Keel is On

March 16, 2015 Hours spent building to date: 835

Gee, it’s too bad but I had to stop sanding for a couple days and move on to the keel. The reason is simple: once I totally fair the bottom it’s just too slippery to work on. I can get on all right, but getting off is a sort of controlled fall. The keel gives me something to grab onto.

Stem and keel went on pretty easily, with Ray coming for a day to hand me tools and glue while on top. I had fought the joint between the inner stem and the outer stem to a draw. I thought it was good enough after probably six hours or so of work. So I was delighted that the two-by-two inch fir lamination actually had some spring to it and squished down into the epoxy for a very tight fit.

The forward keel laminations are 1/2-inch, the aft are 1-inch, joined with half-laps formed by deliberately cutting the laminations at different lengths. Keel still has to be faired into the planking, filled and sanded a bit, but I’m pretty happy with the look and strength.

Even upside down, I think Tardis has a handsome bow. The pilothouse was the unique feature of our Eldredge-McInnis motorsailer Memsahib, but the bow really gave the boat tremendous character: tall, strong, purposeful, meant to safely cleave thousands of miles of water (which she did). I was drawn to Mark’s design by the same aesthetic, and I think he got it just right.