All the vertical bits attached to the big flat bit.....

... as  technically well explained in the title, all the vertical components of the hull's structure are now permanently fixed (glued and screwed) to the boat's flat bottom. It is great to see the hull shape taking shape.

Now I have to move on towards beveling the bottom chine stringer.... For the first time in the build I frankly have no idea how to get on to do that. I've read people have used sanding disks on angle grinders, chisels, block or electric planes. I had initially devised a plan using a router guided along a wide batten acting as plank no 1 (see pict above). I think it is still a good idea but my router is too big for the plan to work as intended. I can't see either how a block or power planer could be used as the bevel needs to be cut all the way to the edge of the bottom board... I have purchased a rabbet plane and while waiting for the delivery man, I'll keep on pondering....

Gone 3D...

Here we go, got a couple of days off work to concentrate on the Pathfinder project and soon enough the full 3D beauty of this boat design became apparent.

All the components were already built and prepared: floor,  frames, centercase assembly, stem girder, cockpit seat sides, transom. They were already finished with doublers and floors already fixed to them.

The strongback took a little to build and check for proper alignment. As soon as the floor was "draped" on it, it became clear that the alignment of the supports was spot on as the curved floor leaned naturally on all ten of them. Only one support required a millimeter adjustment.

This result wouldnt have been possible, or as easy to obtain without my brand new laser cross light projector. I would really recommend it to all home boatbuilders out there. Mine is made by Bosch and cost below 50 euros. The laser cross is invaluable to check for correct alignment and verticality.

I managed to glue into place the bottom chine stringer wich required some persuadion in order to follow the curved floor edge. Then the centerboard case was epoxied in, then all other components placed and screwed into place; next step would be glueing them permanently.

Ortogonality was checked several times over with the laser light, as well as the spacing between the frames measured countless times. I am not sure I followed John's instructions to the letter, and rather followed what I felt would be the more logic, or easy, way to sequence up the different phases of the assembly. Also in all honesty, in the excitement of seeing the boat taking shape I completely forgot to look at the building instructions....

The result is very pleasing. I find myself staring at the boat's structure for long periods of time, imagining the next steps, the customised solutions I have in mind and then all the way to the first sail onboard her. It's going to be, and it already is and has been, a fantastic journey!

10 stringers a-hoy!

After a bit of mess and noise cutting off the 20 scarfs with the router  I have glued up  the required length to make 10 stringers. It took me a while to figure out on the plan why 10 stringers are required as it would seem obvious that only 8 are needed. Well the remaining two are used as seat and bunk flat support along the planks.

The wood I used is carolina pine. My local supplier can only source 4.5 m lengths hence the scarfs. By the way I was particularly happy to buy (once more) wood from him: he's recently struggled after an arson attack damaged his stock and machines.

What's behind a nice behind?

.... oh well, nice raw material(s) to start with and some good deal of work... As is the case for my pathfinder's transom board.

Some 10mm thick mahogany slats are epoxied to the 12mm ply panel shaped as the transom as per the original drawings. I have used clamps in a spreader set up to ensure the slats where compressed against each other while the resin set.

After cleaning up and routing the edge with a flush trimming router bit the result was very pleasing for the eye.

This is the last component I need to prepare before starting to assemble the hull. Yesterday I received the stock to make the stringers ( one scarf joint needed per stringer) and today I have ordered the wood for the strongback.

Hull assembly will start in early december after I get back from  a two weeks' work deployment at sea .... I simply can't wait!

Ideas are hatching ...

The pathfinder design calls for the installation of several screw-on watertight inspection hatches to allow access to the dry storage compartments. There are 2 on each of the seat fronts, further two on the main twarth, two (or four) on the raised forward floor and, depending on builder's choice, 2 more on the aft locker bench. And, oh yes almost forgot, one ore in bulkhead #1.
I have never found this type of hatches attractive. It is perhaps due to their white plasticky feel; they  undoubtedly come with plenty of practical advantages but in my opinion they hardly match the look and feel of a traditionally inspired wooden boat. Now, don't get me wrong,this is a very personal point of view and there are scores of beautiful homebuilt wooden boats out there using this practical solution to great effect.
In my previous build (Janas) I admit using plastic watertight hatches.... I have however installed them under hinged wooden lids to keep them out of sight. There is one in the aft locker and one cut out in the little foredeck. The teak strips are glued on top of the ""vanity lid" that hides the white plastic giving continuity to the decks.

Now going back to the pathfinder I have opted to cut out hand-made wooden hatches. They require a "window" to be cut out of the receiving surface. Then a further piece is tailored to obtain the frame with lip where a soft neoprene seal will be glued to providing the seating for the closing lid. Then of course last but not least the lid itself.
In order to cut the same shape over and over again with different scale factors, I have first made a template window on a 10mm MDF sheet, taking into account the required offset to match the diameter of the router template follower that came with my new Bosch router. I then cheaply sourced suitably sized ball bearings to mount onto the template follower to obtain different offsets and therefore the correct scaling factors to match the three cuts, i.e;  the opening, the locker lid and the inner frame.
The results are very satisfactory, the obtained offset cuts are correct as the lid fits to the hatch opening with a 1mm clearance all around as expected. The seal seating measures 13mm wide which I think should be enough surface to allow the neoprene seal  to work correctly.
Here is the resulting seat fronts with the two hatches cut out and dry fitted. The hatches will be clear varnished while the seat fronts will be painted ivory or cream. The lids will receive stainless steel hinges and locking knobs.

The size of the opening has been carefully tailored to allow loading and accessing of essential items, such as the one pictured below ;)

At present I have cut the hatches on the seat fronts and bulkhead #1 as these components will soon be installed permanently on the building frame.

Scarfing router gig

Simple, basically "major drama" proof but effective ... Each of my pathfinder stringers will require 2 scarfs in order to reach the required length, so I needed a solution to speed up cutting the (precise) angled planes for the scarfs .

The slides are such that the router cuts a 1:9 scarf . I don't mind the noise and the dust.... the surfaces are cut effortlessly and precisly, ready for the glue

Going to the bottom of the question...

Recently I have been busy scarfing, or better assembling the bottom panel of the boat. This is a rather big panel CNC cut out of 12mm marine ply... quite heavy and tough!
As the pictures show the puzzle joint I designed and decided to employ helps to line up accurately the two halves, making sure the panel ends up correctly axi-simmetrical.

I have used epoxy, both unthickened and charged, a 160g/m² biaxial glass cloth inside out and peel ply. The whole under a decent amount of weight.

The result was particularly satisfying and the bottom panel ended up measuring correclty compared to the dimensions given in the plan.

I have also built a simple router gig to cut 1:10 scarfs out of the stringers stock. I cannot source long enough wood planks to produce the stringers in one go hence the need for scarfing.

At the moment both bottom chine stringers (the 70mm wide ones!) have gone through the scarfing process involving routing and glueing.

I intend to glue them on the bottom panel before placing the latter on the build frame.