3mm thick, mild steel plates were used for the hull from the lower chine to gunwales. The stock sheets were 6m long. They are not much heavier than the small 8x4 5mm sheets.
2" diameter pipe rollers on angle iron rails was the method used to move the sheets across flat but lumpy ground into the boatyard from where the truck dropped them off. It was best with 2 guys hauling them along with a rope, (but one had to take the pic). It took an hour or so to move them about 15m. Thanks to Kim for the hard work put in that day.
Templated Hull sheets were 6m long if possible which made only 4 vertical joins to worry about in the hull length. The 3mm was put on the topsides of the hull and between the chines. The vertical joins were also staggered to give greater strength.
Although larger, the 3mm plates were easier to bend and fit than the 5mm plates. A bit of gardening was also going on provide a foliage screen to keep the council happy. The above photo shows a tyre pond, it was soon demolished due to mosquitos and in any case a boat yard should have vast ammounts of flat clear access space around it if possible (for work, vehicles, big trucks and even cranes etc).
The 3mm plates are faired up and tacked on. Prep work begins on the keel base.
It was well worth getting the largest sized 3mm sheets available (6 x 1.5m = 20ft x 5ft). Any handling difficulties were far outweighed by smooth and fair plating.
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