Of Whiskey Planks

Okay, it is exactly what you think: you've got to soak the plank in whiskey prior to installation. Well, not quite.

Strictly speaking, in boat building argot, a whiskey plank is the last plank of wood in the construction of the hull. CLC warns would-be builders of strip-plank boats not to be surprised if the whiskey plank ends up being a very narrow and/or oddly shaped piece of wood.

Ha! - I'm good on that count! My design calls for lots of those because there are a number of discrete "fields" in the design each of which ends up with one of these rather oddly shaped pieces.

At any rate, once I gained full appreciation of my folly of attempting this design (as my very first essay on strip planking) I thought it wiser to stop keeping track of my hours.

I did however grant temporary exception to the process of shaping my first whiskey plank: it took exactly one hour until I had the perfect fit and glued in place. With each subsequent piece I got a bit more efficient.

Some photos shall suffice to illustrate the point.

In the picture on the left, the piece to be put in place is actually the penultimate plank (of this field) but boy, it is getting quite "irregular" especially in terms of the bevel on each side.

While in pursuit of the perfect fit, you may also be driven to lubricate your mind with a bit of whiskey on account of the great patience required to get each side and bevel just right.

Here one of innumerable fittings until it sunk in snugly.

If I had chosen a more traditional, symmetrical design of the kayak deck, there may be one or two such planks.

Witness on the left one of many trial fittings of the actual final plank - THE whiskey plank.




As of 12/28/11 I finally put in place the very last plank - the whiskey's whiskey plank so to speak.

I checked in with Joey at CLC and discussed the sequence of next steps. I required some review of my options and clarification because it appeared that it might make sense that I deviate a bit from the sequence outlined in the manual.

I have quite a bit of work left to do on the deck making it as clean and smooth as possible before sealing in the final condition under a layer of epoxy and fiber glass.

Progress is visible but the job is far from being completed.

I anticipate being able to launch my Night Heron for an early spring paddle.

Happy New Year 2012!