Transom dry assembly

That's right, you read it correctly: the transom, Frame 7, and seat fronts are all dry-assembled!

While you fan yourselves and mop feverish brows, allow me to explain. I'm at the stage in the boat project where I'm putting together the whole back half of it. The place where you sit, where the outboard motor attaches, where there are lockers to be filled with line, flares, emergency pump, etc.

You clamp everything together -- and this is, let's see, six separate pieces of wood, all three or four feet long -- drill the holes, and insert temporary screws. Then you do some other stuff (mumble mumble chines mumble #$#!*@ inflexible wood), remove all the dry-assembled pieces, add glue, and reassemble permanently. So needless to say this is an exciting moment, to see the aft end of the boat come together.

Last night around 7pm I had reached a convenient stopping point. It was getting late, I was about three hours past hungry, and the next step was a complicated boat-lifting operation.

Except I still had half an hour before making dinner, so I looked at the boat and got back to work. It'll only get built if I build it, after all.

So I measured the gap, selected a piece of one-by, ripped it to width, slid it in under the boat, removed the old jig cross-piece, and happily drilled the transom-bottom holes at the correct angle. (Previously the jig piece had been in the way of the drill. What I wouldn't give for a tiny but powerful drill.)

Hey awesome, it worked and I still had time for dinner. I know, right?

I seize on every opportunity to celebrate in this long building process. Kinda like writing a book.