Putting It Back Together

I began my Saturday morning by taking comprehensive measurements of Tanzer 14's aluminum centerboard.  I wanted to do this before re-mounting it so I would have its dimensions on-hand without having to remove it again.

Although there is plenty of online information regarding the slightly larger, Tanzer 16, very little is available for on my dinghy's model.  I plan to post this information at a later date.

After completing my notes, I moved onto shaping the previous day's resin work.  It was nicely workable, and flattened out easily.

Once I was satisfied with the flange, I began laying out new bolt holes for the trunk's replacement cap.  The original layout was a bit haphazard, and had chipped the edges of its mounting flange in a few places.  I wanted to obtain a good, solid connection.

After the layout was determined, I drilled the new holes in the new ipê cap, and then transferred these to the trunk's flange.

Since the joint between the two halves of the trunk cap were not entirely flush, I planed and sanded their edges smooth before pulling them off for a final finish coat.

I re-coated the new ipê cap and the old teak thwarts since both had soaked up the tung oil nicely from the previous day.  Setting them aside to dry gave me enough time to re-install the centerboard.

I made new inner mounting seals since the old ones were badly cracked.  A 1-3/4" hole saw cut nice replacements to a close match.

The centerboard's inner bushing was in very good shape, fitting nicely against both the centerboard and its bearing bolt.  I took extra care when positioning the fin since I was working alone.  I didn't want to risk damaging the trunk by letting it slip and fall.

It took a few trips into the cockpit, and below the hull to get it in place.  Like most things, when I do this again, it will be both easier and quicker.

With the centerboard in place, there was nothing keeping me from installing the cap.  The original had its aft half sealed in place with caulk.  Since I happened to have some appropriate caulk on hand, I did the same.

I also added 26 stainless washers to keep the nuts from digging into the fiberglass flange and wood thwarts. ...couldn't keep myself from adding these.

Once the main sheet's swivel block, and builder's plate were installed, I only needed to attach the centerboard's rubber stop to complete the job.  I replaced its bolt since it was badly bent.

I'm very pleased with the results.  Fortunately, I had the double advantages of having most of the materials I used on hand (appropriate wood, fiberglass resin, and caulk), and the special tools I needed (table saw, dado blade set, jigsaw, routers, drill press, drill, caulking gun, PPE, etc.).

I would have bought the tung oil even without replacing the cap.  Otherwise, I only had to purchase the (added) stainless washers, the rubber stop's stainless bolt replacement, and the rubber gasket material for the mounting bolt's seal. ...all of which cost less than $10.

The only thing now keeping me from the water is adding the state registration number and sticker to the hull.  I'm nearly there!