Dec 13. Transom Knees and Breasthook

Not easy work. These are tough, hand fit, compound bevels, and you better have a sanding table handy for fine tuning. 

Quarter knees fitted with long screws through from the outside of the sides and transom. You can also see the shape I chose for the upper edge of the transom. A nice, gentle rounding. 

The breasthook was harder yet. I hacked it out of a large block of myrtle wood, which is my signature. I always make the breasthook of my boats from myrtle. It only grows in the U.S. on the coast of Oregon, the place where my parents grew up and most of my extended family still resides. It took some time to cut the proper bevels through sometimes 3 inches of myrtle. I got the side bevels to fit correctly and left the top proud for shaping to match the top sides after installation. It's a little thick, but I like the curviness. The tops of the seams are now thoroughly reinforced. 

This picture was taken later in the build cycle because I forgot to take a breasthook pic at the time of completion. Please ignore the completed seats. They were not completed yet.