Is Today the Day?

There's a chance I'll get some ACTUAL work done on the ACTUAL boat today, but it's not likely.
I have a lot on the agenda today (two baseball practices and a big samurai warrior suit of armor to construct, in addition to the usual tasks at hand.)

But either today or tomorrow I'll have the nominal Keel-Laying Ceremony. (Significance: As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event. Only the ship's launching considered more significant in its creation.) In modern times, as giant ships are built from pre-fabricated sections, and not around a fundamental keel piece, the "keel ceremony" is marked by the cutting of the first piece of steel. In this instance, it will be the assembly of the ribs.
The Keel
When I ordered the fiberglass, the guys at Raka (the fiberglass company) suggested I try glassing the sheets of luan plywood before construction. Their rationale: fiberglassing is tricky at best, and glassing a large, flat rectangle is necessarily easier than glassing a three-dimensional boat-shaped object. I asked around among some other pirogue-builders (there's a wood-boat-building forum here), and the best response I got confirmed my suspicions:

I surprised they recommended doing this. Really surprised actually. You be adding unneeded stress to the fiberglass weave and would be doubling up on fiberglass and epoxy needed.
[and]
I do however believe that the general thought about "pre-glassing" was that it was not that good an idea.
The reasons you stated were of prime concern. ie.: Difficulty in bending the pannels, and cracking of the "stiffend " wood.
All in all, not a recommended procedure.

So, I'm glad I asked.

I also got a follow-up from Fred. He asked:

In suggesting the rabbetted half-lap, I assumed you have access to a router, which would make it a very simple thing to accomplish, well within your abilities. Do you have a router? Have you thought about getting a router?

It's a good question, and one that's been much on my mind in recent weeks.

But, no. I got into this project as a woodworker of limited ability and resources, and I am determined to leave it much the same. My tools consist of:
- various hand saws of different sizes and teeth layout
- a non-adjustable-speed electric drill. This is not a Makita-type screwdriver; it is a drill to which I can add a screwdriver bit. It goes forwards and backwards, but at one high speed only. I also have a circular sander attachment for it, onto which I can secure any grit of sandpaper. This will be my prime shaping tool.
- A tape measure, corner square, and pencils.

Those are the tools I have. And, for better or worse, those are the parameters by which this boat will be built.