A tough thing about the boat build is seeing the calendar slide by without getting to true completion on key stages. So many things need “just a little more sanding” or are dependent upon another part or supplier, etc. But it’s been helping to have milestone goals, such as Finish Exterior Fabrication before returning to cabin fit-out work. We’re checking items off the shop white-board every day on the drive to finish exterior parts and hardware fitting. The reward comes this weekend as we get back in the cabins for the home stretch to painting.

We were going to make fiberglass backing plates or buy G10 sheet (yikes expensive), but decided hard woods would be a better fit. So, hardware mounted where the backing washers & nuts are hidden from sight get 3/4″ marine plywood and pieces in view inside the cabins get chunks from a hard mahogany stock. Here are some plates to back up winches, docking cleats and pad eyes.

When the taller people come aboard, you’ll appreciate the counter-sunk holes for the bolt-ends, ie they shouldn’t be catching anyone’s scalp.

Fresh air will be ‘always on’ with this dorade vent. It has a clever catchment to leave splashed water out in deck, not dripping inside. This one is mounted just in front of the forecabin wardrobe.

The final winches mounting has finished. We’ve had five beautiful Andersen stainless steel units patiently waiting at home for years, but the new running back stays and dual mainsheet setup mean a sixth winch is needed. Thankfully our 46 Self Tailer model was on a $600 off msrp deal last week at Annapolis Performance Sailing so we snatched that up. It clawed back quite a bit of the savings from not having a traveler system, but it makes sense. Here’s what you get when lifting the drum off an Andersen for installation or maintenance.

Spin it around and it’s like watching a fancy old clock work. It’s so pretty we really MUST commit to the annual maintenance on these beasts.

Charlie was at the shop eagerly sanding away at some fairing work when he spoke up about “maybe not enough reinforcement around the steering bearing plate”. I’d had a similar thought a week earlier, so with two opinions it was time to beef it up. A bit of carbon to the rescue.

All the steering gear worked out well. But I forgot to photo the final assembly. So that will have to wait until it’s painted and I’ll save the work in progress photos for you.

The shop went dark for 4 days in order for the builder to sail little trimarans. Huge thanks to Jared and Paul, owners of Pierpont Performance Sailing, for hosting a Weta spring break getaway at Lake Nacimiento in central Cal.

The boat sharing worked well and I got at least 10 hours at the tiller – here in some light air:

Got my hat handed to me in the match races by Bruce the Weta class prez with his yellow boat, but learned a bunch. Great weather, good camping, delicious campfire dinners and really swell folks to go with gusty air lake sailing. The Pierpont guys do charters of hot boats in Cal and Mexico, including single berth slots on events like the Newport to Ensenada and Baja HaHa. Good stuff – at PierpontPerformanceSailing.com