The next big purchase was the Road King Trailer.  After searching for a used trailer for several weeks and unhappy with the results, most of the used trailers were $475-$550 and not int the best shape.  I decided on the Road King from Ed's Superstore in Ashland, VA. I was $750 dollars and came with a wheeled folding front jack.

Note: the boat is covered while I spray the deck, rails and interior with varnish.

The spring was back again.

I decided to design and build a yoke style tiller so I would have the option to use ropes or a push-pull style tiller.

On the same trip to Annapolis that I purchased the plywood for the deck I also picked up paint and varnish.  I chose to go with Interlux Brightsides paint.  The decision was to paint the hull white with a sapphire blue for the top strake and to varnish the deck and interior with spar varnish.

Late snow storm.

From the beginning I planned on building a foredeck to inclose the bow from the mast forward.  I bought a piece of okume plywood from CLC in Annapolis.   The deck is supported by the mast partner and by pine stringers and knees.  The deck was then coated with fiberglass for added wear resistance.

I also picked up a blue heron onlay for the deck. An onlay is similar to an inlay but a heck of alot easier.  The onlay is glued to the deck prior to fiberglassing and after 3 coats of epoxy it is difficult to tell that it is not inlayed into the deck.

This is Maggy

here are a couple of picks of my trusted assistant throughout the build.

Very sadly we lost Maggie a couple of Sundays ago.  She got very sick and died in just a couple of days. She is very much missed.  She was a great little helper throughout the build.

After the stitch (using thin copper wire) which is really quite ingenious, come the glue using a two part epoxy.  The kit from CLC has predrilled hole for the wiring making lining up of the planks easy even for a complete amateur like me.

Once the boat is assembled the bottom of the boat is sheathed in a blanket of fiber glass which is then coated with three coats of epoxy.

The stitch and glue kit from Chesapeake Light Craft was very well designed and the spiral bound instruction book was easy to follow.

I had intended to start a blog when I began building The Blue Heron the day after Thanksgiving 2012.  Well, it never happened.  I wish I had done a better job or documenting the build.  The experience was so satisfying, this was my 1st real woodworking project.