Tanzer 16 Painting nearing end -- Centerboard trunk secure

Tanzer 16 Painting nearing end  -- Centerboard trunk secure  -- April 20, 2016  The boat is going back together, and I am relieved.  Ever since we took the centerboard thwart and centerboard cap off the fragile centerboard trunk has been exposed.  It is quite tough when everything is together, but alone, it isn't much.

The trunk looks and feels fragile sitting there all by itself.

We have been very careful crawling around the cockpit.  Brian Mrachek told me that he reinforced his trunk with more glass while he was painting his boat.  It looks like a previous owner--probably Ron, installed some aluminum reinforcement bars under the glass flange that holds the cap--good idea, Ron.

Things feel much better now with the cap back in and the thwart attached.  It looks and feels sturdy.

Yes, I know there is a lot of stuff attached to the trunk cap.  All of it is
helpful for racing or single handing.

While we were at it, the mast step was changed back to a cleaner install.  We got rid of the big oak box that seemed unnecessary.

This option was discussed in the gin pole mast raising page.  I had said I
would do it this way if I had it to do over--as it turned out, I did.

Next up--repaint the transom, install the rest of the hardware, install the rubrail, install the graphics. Go sailing and practice with the new spinnaker chute and the roller furling Genoa.