To cam the halves together, is there something you could build using (half
of) the sash locks made for double-hung windows? I've had to replace a
couple of mine, and the good-quality replacement units are brass and fairly
well made. You'd have to make a pin that "lives" in the stern half, comes
through the bulkhead hole into the bow half when the boat is assembled, and
has a groove that the lock turns into.

You can see this very common hardware store item he
http://www.rejuvenation.com/typepage...rts_group.html
or
http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixbshow...21e16ec28c 91

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ups.com...
I finally launched my 2-Paw-9 nesting dinghy. Nested her and put her
in back of my truck and took her down to Carabelle (NW Florida) to see
how well she would go on the foredeck of my 28' S2. First put her in
the water apart. I got in back half and easily assembled her in the
water. I had the foresight to bring a large C clamp to hold the two
halves together while I inserted the bolts. Took in some water through
the bolt holes while I did this but wasnt a problem (water is warm).
Rowed her around the river front and found she rows and tracks well.
My old 6' oars seemed a tad short so I will probably get some 7' oars.
Decided to hoist her up to the fordeck of the big boat intact. Slacked
the lifeline and hooked the jib halyard to her to use the winch to lift
as I did with my old Nautilus 8. On a whim, I just gave her a tug and
Voila!, she was on deck with me standing there looking surprised. No
need to use the halyard. Being MUCH lighter than the Nautilus makes
her easy to move around. Easily took her apart even on the very
crowded foredeck space. Nested her and found she fits in surprisingly
little space over my foredeck hatch.
I then carried her back up the dock to my truck so I can paint her.
The front half is very light and easy to carry. The back half I found
was easy to carry by running a slack rope through the oar lock holders
that went over my shoulder.
As you can tell, I am very pleased. I have one minor change I will
make. The bolts that hold the two halves together are sort of a pain
even though I used wing nuts instead of regular nuts. I am looking for
some sort of fastener that will go through the holes where I slip the
nut side piece on and lock it down with a sort of cam action. Such a
thing ought to be easy to make in our shop but I'd rather buy it off
the shelf if anybody has any ideas.
I do need some advice on oarlocks. Which do people prefer, the closed
ring types, the open U or the ring with a pin through the oar or the
type that clamps around the oar with a bolt?
Secondly, I will probably put some sort of rubber washer around the
bolt holes BETWEEN the nesting bulkheads (ie, the bulkhead separating
the front and back halves. This will allow less water to enter while I
am getting the bolts in.
I am fairly happy with the 2-Paw-9.