Sailing Yabá · video

What this video covers

Defining the waterline on a custom-built wooden boat requires precise leveling and multiple reference points to ensure a straight, symmetrical finish. After painting over the hull, the crew of Yabá, a schooner under restoration in a Brazilian shipyard, lost their original waterline reference.1:01 They established a new baseline by measuring 1.60 meters from the bottom of the keel to the rudder mount, then adjusted this height to 1.30 meters to account for the vessel's estimated displacement and to keep the top hull planks clear of the water.13:12 The team used three horizontal purple heart planks positioned at the bow, midships, and stern to level the hull, pulling a string line between them to mark the waterline with pencil dots.11:29 To ensure a smooth curve, they applied masking tape across these markings, sighting the line from a distance to avoid a jagged appearance.16:29 Once finalized on the port side, they transferred the measurements to the starboard side by referencing the distance from the cover board to the tape at 20-centimeter intervals.17:56

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