Chine Log Hell

For those of you who are not familiar with bending wood let me splane it to you. First find yourself a small pine tree five to eight feet tall. Next pound a stake in the ground and tie a rope to the top of the tree. Now bend the tree down so that the top of the tree is on the ground and tie it to the stake. At this point you will need an assistant and a knife.
Stand with one foot on either side of the top of the tree have your assistant cut the rope holding the tree down. While your flying through the air with a bruised package wondering why you started something so stupid just remember in five minutes you get to do it again!

Ok it wasn't quite that bad but it was close. I fitted the first chine log a couple of days ago and after measuring and thinking and finally cutting i realized it was to short, aaarg! So i fitted the second into place and eyeballed it, this worked, to hell with the tape measure.
A bunch of nails some cut up fingers and tada!

If you look closely in the above picture you will see two clamps sticking out. As it just so happens as i was fighting to put the chine logs in (see above description) i herd my favorite crunching sound. Upon closer inspection i found that the plywood was cracking at the stem post where the chine log meets it. 

After some reflection i decided to beef up the outside of the panel with some cloth. 

I needed to relive the pressure so that the panel would cure in its original shape, cue the clamps and Spanish windlass! 

You will notice the two drill bits in the chine log preventing the windlass from sliding off the chine logs. There is some serious potential energy here boys and girls so keep your fingers out. 

So finally at 2 am i got the reinforcements on the bow.