Building the backbone: The Stern

The stern of the boat looks a little something like this:


The "stern" or backend of the boat.  You can see how the sternpost attatches to the keel and transom

Obviously I'm jumping ahead a little bit here but I thought it would help to show the final arrangement.  I'll break it down for you.

Let's start with the sternpost:

Like the stem, the sternpost is structural so the grain must follow the angled shape.  To accomplish this I cut and joined two separate pieces before final shaping.



1 3/4" Mahogany cut roughly to shape.  The joint is designed to keep is from slipping while gluing.



Test fitting the pieces, you can see how the grain follows the shape.

Epoxy applied to both pieces.

Finally, Bronze screws provide the clamping force.

Next I tackled the Transom:

I made a template for the transom based on the plans.  Once again I was given sizes for the inboard and outboard sides of the transom because all of the edges will be bevelled like the keel.  The transom is a 1" thick slab made by gluing together several boards edge to edge and cutting to shape.

I made a paper template first.  The plans give measurements out from the centre line at various heights.

Gluing up 4/4 Mahogany boards with epoxy.

The final transom planed, shaped, and sanded.  She's a beaut!

But wait there's more, the trail-water:

The trail-water sits behind the sternpost at the base of the transom.  For a little piece this one was pretty tricky, every surface is angled and the edges have a rolling bevel.

One persnikity piece, the angles must match the transom and keel flawlessly.

The trail-water is epoxied to the stern and secured with bronze screws.

The transom is also epoxied and screwed to the sternpost.  All of the screws were counterbored and plugged.

At this point all of the backbone components are finally complete and ready to assemble over the construction moulds.  Hopefully, all these pieces will begin to look like a boat pretty soon. 

If you too are starting to feel the boat building fever, here's a song that helps pump me up:

Matt Mays - Building a boat. 

You could say that it's the unofficial theme song of this project.  That's pretty much what it looks like when I'm working, a bunch of guys grinding and planing to music then some dude shows up to play a guitar solo.  Try listening while reading my post - live it, love it!