The cockpit coaming is finally in place. Last week I glued on the starbard side just like the port side that I showed you. Today I dressed things up with a belt sander, checked flatness and fit, made adjustments with a file, then glued and screwed the three planks in place. Also notice the T's clamped in place. I had to hold the side pieces to the back piece while the epoxy cured. Also I put in a 1/2" camber in the back coaming. I think it looks better that way. All that remains now is to put on a caprail. I plan to do this of mahogany after I paint the rest of the boat white. I'm thinking I will finish the cedar sides bright but the trim and deck white.

I also took time to sand both the bow and stern areas of the deck to prepare it for a coating of epoxy.

As I work to fit the second piece of the cabin top in, I try to get as good a fit with the first as possible. After cutting the plywood with a saber saw, I had an edge with a bit of raggedness touching an edge that was smooth because it was part of the edge of the 4x8 sheet. I found a way that works to smooth the edges up and get the exact curve I need in the edge. I just butt the edges together as tightly as possible. I then run the japanese saw over the entire length of the seam until I saw through it. I have to be careful not to saw the underlying frames. I then repeat as many times as necessary to get a close fit. This is made a bit more difficult by the fact that I have few places to clamp the plywood in place.

Another factor in this is that this piece has more than a bit of curvature forward and aft. To deal with this I cut darts from the sides toward the middle. I used the same saw technique as before but it required only a minimal amount of cutting.

I decided to secure this one with drywall screws instead of clamps. I installed the screws working from the middle to the sides and from forward to aft.

Here is the finished results. Tomorrow I will remove all the screws, apply glue, then screw in place. After the glue dries I will remove all the drywall screws and install #6 bronze screws.