My own build of the GIS continues until this Friday when kits for the boat go out, the patterns for which are based on this build. The assembly of the sides is quite typical of a self-jigging skiff, with side panels wrapped around bulkheads, glued, and carefully leveled to prevent twist in the hull. These builds are notorious for twist getting built into the hull. It is easy to see when the boat is in the water without any people or gear, and the transom sits out of level with the water. With this sighting trick in mind, you will see it more often now!
Pre-finishing is always employed to make finishing and painting a more efficient process. I use "scrape-filling" to fill the grain of the wood and seal the plywood in epoxy.
I approached this hull differently because of the twist in the side panel as it wraps around the first bulkhead, developing compound curvature as it fairs into the stem. Putting the whole thing together in one glue-up session, solo, is a workout. But boy was it fun. I've built a few dozen boats like this; this skiff was the most fun to assemble.
I started by glueing and screwing the panels to the first then second bulkheads, the place where the compound curvature in the panel is centered.
The stem was fastened then the hull was zipped up from the midship frame aft. It is now glued with no twist in the hull fore-to-aft.
I am also posting on the
Michael Storer Boats Forum.
