A Sketch of the Process
The first step is to set up your shop. If you are like me, that includes cleaning it. I recommend ripping the strips, gunwales and keel before building the mold, because unless you have a lot of room, once the mold is assembled, there is not going to much room for handling long boards. After ripping and edging the long pieces, the strongback is assembled. Then the forms are cut out and mounted on the strongback. The result is called the mold. The strips are then glued together on the mold (but not to the mold) to create the hull. While the completed hull is still on the forms, the outside is sanded smooth and fiberglass is applied with sufficient epoxy to fill the fiberglass weave. The hull is then removed from the mold, righted, and placed in cradles mounted on the strongback. The inside of the hull is then made smooth. Once that is done, it’s all downhill. Apply fiberglass to the inside, but this time there are no fill coats. The hull is now finished. The final steps are to install the gunwales, decks, seats, and yoke or thwart. Before you head to deep water, apply two or three coats of clear marine finish and you are ready to go.