AFTER MANY MONTHS of patient craftsmanship, fitting, shaping and building up the many members which make up a boat's frame, RNLB Shoreline, building at William Osbornes of Littlehampton, is now being planked. The hull is taking form.

The 37' Rother class lifeboat is of cold moulded wood construction; which means that, instead of solid timber, her hull is a skin made up of three layers of thin planks, laid at different angles and bonded together with glue into one immensely strong laminate moulded to the boat's shape.

The first skin is the thickest. These planks are 8 mm agba, about 4" wide before they are shaped. The planks are laid diagonally across the longitudinals and timbers of the boat's frame, bottom aft to top forward, at an angle of 45 degrees. Starting amidships, the planks are built out towards bow and stern, each consecutive plank being shaped to meet the one which preceded it in a snug joint. A plank is offered up to its partner and the required shape marked with a scribing tool: one arm of the scribing tool is run down the edge of the plank already fitted, so that its other, parallel, arm marks out the true joint edge line on the new plank. Convex curves in the boat will be reflected by convex curves in the scribed lines; concaves in the boat's shape by concaves in the line.

The marked plank is then taken down and shaped to the scribed line by hand plane. When the joint is fair, the plank is cramped into position and fastened to the boat's frame with silicon bronze Gripfast nails. Once all the planks of the first skin are laid, it will probably be necessary to do a little fairing with the plane in way of the solid wood members of the frame, particularly the longitudinals, to make sure that this first skin is quite smooth, with no high points.

Now for the second skin—a thinner one, of 6 mm agba, which will be laid straight fore and aft. A fair line is laid off about half way up the topsides with a long batten (which will be removed when it has done its job) and the initial agba strake is set down on to this batten.

Work then continues above and below.

While planks of about 4" are used on the topsides and bottom, 2" planks are used at the turn of the bilge, where there is the tightest curve. Each strake of the second skin is bonded to the first skin with resorcinol glue and fastened with " silicon bronze staples.

The third skin, also of 6 mm agba, is once again laid diagonally, but this time on the opposite diagonal to the first skin: top aft, bottom forward. It is glued in the same way as the second skin and fixed with f" staples.

Now that the three layers have been built up, the completed skin is finally fastened through to the solid timber longitudinals with 12 gauge screws at 3" centres. The surface of the hull is then planed, scraped and rubbed down with glasspaper and a coat of primer applied to seal the wood.

(to be continued).