A Boat Begins To Form

Hull side panels are stitched together at the bow & stern and a spreader stick placed amidship

Hull panels are stitched together with 18 gauge copper wire. CLC sells rolls that can be cut to 4" lengths for stitching A common occurrence, according to the Boatbuilder's Forum, is for first time builders to run out of copper wire. I found a roll of wire on Amazon.com for around $25, and it will probably last me two more boats. 

Thoroughly reading the manual and browsing the forum before beginning stitching was a great help at this stage. Many other builders outlined the obstacles they ran into stitching their boats together, and more importantly, indicated the best ways to avoid or overcome those obstacles. Reading the forum and other build blogs was useful throughout the entire process.

Hull bottom panels are stitched together, & then stitched to the side panels

Amazon.com was my source for the 18 gauge copper wire