Launch day!

A friend has offered to paint the dinghy in his car body shop, using two-pack polyurethane paint. That will be great - so I wanted to test the boat in the water in case there were adjustments required first.

The front half floats.

Goes together OK.

First row - floats right on the planned lines! Hooray!

Goes OK with the outboard, but needs a tiller extension to get the trim right.

Or add some more people. Daughter Sif at the front, Tom, and the smug fella at the back is someone that looks like me.

A few minor adjustments needed. I'd hoped the central seat would be enough to hold the boat together, without any use of bolts or complicated connecting systems. It's nearly enough. If I make some wooden clamps to hold the top edges of the connecting bulkheads, it'll hold together just fine. I did a fast turn and drove through the waves I'd just made. A very small amount of water found its way into the boat through the connecting bulkheads. I think a piece of draught excluder will be enough to keep out those splashes. And I didn't make the outboard pad thick enough. But those are quick and easy fixes, so I'll save them for a rainy day, and get back to the catamaran tomorrow.