Yesterday was another milestone in our boat building adventure. With the help of some friends (Steve and Rob) who were home for the holidays we were able to flip the hull over so that work can begin on the bottom of the hull.
The first step was to raise the boat up so that we could remove the cradle underneath. We clamped a couple of 2x4s to the transom to support the back end and did the same for the bow with some "safety sawhorses" on either side just in case. After we removed the cradle we took off the bow supports and set the bow on the floor. Then we removed the the transom supports and set the back end on the floor. We felt that with the boat on the floor it would be easier to rotate over and then raise up again. We are working on carpet under plastic so the ground has some padding.
Then with Rob and Steve's help we rotated the hull half way onto its port side being careful not to rest any of the weight of the hull on the side panel above the level of the seat tops because there is still very little structure there. After that we lifted the bow up above our heads which allowed us to rotate the hull easily from the back end and she just rolled over on the edges of the transom. This way we avoided having to lift the entire weight of the boat at once and put all the weight on the solid structure of the transom. This was Rob's idea.
While the boat was still upright and on "stilts" we used a bathroom scale to get an approximate weight of the hull. We took two measurements (one at the bow and one at the stern) and....drumroll...... she weighed in at a slim and trim 375lbs. Not really sure if that is a good weight to have at this point but it seems okay to me. Once the bottom is done I can almost count the thing left to do on one hand. Almost.
