Two 4mm square oak risers were fitted along the length of the hull, one each side. These are to support the thwarts. They had to be fitted at the same height as the keel box. This took a lot of time measuring and adjusting the position before finally glueing and pinning them into position. In the end, they turned out to be slightly higher than they should have been, but that's much better than being too low resulting in the thwarts fouling the keel box!

A cardboard template was traced from the plan and then adjusted slightly to fit in place sitting on the risers. The template was then used to mark out the thwarts which were cut from more of the salvaged oak tabletop.

Finally the thwarts were glued together and then glued and pinned onto the risers. The forward thwart has a hole for the mast to pass through. As this thwart will take some strain from the mast it was glued and pinned to the risers and the keel box. Additional reinforcing oak blocks were added to strengthen the joints. The hull hadn't been varnished at the position of the thwart ends so the reinforcement block could be glued in position. Once the glue was set, the varnish was touched up.

Time to get back to the build!

A support framework for the decking was glued in place. As the timber sections are quite small, this framework is not very strong, but it should be sufficient to support the deck planks. The strength will come from the glued on planking.

Before fitting the decking, the space between the forward bulkheads was filled with polystyrene beads coated with PVA glue. This is to provide some bouyancy in case of a capsize! The space between the bulkheads at the stern was filled in a similar way. Holes at the bottom of the bulkheads ensure that any water which does get into this space will be able to drain out.

The decking is constructed from offcuts of the mahogany hull planking. At the stern, a piece of the decking can be removed to provide access to the rudder servo.