Progress!

I've got the rudder in about the shape I want it. That'll be handy when it comes time to, you know, steer.

rudder

It's actually possible to steer a sailboat (at least to some extent) with the sail alone, but this is beyond my skill.

In order to steer with the rudder, I need something to turn the rudder. Since this boat won't have a wheel I'll need a tiller.

tiller

The tiller is the handle that attaches to the rudder and provides leverage to turn the rudder. By turning the rudder you can turn the boat.

And finally, I think I have the daggerboard in a satisfactory shape. The trailing edge is starting to get awfully thin, so I think I'll stop sanding it...

daggerboard

This is a bit of a catch all, catch up post so here's a few more things I've been working on.

Mast thwart
This is the mast thwart. It's under construction, but I'll talk more about it later. It supports the mast.

Mast thwart with stringer

The mast thwart is reinforced with stringers to give it strength. There should be lots of force on the mast after all!

Skeg

Finally, here's the skeg. It's a little fin glued and screwed on the bottom of the boat. This picture does not do justice to the amount of trouble it caused me... One of the few things that has actually required a second set of hands (thanks Chris!). The screws come down through the hull into the skeg. Drilling holes in your boat isn't great!

See you next time!