Mast Step and Transom Doublers

Tonight, I glued in the mast step and transom doublers. Before doing so, I had to sand the edges of the doublers to conform to the fillets between the hull and transoms and seats. I also had to adjust the forward edge of the mast step to conform to the fillet at the base of the bow bulkhead and to the angle between the bulkhead and the bottom panel.

Once I got the mast step to fit, I carefully marked where it needed to go (using a combo square) on the bottom panel. I drilled four holes from inside to outside. I then taped the step back into position and used a piece of wood to hold it securely. This allowed me to tip the boat on its side so I could pre-drill back into the step from the outside.


Now I was ready to glue. I mixed up a 2-pump batch of bonding mixture. First I glued the step into position, added the wood "clamp", tilted the boat, and screwed the step down. It even stayed in the proper position!

Next I glued the doublers into position using a lot of clamps. I used another long piece of wood wedged between the centerboard trunk and the bottom of the stern doubler to hold it into position (since I didn't have any clamps that had long enough jaws to reach that far).


Next I'll add fillets to the mast step and fill in the gaps around the doublers. I'll also fill in any remaining suture holes on the inside of the hull.