Scared of scarfing

I have most of the initial blanks cut, and the next step is scarfing. I am getting very good at procrastinating and putting off this step. I seems in some ways more intimidating than simply cutting a straight line. The current excuse is a backlog of graduate work, the next excuse (yes, to be a serious procrastinator one must plan their excuses) is an upcoming trip to Washington DC. I am hoping to stop by an visit CLC. The excuse after that of course is Okoumefest - the boat builders gathering down on the Chesapeake. Of course to attend that event as an actual builder I need to actually be building something.

Metal to wood

Well, after considerable procrastination I finally put metal to wood and cut up some of my special order Okoume plywood. Nothing terribly exciting, the manual suggests cutting the 4x8 sheets into 13", 15" and 20" strips that can then be more easily handled for the precision cuts to follow.

Although I have had the wood for a few weeks, I still did not consider myself to be a boat builder yet. Now I guess that has been accomplished. My neighbor thought I was working on a basement project. When he found out I was building a boat his eyebrows went up a bit. I extended an invitation to go fishing when the Skerry was done but I think he will wait until extensive sea trials confirms that we have a floater here.

I also am out of symmetry somewhat. I had purchased just three sheets of 6mm plywood. I have enough to start scarfing one side, but not the other (or the bottom). Part of me wishes to wait until the next shipment is in, and part of me thinks it will be better to start scarfing to see how complicated it is. There are two scarfing methods I am interested in - the traditional hand plane and the router jig. I have the hand plane, but not a sharpening stone so I am a bit worried. I find the router method attractive because it seems that once it is built I can use it for this boat (Wendy and any future boats. But with power tools mistakes can be fast and severe. I think I will start out with the plane.

False Start

We sold our 18' trailerable sailboat last April when we moved into a new house. Marooned, I have been in search of a new boat ever since. I've looked at large sailboats, production powerboats, pontoon boats, and build your own powerboats. I've come to three conclusions:

1) There is no one boat that will do everything I want
2) Better to start with something than have nothing
3) If picking the right boat is a big thing in one's life, they are truly fortunate. There are so many other more significant things to get stressed about.