Interesting hull shapes

Fitted planks no. 5 today and it's interesting to see the hull shape forming, especially close to the bow.  The no 2 station has a tighter profile when compare to no. 4 which creates an interesting spoon shape in the hull.  I rechecked this several times, but on re-examining the full size plans which layout the station mold shapes, it is indeed evident that the no 2 station mold is scalloped.

Moreover, the planks tend to take a narrower shape at this station, initially I was tempted to fair out this tightening twist in the planks, but I am beginning to think that it is intentionally drawn this way.  I have to say it looks cool!  Not sure it is so much evident from the photo.

Each plank takes about 6 shots of the West System pump, which I use to wet out the laps and then coat with a thickened mix of sapele wood flour and West proprietary thickener (can't offhand recall its correct name)

I'm using the batten and screw method outlined in John Brooks' GWLB book, which seems to create a very uniform clamping pressure.

One of the (many) downsides of working in a confined space, is that it's impossible to get a good view of the bow.  I can view the stern by opening the garage doors and get some idea of the hull shape, but the bow will remain a mystery until we take her outside!  I know this flies in the face of all the advice to continuously view the planks from as many angles as possible, but when your boat is one foot shorter than the workshop......

That said, when viewing the hull facing forward from underneath, I do notice that the planks are not quite level where they meet at the stem.  So I am going to cut the next pair separately, such that the shorter port side will be a little wider to bring it back into line.

Please feel free to add a comment....just so I know that I'm not the only one reading this blog!!

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