Day 71

The next 4 days were dedicated to final welding the stringers to the plate ( or visa-versa! ) then welding the stringers solid to the frames.
	Gena weldin' like mad!	We figured this wouldn't take very long as I could buff off the primer, and Gena could weld after me. The primer had to be completely cleaned off as porosity (bubbles etc) is caused, by primer cooking under it, as we found out last year! The unforseen stubborness of the primer in the corners of the stringer and frame backed by the plate slowed things down considerably! Tough stuff Tremclad primer.
We tryed everything, brushes of all sizes - the minicup came close, dremel tips - which just fell apart, sandpaper - only if breaking out of prison! and finally drill bits. One bit worked well and ended all our problems. A stainless hardened countersink bit, of which we had two. We definately WILL consider rust over primer in future corners, as rust is weldable if brushed off.

	I ground off all the "lumpies"	The bit was so efficient, that I was done way ahead of Gena, so I went out from under to inspect the burns outside. This was when I noticed the welds to the 3/8" plate had caused lumps of expanded plate that were quite noticable to the touch. So the rest of my time (and then some! ) was used flattening them down lightly with the grinder. Ahh the little things that one doesn't think of!
After a brief visit from our crane operator, we were advised to put some "I"beam across under the boat for additional strength during lifting. This will be next weekends project.

Day 71-74:
31 hours: welded all stringers the frames solid, and stringers to plate.