Gluing mast step, daggerboard trunk, and rudder parts

The mast step is epoxied and screwed in place.

March 28, 2011
Drilling holes in the hull was a scary thought but it had to be done.  I drilled six holes for the mast step and another six for the trunk.   Then from underneath, I used a countersink bit to prepare the hole for the screws.  I painted thickened epoxy on the hull and then on the mast step.  While MaryAnn held in in place, I drilled up into the sides of the mast step and put in the one and a quarter inch #8 screws.

With the trunk, we did essentially the same thing, but I also put two screws through the bulkhead 2 into the trunk to hold it in place, and then drilled the holes into the bottom of the trunk from under the boat and put in the screws.

The daggerboard trunk is finally glued in place.

To keep making progress, I also put together the four pieces of the rudder.  It's tricky getting all the pieces to stay put once they are coated with epoxy. When I was finally satisfied that I had the in the right place, I used a lot of spring clamps to hold in in place and then clamped scrap pieces of wood across the wide part of the rudder to put some extra pressure on it.

The four parts of the rudder are glued together with thickened epoxy.