Smoothing the Hull, Adding Outer Stems
Unlike the three other Dave boats that I finished, this one hasn't been fiberglassed. Before laying the cloth on the hull the hull has to be sanded smoothly enough to not snag the cloth. In addition to that this hull didn't have the outer stems which will effectively act as bumpers for the boat.
I made stems out of 1/4" thick strips of oak which I steam bent and laminated together. While the strips were soft and pliable I bent them onto the ends of the boat. I did that by screwing one end of the strips in place and then pulling them down and screwing them in place every three inches. I'll leave them on the boat to dry and then glue them together and then back onto the boat as one piece. I'll have lots of trimming to do to make them blend in with the shape of the boat.
There were a lot of gaps and voids in the hull (all small) that needed to be filled in before final sanding. I used a walnut colored paste filler to fill in the gaps and then went back and sanded it smooth when dry. After the stems are glued in place and shaped I'll give the hull a final sanding with 150 grip paper before fiberglassing
