When confidence meets reality: frame D finished

After making good progress on the pine wood pieces for frame D, I felt confident that the rest would go quickly and that I’d have the frame finished in no time. That confidence turned out to be a bit too optimistic — and as I’ve learned more than once during this build, it’s precisely when you think you know everything that you start making mistakes.

Getting here took longer than I thought...

The plywood knees were next, and I went into that phase thinking it would be straightforward. Instead, I made several mistakes while marking and sawing, wasting both material and time. It was frustrating to feel like I was going backwards after working so smoothly on the pine, but eventually I got through it and managed to finish this part of the work.

Cutting the plywood knees - some were not correctly drawn

Not all was lost, though. Out of this mess came a new skill: using a rasp to correct small alignment mistakes and to refine curves. I cut the curve on the top plywood knees with the jigsaw and then spent time shaping it carefully with the rasp — the result was a much better fit and a smoother finish.

Used a bucket for the curved line

It’s easy to underestimate the amount of work that goes into the knees. This frame alone required twelve of them, and with roughly five cuts per piece and four fasteners each, the hours quickly add up. By the time I finished all of them, I felt like I’d earned a small victory.

Plywood knees - lots of them!

Glueing went much better. I’m getting better at judging how much epoxy to mix, working more calmly, and making less of a mess in the process. When frame D was finally complete, I placed it alongside frames B and C in their relative positions. Seeing the three of them aligned was an incredible moment — for the first time, the shape of the boat was really starting to appear, and it was much easier to visualise its final size.

Glueing everything

The next frames will be different — more challenging but also more interesting. I’m looking forward to tackling them with everything I’ve learned so far.