Port Aft Thwart

I set aside a couple hours on Sunday (7/20) to work on the port stern thwart.  I started with a scrap of cardboard and traced the sheer line onto it.  While I was at it, I went ahead and prepared a template for the starboard side as well; though my attention was devoted to the thwart on the port side today.

 Next, I carefully trimmed along the outline of the sheer...

...and took it to the boat to test its fit.

I then removed a piece of teak from a 5/4 board for the thwart, and jointed one of the sides.

With one of the sides of the teak board jointed, I transferred the outline of thwart from the template onto the teak board.

With the basic outline of the thwart transferred onto the teak, I trimmed excess material from the board.

The angle of the boat's stern meant that I would need to remove material from the underside of the thwart in order to achieve a gap-free fit.  Using a bezel, I took the angle of the stern and transferred it to the thwart block.  On the table saw, I rotated the saw blade to replicate the required angle and then trimmed the block.

The balance of the time allotted for today was spent hand-shaping the oversized block until its aft corner fit nicely into its soon-to-be home.  The port sheer and stern surfaces provided a complex set of angles to incorporate into the block, and took most of the time to deal with.  This was as far as I got with it today, and during my next opportunity to work on this port thwart I would layout its interior shape - the more stylistic aspect of the thwart. 

Total Time: 2.5 Hrs

Filling Fastener Holes

Over the 4th weekend, I stole an hour to fill the old fastener holes along the sheer line of the sailing dinghy.  Using the Porter Cable 7335 random orbital sander, I ground a slight taper around the fastener holes to accept the filler (West System thickened with colloidal silica).  Working down the starboard sheer line, I ground the tapers with a 40-grit pad, ending at the port bow.

Above, the starboard bow; and below, the port bow.

A shot of the starboard sheer.

Prior to filling the fastener holes, I sanded a good portion of the topsides with a 80-grit disk, as I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to fill some of the small gouges in the topsides.  After sanding the portion of the hull I intended to, I prepared the surfaces for the filler by wiping all surfaces down with acetone.  

The pictures above and below show the old fasteners holes filled, as well as some of the more pronounced gouges.

Total Time: 1 Hour