Building ‘Sharpy’ Part 62

Checking the position of the keel box

Keel Box assembled

I thought I had reached the point where I would be able to glue the deck beams in place, but decided it would be better to finish the keel box, along with the vertical support rod for the keel line bracket. Having made those things I would be able to attach them to the keelson after cutting out a slot in the keelson for the lifting keel. Only then would I be able to fix the aft bottom piece of plywood, but not before cutting out a slot for the keel to marry with the one in the keelson.


All of these jobs are fairly precise; otherwise the keel may not fit into the keel box. I took great care making the keel box by having the sides parallel with one another and to have the vertical pieces at either end, at right angles to the side panels. I think the keel will fit into the box nicely, with just a millimetre to spare. Getting the box exactly lined up with the slot in the keelson will tax my skill or lack of it.


The outside air temperature today was about 13 degrees Celsius. Hopefully tomorrow it will increase to 15 degrees minimum for doing the epoxy.