I didn’t make much progress on the dingy today even though I was at the warehouse for about 4 hours. So I am only counting 2 hours of work on the boat for a total of 36. Instead we emptied the warehouse of a lot of the remaining stock we store there and transferred it to the shop. There is a little bit to go but we will have that moved tomorrow, leaving only boat bits or rubbish. I think we will get a skip bin to throw away a lot of stuff rather than move it into the new warehouse. With the last parts taped today I have completely sealed the hulls and all compartments. I still have a little work to go, but essentially I could put the boat into the water now if I wanted. It is completely sealed.

I have coved and taped the stern steps and the anchor compartment. I kerfed the lid to curve in 3 different directions. There is a slight curve up from the front to back, a curve from centre down on each side and finally the fronts corners on each side curve down leaving a subtle V shape in the lid with the point at the bow.

I also put the outboard on the hull in order to set where I would place my removable bench seat. Most people prefer to steer by sitting on the right hull, I prefer to sit in the middle. So my solution will be to make a bench seat from an offcut of 25mm duflex (bulkhead) and glass in a strip of cedar or duflex on each side and behind and in front to form a small unobtrusive lip for the seat to sit in. When not in use it can sit inside one of the compartment. I had to be sure it could sit behind the internal bulkhead so that it doesn’t interfere with the opening of the side hatches when in, but also in a position that makes using the tiller comfortable. There is plenty of room.

I still have to fit the ply plates either side of the transom (after fitting the outboard temporarily today I think it needs to be fatter so you don’t have to wind the wing nuts so far). Then a final sand and paint and fit the hardware and cut the hatches to finish. I may not get to play around on it for a couple of weeks as I start to get the stuff moved from one warehouse to the other. My advise to anyone contemplating building, try to avoid moving. It is nerve wracking and a lot of work!