Keel, keelson, keel batton, all have specific boat building definitions. We do not need to shave too closely here. I am just talking about the backbone of the boat.





The keel batton for Skorpa is 1 inch by 3.5 inches and 20 feet long. It runs from the stem to the transom.



Skorpa's bottom has a shallow V at the stern that steepens sharply as you near the bow.



The keel batton must have a bevel that matches this angle shallow at the stern gradually at first than quickly getting steeper at the bow.


To creat this bevel I first cut notches every 2 feet along the keel that matched the bottom of the hull at that point.











Next I used a batton to draw a fair line that connected all the notches.


I then made saw cuts down to the line and knocked the wood out with a chisel.











The idea is to get rid of the bulk of the unecessary wood without going below the line.


Then a sharp plane eases the wood down to the line.

More or less.




Here the keel has been mounted back on the jig.


Way in the background you can see the first hull panel in place.


They are next up.

Back to the Stem

The stem is this L shaped piece of wood, rectangular in cross section.




Way back in April I laminated the stem and mounted it on the jig.







I put so much work into laminating the stem I was a little reluctant to start hacking into it, but sooner or later you just have to do it.






The stem needs to be beveled to a point at an angle that varies all along its length.




The stem is more pointy in the middle and a little flatter at its ends.




How you shape the stem to this angle is one of the mysteries of boatbuilding.





Battens are used to attempt to find the bearding line.




A lot of this you just have to figure out on your own.









Notches are cut into the stem from the bearding line to a center line drawn down the face of the stem.



The inwale and side stringer are set into notches cut in the side of the stem.








I think building a stem is a little like singing on key. You do not know for sure that you have done it correctly until after the note is sung.


Fortunately we have music editing software and epoxy.


The stem is attached to the keelson. The keelson needs to be faired as well.


The keelson is longer, but it is much less painful.










The stem looks pretty good but I won't know for sure until I try to fit the plywood hull panels.






Next I will fair the keelson.


Then it is on to attaching the plywood hull panels.