Building the Boothbay Lobster Boat

       The cabin sides are pinned to the plan on my work table and the window frame pieces are shaped, attached
and glued with CA. The plastic wrap between the plan and the wood helps to preserve the plans.

The cabin sides were bent to conform to the curve of the deck. I soaked them in 70% alcohol, then clamped them in the deck opening. When the alcohol dried, the sides remained curved.

Here is the frame for the windsheild. It is pinned to the plan like the cabin sides and glued with CA. The windshield frame will fit between the cabin side frames after they are glued in place .

After trimming the cockpit coamings flush with the deck, I glued the cabin sides and coamings to the deck inside edges. Next came the cabin front panel and the rear coaming. The windshield frame needed some adjusting with plane and sanding block but came to fit quite nicely. Also, in this picture is the cabin roof which is temporarily in place. Next will be the cockpit roof.

And here she is from the port side with the cabin installed and ready for lots of sanding and a coat of primer. The cabin and cockpit roofs are installed temporarily so I can get down into the holes with my paintbrush. When finished, the cockpit roof will be glued in place and the cabin roof will be removable for access to the radio gear is below.

Here is a self portrait of me doing some sanding. I used 150 grit sandpaper, then sanded everything (including the hull) with 220 grit. For the final sanding of the hull, I used number 400 grit wetordry emery paper.

The cabin received two coats of primer and two coats of paint. The primer was hand painted, then sanded, and the final paint was sprayed on. Here the deck is covered with masking tape to protect the stained surface.