Bow Curve Thickness

The overall plywood thickness on this boat is 1/2 inch. That, plus the fiberglass and epoxy that will be on there, makes it plenty strong.  The problem is that 1/2 inch plywood doesn't bend well enough to make the front curve.  So the plans call for, way back when Chris scarfed the plywood together, a 1/4 inch sheet of plywood scarfed onto the 1/2 inch plywood.  That thinner part is more bendable and makes up the front bottom curve.  But it still needs to be 1/2 inch to be strong enough, so in this step Chris added another piece of 1/4 inch plywood onto the front part of the boat.

Here it is, flipped over. You can see the stringers underneath it that are about to be attached.

 Here it is from the underside in case you're curious.

Chris fit the 1/4 inch pieces that will be added.

Then he pulled the fitted pieces off and coated them with epoxy.

Very carefully, he added one side at a time to the bow and used screws to hold it tight. He scarfed the end to the 1/2 inch piece on an angle.  The squares are wooden washers.

When the epoxy has cured, he unscrewed the washers. It is hard to see, but there are screw holes all over. 

He filled the holes in with the epoxy. Then, as long as he had it flipped over, he added fiberglass to the bottom ridge and sides and attached the stringers. This is not the time when the plans call for the stringers to be attached, but this worked out well for Chris.

There we go, the whole bottom of the boat is now made up of 1/2 inch plywood. Next up: lots more fiberglass!