I started the day with a little bit of skinboat science, basically using a hanging scale to determine the amount of outward force that was being exerted from one of my spreader forms, just to make sure that I’m not flying too close to the sun with the tension here. It’s a fine line because I really do need to push things almost to the breaking point to get the shaping that I want but I also don’t want to be getting texts from unhappy students who spent a fortune on a piece of wood that is now two pieces of wood!
After that I chopped out the tenons and assembled the deck. It should be obvious that this isn’t exactly fine woodworking but it looks great from 5 feet away and kayak joints actually benefit from being a little bit sloppy which is the opposite of how every other mortise and tenon joint functions. I like this because it makes an otherwise intimidating process approachable for beginning woodworkers.
I’m using a bit of yellow cedar on this build which is unusual for me although I’m not sure why. I guess I’ve just always viewed yellow cedar as a precious wood, so the pieces that I have sitting around just sit there a year after year, always ‘too good’ to actually use for anything. I like the contrast between the red and yellow cedar in the deck beams and it seems like as good a wood as any other for the deck beam behind the cockpit which needs to be a little stronger.
I peg my deck beams in place both vertically through the tenon and then diagonally through the gunwale. I do it this way because it’s fast and easy and it stabilizes the joint nicely.
I like watching the deck shape of the LPB come together. Unlike my beloved F1 which is a jumble of intentionally unfair curves, the lines of the LPB flow nicely. You don’t see it from this angle so much because of the foreshortening but the dramatic Swede form makes it look like a spear from the back, which inspires a bit of boat lust.
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