Quote Originally Posted by AlanH View Post
Bottom paint went on, today. I got a quart of West Marine's ablative paint in black. I'm stunned. The rudder is nowhere near as smooth as I thought it was. I sanded that thing and sanded it and sanded it. I filled the weave twice, and sanded. Damn.
I guess I'm going to sail with it as it is this season, as I've already submitted my handicap rating application listing this rudder. However, the boat will go in for it's biannual haulout in December and I will strip the bottom paint off of rudder and fair some more while the yard works on the hull. I'd rather not miss another race.

Today the tiller fitting went on and I knocked out a somewhat crude tiller, but it will get me back on the water. I also sanded down the bushings I bought , as they were a touch too big, and tapped them into the gudgeons. The above-the-water parts got a final coat of polyurethane. And finally, I made an emergency tiller.

We are getting very close to putting the thing on.