As predicted the backbone is installed on the frames. The only difficulty was at the bow where the profile is quite curved. Here the 32 mm dense meranti timber was too strong to bend even employing all the methods the designer advises. The solution was one that Kevin and I had discussed and it involved laminating the front section. I was able to cut the front couple of metres of the backbone timber into two, separate one half from the backbone and introduce a scarf join. While the front end was just a half thickness I was able to bend it into position and router the slot for the stem knee join. A neighbour came over at the right time to pass up gear as I glued and clamped the sections together. The glue is well on the way to being set and I have turned my attention to the gunwhales.
Too busy for photos today but I did take some when lining up the frames.
All I needed to get a bottom string line was a 15 mm hold drilled through the mast post and that gave me a top and bottom line.
Top string line for aligning the frames
Bottom string line for aligning the frames