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I agree with danman - either a smaller or tapered bit for the pre-drill. Also it's been recommended not to countersink plywood ahead of time. I was given the advice that with plywood, you do not want to countersink the hole, only pre-drill. The screw head should capture the ply layers and self-count...

Wow, Tom! Glad you are on the road to recovery, and that the damage to you wasn't worse. I know that broken ribs feel like a kick in the guts with every breath. That's less than a mile from my parent's house, where I plan to do some summer boating when done.

Thanks for the encouragement, Matt and vupilot (sorry, I don't know your name, but probably should). If this next attempt also cracks, then I'll consider the lamination approach. The starboard side didn't have much difficulty in making the bend on the first attempt, so I think the wonky grain was th...

Checking in after a while. I had a setback with the chines, which I'll detail below. From what I can gather elsewhere on the forum, it's basically a rite of passage, so I must be on the right track, right? I did have some success with the larger bungs for the #14 screws attaching the keel to the fra...

I had my chines clamped and mostly bent, using the boiling water and hot towels, but one of them cracked overnight. Now (after a week's delay), I'll be attempting the "Tips from a Shipwright" approach to steaming in place. My chines are 1-1/8" x 2", and it just couldn't handle the bending, curving, ...

Welcome to the forum! Plenty of builders have completed the Zip (it's one of the more popular designs), and more recently have been starting the Zip kit. Be sure to check out Joshua Burks' video series on his Zip build up in Oregon: https://www.youtube.com/user/joshuaburks - most folks here have see...

Wow - very impressive! I'll be watching your progress on this closely. The Mist Miss has a wood windshield prescribed as well, and I have some ideas on that. Best of luck on this part

- Andrew

Looking good and making good progress! I especially like how you use green tape with a note to fix something later.

I use blue tape

Agree with combining the above comments. I pre-drilled my nail holes. I wasn't too worried about the plywood gussets, but going through the Sapele mahogany (very dense) was worth it. Especially with the softer silicon bronze nails. I also bought a relatively inexpensive nail set kit on Amazon. Look ...

Thanks Carl and Lee, At this point I think bungs might be the way to go, just because of the depth. I used Famowood for covering the screws on the transom and floor timbers on the frames, but those were in-plywood counter-sinks where the #8 screw heads sank themselves (and thus the holes weren't tha...

Lookin' Good! I'm right behind you - starting on the chines this weekend

- Andrew

Welcome! the Ski King is a popular and attractive plywood boat, which I'm sure you'll enjoy (both the build process and on the water). I'm building a Mist Miss, which is similar in design but a little larger at 18'. Be sure to post pictures and questions, you'll get a lot of help here!

- Andrew

I think you may have mentioned it previously many, many pages ago, but what about one of the hinged captain's chairs? It would allow for standing at the helm, and it could be flipped up with the metal pole support base still residing on the platform (likely towards the edge). You may have dismissed ...

Ha! - good idea, Matt Keel is in! Poxy-Gripped and screwed (2 per frame) and the keel is carriage-bolted to the stem. It's still 107 degrees, and it's 8:00 PM, and I'm calling it a night! I still need to decide if I'm going to use bungs or filler (famowood) or thickened/colored epoxy to fill those s...

Today's accomplishment: I got the keel layed in. Not attached, mind you, but it fits completely, after some work with my keel notches on some frames (too tight tolerances on my part - needed to be widened by 1/16" of an inch) and finally was able to trim the excess and get the keel fitted snugly int...