Tanzer 16 foredeck cleat for mooring or towing

Tanzer 16 foredeck cleat for mooring or towing -- April 9, 2014 -- (Two years after installing this cleat, I removed it.  We never needed it for towing and it was in the way of the spinnaker gear that we added in 2015.  Mooring was a little less convenient, but there were plenty of "ok" alternatives.)

We needed a foredeck cleat for mooring after launching, and it had to serve double duty.  It needs to be sturdy enough so we can accept a tow back when the winds die after a Thursday evening of racing.  It seemed unwise to put bolts into the structural member in the center of the foredeck so we came up with an oak plate that could be screwed in on both sides of center.

1.  Obtain the curve of the foredeck by shimming up a straight piece of plywood and scribing a line with the flat side of a carpenter's pencil on the deck.
2.  Use a spindle sander to sand to the top of the line--this is the pattern that was transferred to a flat piece of oak and shaped on the spindle sander.
3.  Add a nice little round-over to the plate on the router table.
4.  The plate ready to be installed.
5.  Crawl under the foredeck on your back,/face up--no easy task--and install backing plates, fender washers, small washers, and aircraft nuts, while crewmember Tony holds the screws.
6.  The finished cleat with a generous amount of caulk.  We think it won't foul the spinnaker downhaul if we ever get a spinnaker.