Hi Gang,
I ran into another problem that I thought I might mention to those of you who have not yet attached the keelson to the keel. The keelson has a rectangular cutout to slide over the trunk. The cutout is longer than the trunk. When in place the keelson should be slid forward to make contact with the aft end of the trunk. This will leave a gap of about 6 mm on the fore end of the trunk. This gap is a slot for the tab on Floor 4. The tab should slide into that gap and on top fit under the chin of wood at the top of the trunk.
My problem was that the manual didn't discuss the importance of keelson alignment with respect to the trunk. I remember thinking that there was a lot of clearance fore and aft as I slid the keelson into place but I just figured John was being nice and making it easier to fit. By luck I had positioned it mostly forward but not completely- maybe 4 mm. It took me a while to figure out that the tab was supposed to go in that slot but it was not obvious because it didn't fit. To remedy the problem I notched the tab on Floor 4 and it now fits nicely in its place, top and bottom.
John, if you're reading this, in the manual there is a mention of the slot when installing Floor 4 but no mention of the importance of positioning that keelson forward. It might be worth adding in the next "edition".
But that said, the project is moving nicely along. The plans and manual are excellent and any problems I encounter are more related to skill and haste rather than poor instruction.
Jay