ON BUILDING A FOWLING-PUNT. 465 



scribed, caulking, and general overhaul should now 

 be done, as well as fixing -|in. thick elm wash- 

 boards by brass hinges to the deck fore and aft. 



All punts, the light ones especially, require fir 

 ceiling boards, to protect the planking. They 

 can be of ^in. fir (pine swells). They may be 

 either in planks or, what is neater and lighter, be 

 formed of strips 2 in. broad and an inch apart, 

 held together by transverse bars nailed to them 

 underneath, these latter resting on the punt's floor 

 between the timbers. In the section of punt these 

 ceiling boards are not shown, in order that the 

 sketch may be plainer. They should fit nicely and 

 easily on the floor under the cockpit from side to 

 side, and reach its length. They may also be put 

 under fore and after deck (before these are fixed) 

 to prevent oars and poles damaging floor-timbers 

 and jamming. But with care they are not here 

 required, and add weight to the craft ; and the less 

 of that the better, and the more successful will 

 she be afloat in every way. All fastenings in a 

 punt to be copper and brass, the nails carefully 

 riveted, not clinched ; clinching does not answer 

 in thin soft wood, as the beaten-down points will 

 drag through. Never put a screw in without a 

 dip into oil, or a nail save with a properly fitting (a 

 little tight) piercer to prepare the way for it. For 

 paddling, setting, and sculling in a double punt, you 

 want movable shutters in the after end of the 

 coaming on either side 2ft. Sin. long. These may 

 hinge down, as in plans, or take out, as shown on 

 next page, and drop down into slots when not in 

 use ; they then form again a continuation of the 



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