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.

Thole pins have been used for ages. Some boats had 2, creating a notch. Some used just one forward of the oar to pull against. And some used a line to attach to the thole pin. Weight is an issue I take seriously for all my boats. I have never glassed a hull or any part of one 'cept the fillets. But I don't worry about rowlock weight.

Two issues that I see. 1.The strength of the transom and its connection to the hull 2. The rocker in the hull will fight against planing, not sure what the result will be when it tries.

And it looks perty. Surgery for me in Aug.. Hopefully get to try mine out in October.

Have you tried sailing across the sound? ?

I would definitely want a plastic battery box with cover.

Basic economics? Yeah, still is. Common sense? Well, the jury is still out on that one. ?

It's going to be a while before I can give my swivel collar a proper test. My arthritis is getting worse, and it looks like a hip replacement is coming soon.

I don't think it is being persnickety. Sailboats have a long vocabulary of pieces and parts. It makes discussions like this more precise if we all know or are learning the words. I find it fascinating as a subject as well. Next we can discuss ceiling and floors ?

Will do Don. I think the greatest stress will occur taking the mast down. That is the most difficult thing to control without a swivel/collar or what ever we end up calling these things. For the main mast I have to lean forward over the fore dech, lift the mas to just out of the tube before lowering. At this point my hands as the closest to the pivot, hence the greatest lever arm force. When raising I start at the mid point of the mast and move down as the mast goes up. So not quite the same ratio until the mast is almost up. Like everything about sailboats, I am sure there is a learning curve for using this thing.

I have made my collar, test installed it, and tested it using the mast support that goes in the main mast tube for trailering. I used this mast support to line up the collar for installation. The hole in the collar is 3 1/4" and my mast is just a hair under 3" (My mast tube is a 3" ID PVC pipe). When my mast is up, it will not contact the inside of the collar at all. The wood is Sapelle, to match my deck. The collar is 2 layers, each with the grain 90° from the other. I will give the pieces a couple coats of varnish before final installation. Then the collar can be removed for more varnishing. I tighten the bolts to barely snug. They nuts shouldn't move, I used nylok nuts.