First Fitting

Click on pictures for more detail Using copper wire you stitch the hull and the deck starting in the middle and working one stitch forward on the right then one forward on the left then go back to the right side and move one towards the back. Keep going back and forth until you get to the end. The process gets really tricky and challenging near the ends. You are not just wiring pieces together you are bending and shaping wood in directions that it resists. After you get it all together there are a lot of adjustments that have to be made by loosening and tightening the wires.
When you are satisfied you let it set for several days while the wood relaxes and gets into a "happy mood".
This is the first time we have stitched the deck and hull together. But not the last.
NEXT STEP: NOW COMES THE GLUE.
The wood has relaxed and hopefully will maintain its new form because we have to take asunder what we have most recently put together.
We remove the deck from the hull so we can spot weld all the seams.
This calls for an epoxy mixture the consistency of ketchup which is put into a syringe and applied along all seams trying to avoid getting it on the wires. If this ketchup is a little too runny it will run onto the wires. Epoxy on wires makes for difficult removal. If you attempt this make sure you have thick ketchup.





You are looking at the underside of the deck just before welding the seams. In the back ground you can see part of the hull. Both have been prepared with masking tape so we do not glue the two together in this fitting. As soon as we finish with the spot welds hull and deck go back together for the Second Fitting. This is done so both parts cure at the same time resulting in a good fit.



This is the second time we have stitched the deck to the hull but not the
last.