Michel Selig II

the sternpost
c. Drawing station lines on the sides of the "half" lifts
In preparing the plans for cutting, station lines had been
drawn on the top and bottom of the lifts. During the
carving phase, station lines are needed on the outer and
inner sides of the boat.
This meant connecting the station lines on the top of a
half lift with those on the bottom. Disappointingly, the
lines rarely lined up completely. There was usually a
discrepancy of 1 - 2 mm. - and sometimes much more.
This led to drawing lines of three colours:
- blue: for the initial linking of the top and bottom
lines, i.e. one half lift at a time,
- green: for resolving discrepancies between the blue
lines on both the inner and outer sides of the two
halves of the lift, i.e. two half lifts at a time,
- red: for defining a definitive station line on the
outside of the hull over all the lifts (after gluing the
lifts together).
Drawing the station lines on the sides of a half lift.
They should correspond to the station lines on the top
and bottom of the lifts. One can see that they don't.
The square ensures that the lines will be
perpendicular.
The next step was to verify that the station lines of the
two half lifts are in alignment.