Hello Dear Friends
It is National Day Holidays in China and with a few days off, it was straight to the shipyard. With the planking completed, it was now time to lay the deck into position.
Deck placed and secured with plenty of elastic bands. The fit of the deck was absolutely perfect with no adjustments needed whatsoever.
Next up was a more tricky exercise for which I assumed responsibility - the laying of the keel.
Since the bow and stern pieces are separately glued to the centre keel, I honestly expected that with both points pre-fixed, it would require some juggling to get this into the right position. Not so - the whole assembly fits so snugly onto the false keel that it almost "clicks" into place. I am beginning to really this kit too!
Deck and keel after all the rubber bands had been removed. Note the "pre-planking" on the deck where demarcations for the final layer of pear wood planking will ensure their best placement. Ingenious indeed!
When it came to laying down the watergange (potdeksel), I believed - that this time - I would have a challenge. After all - taking into account the first layer of planking, a total of 20 planks had been laid on each side and surely there was no way that the potdeksels would just align to the deck and cover the gap between the hull and deck without adjustment.
Well - to keep a short story short ... dit is presies wat gebeur het. Watergange installed and deck is fully covered. The potdeksels consist of three separate pieces which make their fitment even more impressive! Well done Falkonet
The last step that needs to be done below the waterline is to lay two planks as berghouten; then final sanding with 360 korrel schuurpapier and then something I cannot wait for ... the first coat of Chinese tung oil!
Tot volgende keer ....
Vriendelijk groet Heinrich