Since the block-and-tackles will make an easy job of lowering the bottom panels onto the stringers (longitudinal under-deck beams), I came up with a way to hang the bottom without blocking the ability to lay the panels on the beams: The cross-brace at the bow is placed to fall just behind the stem (see pix below) and just forward of the fore end of the stringers. The stern end of the assembly is held by a big 'fork' made from a couple of short 2x4s with a spacer through-bolted between them at one end. With this 'fork' running along the keel line and a couple of clamps to keep it from sliding to either side, there is nothing in the way of lowering onto the beams.

• Square and level the building jig
• Place Station 6 mold, center it, then square it up with jig by measuring diagonals to aft end of building jig
• Place Station 3 mold and square up to aft end of building jig (diagonals)
• Place Station 11+2" mold and square up to Station 6 mold
• Lay Station 8-1/2 mold across jig

The stem was mounted to the beam as specified, except I marked the centerline on the stem first so that I could align the lower (sheer end) end with the shelve's centerline properly. I put a temporary screw into the shelves at the bottom end, and then made the stem verticle by measuring diagonals to either corner of the building jig at the aft end. A double-check with a level showed that the stem was centered and vertical. Screws to the mounting ply on the beam locked it in place (12-7/8" drop as specified of course), then I glued it to the shelves with milled glass/silica/epoxy as usual.

On the right side of the picture is a view through a door from the third garage (next to the 2-car garage where the boat is going together). Mounting the transom wasn't too hard. Everything fit, but had to bop the shelves in/out to align them with the edges of the transom. Temporary clamps and blocks held things for the gluing, followed by temporary screwing through the transom into the ends of the shelves. NOTE: Renn leaves these screws in, but I'll take them out. I'm not leaving any more fasteners in the boat than I have to, and the ones that do stay will be silica bronze to prevent crevice corrosion on the buried fasteners (corroding metal expands and can crack epoxy/glass). I'll be tabbing the transom support knees (gussets to shelves) with 12-ounce biaxial then filling with silica thickened epoxy. The fillet will be a mixture of epoxy, milled glass, and silica like I always use for high strength joinery.

I checked the fairness/fit of both stringers in the transom slot and both were within 1/16" of flush, so I called it close enough. I didn't really want to 'fair' the transom to the stringers or vice versa since if the amount of wood taken off one side of the boat is different than the other, then the deadrise won't be symmetrical. Fortunately all was fine as-is. As you can see, I've clamped in 30-1/4" blocking at the stern, around Station 8, at Station 6, and at the tips of the stringers. I centered the stringers at the transom and at Station 6, then clamped everything in place.

Next, to facilitate easy up/down movement of the boat bottom on the framing and stem, I decided to adjust the block and tackles so they'd raise the bottom straight up and down with no tendency to swing in one way or another. At the bow, I just had to move the cross-brace piece a couple of inches. At the stern, I had to go up in the attic (spot marked via plumb bob) and move the blocking between the stringers to a new spot so the block and tackle would hang the bottom from the right spot. Finally, my wood 'fork' assembly was a bad idea since it gets in the way of landing the bottom assembly on the transom. Shown in the right-hand side of the picture, you can see the new mount that I came up with for hanging the bottom. I simply cut a 12-degree deadrise angle into a piece of scrap, screwed it in place in the overhanging (extra) part of the bottom panels, then put a long bolt through it around which I could put a loop of line (as shown.)