Page 13 - Installing the Ash "Rub Strips"

There was still one more detail to finish before putting fiberglass on the hull. Where the strips came together in the bow and stern, it was extremely rough, and there were huge gaps. I had intended all along to put strips of ash in the front and back - partly to dress up the ends of the strips, and partly to add strength. The places that have suffered the most wear and tear on my Chesapeake have been the bow and stern, where the boat rubs on the beach when launching or landing. There's a certain amount of dragging the boat that you have to do, to pull it to higher ground when you come ashore, and to pull it back to the water when you're ready to relaunch. I thought ash strips would protect the redwood. Of course, I'm also going to apply extra fiberglass to those areas, so maybe the wear will never get down to the wood.

First I sanded down the ends of the boat with a belt sander so that I had a nice flat surface to glue the ash strips to. I filled the large gaps with epoxy putty and sanded it down with the wood.

Then I had to rip some very narrow strips from the ash board I bought in Watsonville last spring.

The first strip on each end was held down with staples. On the next two I used straps and rubber bands.

The most difficult spot was at the very ends. The curve was such that I had to use a heat gun to bend the thin ash strips around.

Here's the bow section when I glued on the second strip. I didn't want staple holes to show, so I used rubber bands and straps to hold it down (and pieces of strips on top to keep the edges of the thin strips from cracking.) The most difficult sections were, once again, the ends. There was nothing on the bottom to hold the rubber bands in place, so I hot-glued a piece of 3/4" plywood there. It held the tension fine. When I no longer need it I can pry it off and shave off the hot-glue remnants with a knife. It's under the tape in this picture. If I hadn't done this, the rubber bands would have slipped off.

I put one more strip on after this, for a total of three layers. Then I spent quite a bit of time planing and sanding, until the ash matched the contour of the hull. I don't have any pictures of that. Once again, in the heat of trying to make progress on the boat, I neglected to take time out for some pictures. I'm trying not to do this, but occasionally it happens.

However, I do have some pictures I took after the fiberglass was on, which show the rub strips in their final forms.

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