The gunwales -- typically pronounce like gunnel -- are 17 feet and 4 inches long for this boat. Unfortunately our lumber yard only provides 16 foot long boards. Anything larger is special order and at considerable expense and delay. We decided instead to lengthen the gunwales by adding two pieces and making a 4 inch long smooth tapered scarf joints to maintain the strength of the wood. The author had to do this for his boat built in 1974 and the joints held up admirably and were never the cause for failure over the 36 years.
In this photo Schuyler is applying the PL Premium glue to the scarf joint. We were both so far quite impressed by the glue which is holding extremely well. What is nice is that it takes up to 24 hrs. to harden so it gives some time to play with the joints.
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