The kit as shipped. (Minus the second box containing epoxy, fiberglass, etc.)

"Stitching" the panels together with copper wire.

Gluing panels with epoxy.

The assembled hull.

Fiberglassing the floorpanel.

Bulkheads in place; adding the starboard outwale. (You can never have too many clamps!)

The first coat of epoxy on the outside of the hull. Still to come: another epoxy coat, at least one primer coat, and probably two coats of white one-part marine polyurethane. Almost seems a shame to paint her, but I think I will, for safety's sake and because the fillets of epoxy aren't so appealing.

Two coats of epoxy on the outside. Time to do the inside while the outside hardens fully.

Two coats of epoxy on the inside. It's all over but the sandin'... and the primer, and the paint, and the varnish... .

The first coat of Interlux "Brightsides" one-part linear polyurethane. No, it's not wet in the picture. This paint rocks! (For $25/quart, it'd better!)

Laminating the mast from two pieces of cypress.

The final coat of paint.

The first coat of Epifanes spar varnish. (Needs a good brush -- this stuff is so thick it pulls the bristles right out of a cheap one.)

Centerboard and rudder.

Testing the rig.

Got the registration number today: OR807AAU

Rowing configuration.

Sailing configuration.

Draft with daggerboard down.

Motoring configuration.

Testing the rig aboard the boat.

"Sea trials" 28 August, 2002.

Stowed aboard the mothership.

Proud skipper.

Tinder served well as Brushfire's auxiliary, and in fact may have been sailed more often than the mothership, as it was so much easier to drop her over the lifelines, row out into the river, raise the sail, and be underway. She travelled with us when we moved to Augusta, GA, and again when we moved to Savannah, and got in a bit of sailing in each location. Unfortunately, in Savannah there was nowhere to store her under cover and the termites were unkind to her.

Tinder was decommissioned and scrapped on 22 May, 2024. However, I saved the bronze and stainless hardware as well as her bilge pump. I still have the plans; maybe I'll build a Tinder II sometime!

Other units of the FSN
FSN 01 Brushfire
FSN 03 Serenity
FSN 04 Bright Eyes
FSN 05 Sea Quester