I only put in a half day today because of the football grand final, a game no footy lover misses no matter if your own side finished second last!

But I did get a start on the hull to deck strip planking. I have been looking forward to doing this part of the build for a long time. One reason is because I believe it is what defines this design and sets it apart from other flat panel boats, so much so that apart from the chine that sits about 300mm above the waterline, there is very little visual evidence that the design is a flat panel hard chined boat. Also because it is another of those milestone jobs that every Schionning builder must do and another to tick off the list. It is great to finally see the things I have watched in pictures of other builders boats finally happening in exactly the same way on my build, it is very satisfying and reassuring.

First I had a few final preparatory tasks such as running clear packing tape along all of the bulkheads and the top of hull panel 1 because I don’t want to glue the panel on yet. I glue the planks up and then remove the whole panel for glassing before replacing it to set in the correct shape before removing them again until I am ready to seal the shell, after some of the larger furniture is installed. The final task before planking could start was to run some mdf along the radius of the main bulkheads that have uni ropes in them. You cant screw into the uni or else you break strands which weakens the uni so the boomerang shaped mdf is there to be screwed into along side the 3 bulkheads with uni ropes at the surface (the rear bulkhead had the uni buried in it deeper).

It is a bit tricky at times lifting 12 meter strips on your own, it is not the weight, the whole length couldn’t weight more than 2kgs but is very flexible. I started by running a wider than normal strip down the middle along the centreline, then another along the top of hull panel 1 which provides the edges of this panel. Then I ran a plank down the middle of the radius. Then I ran a second plank along the top up against the plank that was already there, again a thicker plank about 60mm because the bulk of it is along a still flat area. I tapered the plank at the bow for the first 3 or 4 meters by running the power saw along a line I drew on the plank.

he taper at the bow helps to make planks that need to fill a radius over a meter at the middle of the hull squeeze into less than half that at the bows. I will need to taper some out before the bow to fit it all in. In the end it doesn’t matter how the area is filled so long as it is and is fair. Wherever I was running a plank butted up to another plank I place icy pole sticks between them to leave space for me to squeeze glue into once the whole thing is planked and faired up but pulling or pushing planks in or out to meet its neighbour fairly.

So tomorrow I should get a lot more if not all of this first side planked.