Hirilonde

@Andy B My deck triple fair leads are made of Teak and all I did was varnish. I considered making sleeves out of copper tubing, but haven't really had the need. I did this for the halyard on my Spindrift instead of a block. As I have a luff sleeve. the only real use for the halyard is reefing, and as it is a small mast/sail combo, it works fine raising and lowering for reef and full sail. Oooh, bronze, I am jealous!

And the epoxy didn't accomplish anything. It was covered in waterproofing with UV protection.

No it didn't. Your varnish protected the epoxy. And if you had let the varnish go, you would have had damaged epoxy. The epoxy would be far more work to repair than varnish.

I don't think I would epoxy. I have a small yellowed spot on my transom of epoxy. I am afraid to try and sand it off as I might go through the outer veneer and totally ruin my transom.

I never epoxy wood (just plywood). I can think of nothing to gain doing so. I did epoxy the Sapelle plywood deck and transom of my Lapwing before varnish, but not so sure it really helps any. if the varnish is not kept up, the UV will get to the epoxy and yellow it. Repairing this really sucks.

No, I ended up building a swivel ring to make stepping easier. I have yet to use it. I am 3 weeks out from total hip replacement surgery, so haven't sailed in a while. Hoping to try the new method out this fall or winter.

I like unique and meaningful names. I went through a soul searching to come up with mine, it was fun. I chose Uinen. She is the protector of inland waterways in Middle Earth. Tolkien mythology. You're having fun getting the boat in shape. I say building or refitting a boat has to be fun or you need another hobby. Bet you can't wait to sail. Keep having fun, that is what it is all about.

Brass, bronze and stainless steel are all close on the galvanic scale. I used SS screws for my solid half oval bronze chafe strip along the keel of both of my boats. if you are going to use screws, I would not use 4200 or anything related. Screws and glue do not reinforce each other. I used polysulfide bedding and screws. I can take mine off if I need to. 4200 is obscenely tenacious.

@Andy B You can route the number into a piece of wood and epoxy it into the boat in some out of the way place where it can still be viewed, like in a locker.

You seem to be busy already, but I highly recommend a tilt up tiller. If I have company in the aft cockpit, I can duck under the tiller tacking. It also allow access to my aft hatch.

Not sure what went wrong, but here.

I would use one screw to locate it properly and snug it down just enough to get squeeze out of the epoxy all around. When cured I would pull the screw and fill all the holes with epoxy, or counter bore the holes and bung using epoxy. You mention cleaning and sanding, this cannot be over done, it is the key.

Do you mean the piece that the but of the mast fits into? If so, it is called the step, or mast step. Mine has no screws, it is simply epoxied in place. Some choose to use a screw to test the location first. Once it is deemed in place, the screw locates it for the epoxy job, and then is removed and the hole filled. Screws and glue do not reinforce each other. If there is a force great enough to break the epoxy then the screws will almost surely fail immediately after.

There are 25 species of Lapwings. I get intrigued every time I see a good picture of one of them. Just thought Lapwing builders in particular might like this photo of a Crowned Lapwing taken in Kruger National Park, South Africa.................

My favorite bedding compound for hardware is polysulfides, (3M 101 and LifeCaulk). That being said, they do no work with plastic, like hatches and ports. Closed cell foam tape works, unless the flange is weak, and it scallops when you tighten the fasteners. Polyurethanes work with plastic, but you will probably break the hatch if you try to remove it later, the stuff is tenatious as an adhesive. Butyl is a great choice.