The side-strips should each be made of one-inch plank three inches wide and a few inches longer than the side-boards. Nail the strips on the outside of the boat flush with the top of the side-boards. Make your thole-pins of some hard wood, and make two sets of them while you are about it, "one set to use and one set to lose." Screw a hard-wood cleat on the inside of your boat over each pair of rowlocks, as shown in [Fig. 216].
Ready for the Water
Fasten the remaining bow-piece securely over the ends of your side-boards, and the nose of your craft is finished.
Put a good, heavy keel on your boat by screwing it tightly in the stern to the hard-wood rudder-post that is fastened to the centre of the stern; bolt your keel with four iron bolts ([Fig. 211]) to the bottom of the boat, and the ship is ready to launch, after which she can be equipped with sails and oars.
Of course, you understand that all nail-holes and crevices should be puttied up, and if paint is used, it must be applied before wetting the boat. But if you have done your work well, there will be little need of paint or putty to make it tight after the wood has swelled in the water. Fasten your rudder on with hooks and screw-eyes, and make it as shown in the diagram ([Fig. 211]). Step your mainmast in the bow through a round hole in the deck and a square hole in the step, which must, of course, be screwed tightly to the bottom before the bow is decked over.
Step your jigger or dandy mast in the stern after the same manner. These masts should neither of them be very large, and are intended to be removed at pleasure by unstepping them, that is, simply pulling them out of their sockets. An outrigger will be found necessary for your dandy-sail, and since the deck aft is below the sides of the boat, a block of wood will have to be nailed to the deck to the starboard, or right-hand, side of the rudder-post. If the builder chooses, he can make the decks flush with the sides of the boat and thus avoid blocks. A couple of staples for the out-rigger to slip through are next in order. They must be fastened firmly in the block or stick of wood just nailed to the deck. A similar arrangement can be made for the bowsprit, but as it is a movable bowsprit, and the stem of the boat is in the way, put it to the port, or left-hand, side of the stem of the craft ([Fig. 216]).
How to Make the Sail
