Stem head fitting (nearly) done.

I finally found time to catch up with Brian to weld on the tang for my stem head fitting.   The prep worked well, I'd shaped the tang and made measurements to help with positioning.   Not quite so easy when the boat is several miles away and you can't keep nipping out to check.

The assembly fitted perfectly, without needing any further adjustments.  It is currently sitting on a bed of sealer and will be tightened down properly during the week. I aslo rebedded the chain howser, which had been removed to repair the interdeck packing.

The tang is bolted through the hull, it will need penny washers behind the nuts.  The top bolt will have to have the nut encapsulated in the GRP. The GRP in this pointy bit is very very thick and the drilled hole would not emerge on the inside so I had to drill in from the inside to intercept the hole. 

I used WD40 and gritty hand wipes to clean the sealer off the surrounding surfaces.  Seemed to work quite well.

 

I may replace these bolts with slotted pan heads to improve the appearance... These could really do some damage in a collision.  In other news I cut some hard wood to fit in to the recess below the pulpit bases.  These are held in place with a Resin and Micro fibre mix.  I haven't encapsulated them as this just seems to make wood rot.  I need to get some longer bolts and some nice big penny washers to finish this bit.