A Bit Twisted

With the easy strips out of the way, it's time to tackle the hardest ones. This strip is the first that continues from the front deck to the rear deck. All but about 1/8" of it is cut away where it passes the coaming base. After it is fitted, it will be bent, twisted, and curved to fit in place.

This is the matching strip on the other side, clamped in place so the glue can dry. Rubber bands, blocks, spring clamps, and miniature bar clamps all played a part in convincing it to stay put.

We ran out of Western Red Cedar strips so the last ones on both sides are new growth Port Orford Cedar. Just one last strip to fit and place.

After gluing the last strip in place, I used the heat gun to set the glue quickly. Over eight hours to fit the last 12 strips!

Time for more sanding. Kathy did a lot of sanding (until midnight, I hear) to make the 86 strips, each individually fitted and glued, look like one. We'll have one more pass with the sander and then it's time to glass the outside of the deck which will make the wood colors really pop.

If the Colorado River trip is on schedule, we should be camped below Deer Creek near river mile 138 when this post is published.