Centerboard box coming along fine

but there's more work than meets the eye.

August 2013  The plans for the box are pretty straightforward but some real life variances have crept in. Most critical is the gap between the 1/4 inch plywood doubler and the bottom. As designed the doubler should lay flat up to where the box is located but this doesn't happen. To make sure the box will sit on the bottom plank, the doubler is cut out, revealing the gap to be about a quarter of an inch at it's deepest.

So to set the box properly, more of the doubler has to be cut away to make space for a bed log added to the lower edge of the box.

The bottom curves on either side of the box are transferred to the box for a good fit.

The bed logs are attached and shaped.

Pilot holes are drilled through the bottom. These are large enough to take the jigsaw blade for cutting the slot once the hull is flipped.

The inner side of the box is glassed for protection against pebbles that invariably find their way between the board and the box.

Excess glass is trimmed, pivot holes are drilled and the centerboard goes in for a test fit.

A couple of coats of paint will brighten the interior when the box is fully assembled. The bottom 2 inches are masked off for the fiberglass tape that will later seal the joint.

Fortunately it turns out that the box can be installed a side at a time.












This will allow for the proper fitting of the rigging hardware used to control the board.