Finally! Strip planking is done. I put the last strip on the starboard bow this morning. No more of gluing and edge nailing of epoxy strips. On to finishing operations.

Here I smoothed the stair steps that are seen in the top picture. This is the result of the cedar strips not coinciding with the shear. I should note that there is a slight departure from the plans. Several months ago I had put the deck on before noticing that there was a detail in the plans to have the deck overlap the cedar strips. As it currently is there is a joint on the deck between the plywood and the cedar rather than the plywood coming out over the cedar. I plan to cover this with a toerail. I don't see a toerail specified on the plans except in the front but I believe one is necessary around the cabin and back deck for safety reasons. I know that I will have to go forward to set the anchor and to raise and lower sails. I want an extra line of defense against slipping into the water. Also I see various designs for toerails on Elvers that I see on the web. Also I plan to put a rubrail. I know that in spite of the care that I take to dock there will be some dings. I'd rather it be on something that I can repair quickly. In keeping with the design philosophy of building her light I will keep the cross sections modest.

Here the stern is smoothed up to accept the outer stern post. Per the plans I will make this up of doubled 1 1/2x11 sawn to shape and planed down to the required cross section.