites. gulp...
So, with my marching orders in writing and inked on the palm of my hand, lest I forget, I started climbing around the Jumbo yesterday after doing some chores. I'd started work on the collision bulkead that's at the bow of the boat. This is a water tight compartment that Renn says is essential for all Tolman Skiffs in case you hit a rock, floating log or something else that might put a hole in your hull. It also doubles as a structual stiffening bulkhead and ends up being part of the two bunks that I'll be putting in the cuddy cabin.
I started out by measuring off the correct distance from station 6 and drew in the lines for the bulk head. (this was done a couple months ago) Then I built a couple of jigs to help with drawing out the deck of the collision bulkhead.