Patterns and Spiling

I've finally finished all the fairing.  The new battens (thank you John Gardner and Howard Chapelle for the dimensions) made what was once almost impossible into a relatively easy task.  I still spent several days working my way along each frame, making the bevel just right to accept the planking.  

Yesterday, I ended the day making the pattern for the garboard plank.  This is really exciting because it means we've made it to the next major part of the project (and the part that makes the boat a boat).  We're now separating the inside of the boat from the outside, making it a floatable object.  

Today I finished making the garboard pattern, and spiled the shape of the plank-to-be onto it.  Spiling is the process of transfering a three dimensional shape onto a flat piece of something (probably wood) that's held against the object.  In this case the object is the hull of the boat, the transfer tool is a compass, and the flat spiling stock is 1/8 inch plywood bent around the frames of the boat.  (The pictures will make it a little clearer.)  

After finishing the pattern and spiling, my problem this morning went something like this:  I have one eight by four foot piece of plywood to make the garboard plank with.  The plank is about 17 feet long by twenty or so inches wide with a big curve.  How did I get 17 feet out of 16 feet?  Very carefully.  Look at the pictures to discover my fancy style.