Building the Bouchie Dory Pt. 21 – Installing the cutwater

The cutwater is technically just the leading portion of the stem out side of the planking. I use the term to refer to a separate component that can be replaced in the event of damage. In the Bouchie dory we are making it out of yellow cedar for the sake of ease and economy but it should ideally be made of a dense hardwood such as oak, purple heart or gum wood. I’m installing it with a non-adhesive oil based bedding compound called Dofinite and using a small bead of rubberized marine sealant along the joint between the cutwater and garboards. Because we had to round the hood end of the garboards slightly to facilitate fibreglassing, it left a small gap along the cutwater joint. I could have let the Dofinite fill it but the sealant will do a better job of holding paint.
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