Roughing out the new gripe is kids play relative to getting it, first to fit, and then to have the profile we seek.
By the end of the day yesterday, John had achieved an excellent fit to the stem and also to the forward end of the keel.
Together we scribed the lines that will define the landscape, and John went to work. As none of the radiuses, or pitch of the landing faces for the bottom planks is constant, shaping the gripe involves painstakingly slow work, almost sculpting the surfaces.
Once we have the gripe shaped and secure, it will be sealed with multiple coats of CPES and bolted into place, with all the landings bedded in copious amounts of 3M5200.
Repairing the aft end of the keel, which began late this afternoon will be followed by sealing and then bolting it into place, again bedded in copious amounts of 3M5200.
John is fabricating an intriguing self-locking joint that will secure the repaired keel section to its mate.
But that is a story for tomorrow.