Hull now nearly complete - lots of progress

It's been a while since my last post and as they say - a photo speaks a thousand words. Life has been busy. We've got a new baby in the house (third boy). I've bought a new business and am in the process of selling another one. Also my team mate and I won an Australian title at the Australian Masters surf lifesaving championships in Perth.

Despite these many distractions my boat is progressing and I've now got the hull and keel plated, the stern tube is in place and this week we finished all the welding of seams etc. She is looking great and we are now planning for the next exciting stage which is turning her over.

I've posted three photos that demonstrate the stages from my last post until where we are now so that the progression is clear. We have used both a stick welder and Mig welder for the welding.

I've also been busy melting down lead from scrap into ingots for the keel which we will start adding as soon us the hull is turned over. I have several tonnes now and in total about 4.5 tonnes will go into the keel which will be welded shut and filled with oil so that corrosion can never occur.