Cheekblock plate studs mounted

Last night I put a small amount of fairing compound around the cheekblock hole in the daggerboard case. This was so that I could sand it down today to produce a (reasonably) flat surface for trial-fitting the cheekblock plate and its studs.

The plans say to "tap" the studs into the case side, and since I always take things very literally I actually went and borrowed a tap from my neighbor and experimented with it on some scrap glass. Well, it didn't work so well. But when I drilled a simple, slightly-undersized hole and just screwed the stud into it, that worked pretty good. I don't think it's a real robust tap, but it should be okay so long as you don't screw the studs in and out too often.

So then I marked the holes, drilled them by hand, and mounted the studs:

This was not quite the best way to do it, since trying to drill a perfectly perpendicular hole by eyeball is futile - I ended up having to relieve some of the holes in the plate to get it to fit. Eventually I got it all working, and had everything trial-fitted:

Each stud in the picture above has a nylon washer, flat washer, lock washer, then the acorn nut -- all done per the building manual. The metal parts are all 316 stainless steel. (Can you tell I've been busy shopping at McMaster?)

Here's what it looks like from the inside:

I'm happy with the results - it looks good and feels very strong.

Finally, here are the studs mounted for the last time, bedded in sealant:

I used 3M 5200 Fast Cure. I used only about 1/300th of the tube, but the instructions warn that the entire tube will go hard within days after opening, even with the cap on -- if true, what a gyp! :-)

I think I am now completely ready for joining the two case halves.

I also spent around two hours this afternoon removing screws from the battens to get ready to unmold the port hull - got more than halfway done. Unmolding could happen possibly as soon as Saturday, but by Sunday for sure. I hope my neighbors are all planning to stay home this weekend, and not doing anything too terribly important. :)