With the measurements transferred back to the backbone and verified on the deck for fitment, it is time to continue with the construction of the hull.
The measurements from the keel were transfered to a large paper which served as lofting paper to cut out the floors. The marks were connected by way of a batten, producing a fair line that flows from bow to stern.
The floors will end at the chine and the frames will attach to them. The chine will be 2 inches inward of the gunwale, producing a curve to the hull that is pleasing to the eyes.
The floors need to follow the angle of the hull, allowing the planks to lead into the rabbet line on the keel. These points are all known, since the chine is set 3 inches higher than the rabbet, adding three inches to the floor marking and connecting the dots produced a floor template. Then the top of the floor was added to give the unit strength. Based on Herreshoff's Scantling Rules, I knew that the floors need to be 2.2 inches high, so 2.2 inches were added to height of the floors. This means that the ends where the corners taper down to nothing are too small to function. Normally, the floors would taper and come to an end, and the bottom futtock would attach to the floors, but this hull is so small that it doesn't make sense to make a floor, bottom futtock, and top futtock.
Instead, the floors are going to extend all the way to the chine and serve as the bottom portion of the frames, with the top futtock fastened to the end of the floor/futtock.
Based on these measurements, the frames were drawn on the boards available and set to be cut out.
The bandsaw made quick work of the boards, cutting the floors basic shape out in very little time. The floors received an individual number identifying them to their corresponding station.
With the floors set on the keel, the bottom hull profile is beginning to take shape. The next step will be to fabricate the frames and connect them to the floors, making the characteristic "ribs" of the boat.
