Preparing and Fitting Mast Thwart

     Stealing a couple hours in the evening of June 2nd, with absolutely gorgeous weather settling in, I turned my attention to the sailing dinghy's new mast thwart.  The original brightwork on this custom sailing dinghy had been misplaced by another, well-intentioned craftsman - rails and thwarts - so the these components would now have to be created from fresh teak stock.  The mast thwart was on my list today.  The mast thwart serves a couple purposes:  it stiffens the bow of the dinghy and serves as a support for the mast, as the mast passes through the thwart and onto a mast step.

     Taking some quick measures off the portion of the dinghy where in which the mast thwart would ultimately be installed, I prepared a piece of mahogany by running it through the planer as well as the jointer.  The mahogany was a 4/4 board.

Seen below, the mahogany about ready to be pushed through the jointer.

With the the edges jointed, I took the mahogany board over to the dinghy to take further measurements and markings.  At this point I had a sudden change of mind concerning the material to be used for the mast thwart.  My original thought was to use unvarnished teak for the rails and varnished mahogany brightwork for the mast thwart and stern thwarts.  The use of varnished mahogany and unvarnished teak would create some visual interest in the boats woodwork.  But now, I thought that I would stay consistent across the dinghy and use teak throughout.  I grabbed a plank of 5/4 teak and removed a portion for the mast thwart. 

Seen below, the 5/4 teak mast thwart is being fitted in its new home.  Just below the mast thwart, the aluminum mast step can just be made out; as part of the final fitting of the mast thwart, I will shape a hole in it for the mast to pass through.

I used block planes and a sanding block to slowly remove material on the outboard edges of the mast thwart until I came to a good rough fitting.

I have a bit more refining to do on the outboard edges, as well as a few passes through the planer, but she's essentially "nested" in quite well.  Rails will pass over the top of the mast thwart.

Total Time: 2 Hours

Staging, Finding Proportion & Preparing Stock

     While the MBA is finished, I have yet to re-immerse myself back into the Westsail build, but am eager too nonetheless.  Reading of others enjoying their time on the water, exploring isolated anchorages "off the beaten rhumb line", gets me motivated to get going on the W32.  However anxious I am to get going on the W32, I am turning my attention to a pretty little lady...a custom sailing dinghy.  Owned by a friend of mine, I was asked to perform some maintenance on her over the summer months to be ready to splash by late summer.  So, on the to-do list: Awlgrip the topsides, fresh bottom paint, and new teak rails, breasthook / mast thwart, and stern thwarts.  Today, June 1st, I spent a couple hours staging the dinghy and began mocking-up various rub rail dimensions. 

I began with applying some scrap material I had on hand in the shop to get a sense of overall look and proportions.  From the initial two iterations, I quickly got a sense of what would and would not work...form is as important as function!

Stepping back for a shot of the sheer line, I was satisfied with the vertical dimension of the rail, but knew I had some tweaking to do on the width of the rail.

After mocking-up a few iterations of different dimensions, I settled on what I thought held the best proportions for the new rub rails on this gorgeous little sailing dinghy.  In the end, the dimensions I think best suit the boat are .5" x 1.25", both inboard and outboard along the sheer line.

A shot from the interior (above).

Settling on the dimensions and receiving sign-off from the owner, I went ahead and prepared the teak stock for the port and starboard rub rails / gunwales.

Total Time: 2 Hours