Little sailing but the dinghy progresses

I am in the middle of a fortnight's holiday, but the weather has not been good enough to go sailing. Tomorrow maybe, but storm force winds are blowing around the place.

The dinghy progresses. I have completed the transom and have had her on the floor to check rowlock positions. They will largely be determined by the need to get me and a passenger in rather than the best balance for the boat.

I am fitting a mahogany skeg with transom wheels, which will be the next job. I have completed the taping to the joints outside, which is not my favourite job. Seems to have gone quite well.

Foredeck complete, transom to be worked on

I have finished the foredeck on my dinghy and am quite pleaed with the result. The transom needs some work to make it thick enough to take a small outboard. Then I will turn her over to complete the outside.

Slight change of viewpoint...

My son bought me a trial gliding lesson for my birthday, and today was the day. Great fun, although the cable launch is a bit stomach turning. Views absolutely wonderful, and we flew right over our house. In many ways like sailing, you are looking for the wind all the time, but in this case vertical wind rather than horizontal. I would recommend it, but I don't think I could manage gliding and sailing. Mind you, the gliding club is only 10 minutes away, not two and a half hours.

Dinghy deck half glued on. Can't do it all at once as I don't have enough clamps. I am also building two buoyancy chambers under the seat, which will be filled with expanded polystyrene eventually.

Deck and buyancy chambers under way

I have fitted a central plank to my fore deck which seems to fit quite well. All of the angles at the bow are compound which is really difficult to measure out and then cut. Square hole for the mast, which I drilled and cut with a coping saw and rasp. Should be more than big enough. Once set I will glue on narrower side planks either side.

I am going to fit boxes under the seat fore and aft to be filled with foam buoyancy. That coupled with the bow tank should keep me afloat if swamped. having the boxes running fora and aft will also stop any water from sloshing from side to side, which can tip you over again all too easily.

Bulkheads glued in

I have glued in the forward bulkheads and fitted the access hatch through one side. The sides around the mast support are tacked in with epoxy, but they still need to be fully filleted to make them water tight. They need to be as this is a buoyancy tank. Before I put a deck over it all I need to epoxy the inside of the tank and fit the towing eye permanently. That will be much easier before the lid goes on. I want to built more buoyancy under the seat, but I will need to finish the outside first before I do that.

Update: All panels around the mast slot now filleted and I have covered the inside of the locker with epoxy. Next the bow eye needs to be bedded in sealant and I need to devise a decking system of some sort. My initial idea won't work and I have wasted a bit of wood in the process unfortunately.