First week of building

It hath begun! After nearly 2 months of looking for, drying, stacking, tilting, cleaning chicken shit off, and storing wood, I have let loose upon the wood with the saw and machete! Hildo marked the lines and I cut along them.

Base of the boat, front section. The back is going to angle up so it doesn’t drag in the water.

The curve at the front of the boat angles out gradually. Too sharp a bend and the boards will break when we bend them round the side edges. The listones (what is it in English?) go across and hold the planks together. They are hardwood, hard so that the nails stick in firmly. Some nails bent as I nailed them in. They bent over and succumbed and I couldn’t get them upright again. This happened when Hildo was hammering too so it wasn’t just my incompetant swervy hammer strokes. Some nails had to be renailed. I am glad I get to see all the little messups so I can muse on them while I’m paddling.

Lomito and saw. He likes coming along and sitting under the saw while I’m cutting

Just in case somebody is at ready with their machete, raring to boat build Peruvian style here are some other points to note – 1) The tip of the boat is a few inches wide so the wood that is the backbone of the prow can be sat on top. 2) The listones each have a hole in the center to allow water to drain through.

First time ever using a chisel yeah!

Advertisement