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The white oak TRANSOM is a big section of wood and was made of three pieces joined together with wooden "biscuits" and polyurethane glue.

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The setting up of the STATION MOLDS,once the STRONGBACK has been levelled, takes two people and most of a day.

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With all the molds now in place,it was time to begin fabricating parts.

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Seen from the side, all the molds are visible as well as the transom backer which will hold theTRANSOM at an angle of 14 degees.

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The STEM SET had been bent some time ago, so it was clamped in place and the KEELSON (an inner keel) was scarf jointed with the inner stem.

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We use an accurate CNC cut transom template to give us the most accurate transom we can produce. The first step is to cut out the basic shape just 1/8" larger than the template.

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Then, a trimming router bit with an upper bearing (which follows the template) is used to cut out the final shape.

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Finally, a large diameter rabbeting bit is used to make a channel in the inner face. This rabbet is the place where the strips will be attached but hidden where they meet the transom.

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the BOW STEM is shaped (or 'faired' in boat talk). This process creates a flat landing place for the strips at the bow end.

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The molds with the 3 foundation pieces is ready to receive the bead and cove strips after...

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The strips are 3/8" x 1 1/4" and can only be held in place with small drywall screws. To prevent the screws from drawing into the wood-making an ugly bruise- we tempoorarily employ these thin PVC plastic strips which protect the wood as the stri

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Now, in late March, the first 10 rows are now secured in place. With a curved inner shape to the transom area, these rows require a lot of "coaxing" to rotate in place.

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The side view with the ten rows showing.

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Now in early April,the stripping of the Zephyr continues with the colour pattern of the cedar being quite evident.

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This area at the curve of the bilge is the most difficult part as there is a lot of twisting in each strip and the effort to get them in place is significant.

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The real tough-to-bend strips are now in place as we approach the midline of the boat.

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At the midline, the strips cannot get past one another as they could earlier. So, we have place a "stopper stick" along the midline and will plank up to that line until the one side is covered in with wood.

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Today was a long session as we worked to close one side over and up to the midline.