"About thirty feet, after allowing for the bend of the bows and the rake of the stern," answered the principal.
"Cabin fourteen feet, I should say," continued Luke. "That will leave eight feet besides the overhang for the standing-room, and the same for the cook-room."
"That was my calculation," replied Captain Gildrock. "Then we want a trunk fourteen feet long, which may be about nine feet wide on the main deck. This will make a very roomy apartment for a lake craft. On each side of it we must build up transoms, or divans, for seats or berths. As we have no centreboard in the middle of it, there will be nothing in our way." "Why didn't we build a centreboard boat?" asked Matt Randolph.
"I think a keel boat is safer and stiffer. In Lake Champlain we have plenty of water, though we shall draw about five feet aft. There are shoal places, but there isn't the least need of running over them."
"In a centreboard boat, if you get aground, there is a chance for you to work off when you cannot in a keel," said Matt.
"That is very true; but I think the stiffness of the keel craft more than compensates for the advantage of light draft in these waters."
The principal then made a drawing to illustrate the method of putting in the beams and the knees that were to support them. As only a portion of the beams could extend entirely across the boat, on account of the elevation of the trunk, it required careful work and planning to secure the necessary strength. But this problem had been solved by the instructors, and the descriptions of the timbers were obtained.
In a few days more the frame of the trunk and deck was in place. While a part of the workmen were planking the deck, the rest were putting down the floor of the cabin, and building the transoms. Before the 1st of July the work on the hull was completed. The boys had contrived a great many lockers in the cook-room and cabin, for the storage of dishes and cooking utensils, and for everything needed on board.
Inside and outside, all hands went over the work with sandpaper. A gang of calkers had already filled the seams with oakum. Tar, pitch, and putty had been used where they were needed, and no one considered it possible for the craft to leak a drop.