To The Lake!!!

I am behind in my writing here.  I have accomplished a few things that need reporting.

Once the slotted inner rail was in place, I rolled the boat over and went to work on the outside of the hull.  I did some sanding then applied a thin coat of thickened epoxy to the areas I'd applied before. With a light sanding, that was smooth enough to paint.

I made a nice set of moveable oarlocks.  Figured out a way to adjust them in increments of 2.5 inches, rather than the spacing of the slots, 5".

I wanted to use my utility trailer to haul these light boats, but the draw bar was way too short.  After some research and discussion with my fabricator son, I changed the old bar for one that gives me an extra 4' of distance from the trailer to the hitch.

Nothing left to do but go to the lake and see how the boat floats!  The boat sits level, with only part of its skeg under water

I sat in the boat, on a bucket, various distances from the bow.  My friend, Manfred stood on the shore and advised me whether the bow or stern were too low, or whether it sat on the water much like it did when empty.  My sitting in the boat lowered the boat an inch or so, and the boat sits flat.  The skeg was still not immersed.

 I attached my oars to the locks and of course, they are meant for a boat much wider than this one. Rowing was awkward and clumsy. I tried to make some determination about how well it tracked, but with such clumsy rowing, it was very difficult.  Save that for when the seat and foot rest are installed.