When we last left our hero, he was whining about reaching behind his back whilst attempting to achieve optimal boat heel while sailing in light airs. "This tiller," he exclaimed, "needs an extension!"
Then he forgot about the tiller and lost himself in baseball playoffs. For at least a couple of weeks, the long-suffering misery of being an SF Giants fan abated somewhat.
[Let us all pause and be thankful for a World Series that pits two underdogs against one another. It's a win-win.]
Ah, yes, the tiller. Behold, extra rub rail material has made itself useful. All it needed was a minimum of shaping, and a way to attach it to the tiller. Oh, and it needs some varnish, too, but I'll get to that. Soon.
That little swivel bracket is another miracle acquisition from the geniuses at Duckworks. It is just a tad bulkier than I would prefer, if I had much of a preference, but the price was right and I didn't have to look very far to find it.
The rub rail scrap I used was slightly to0 thick to fit into the bracket, so I filed it a bit. You can see that I've also slightly rounded the corners on the piece, mostly for comfort but also to help it hold varnish a bit better. I have learned, through an unfortunate request for sharp corners in my kitchen cabinets, that rounded corners retain finish better. Who knew? [Everyone but me, apparently.]
Does it look to you like the bracket isn't quite perfectly centered on the tiller? Surely it's an illusion. I eyeballed that placement three times before plunging the drill into the tiller. Who needs a ruler or tape measure when his eyes are so decisive (if not accurate)?
But what shall secure the unsecured end of the extension to the tiller when the extension is not in use? Again, the Duckworks people saw me coming. This handy rubber grabber-thing works well. All I had to do was round off the corners of the extension, and as long as I hold my mouth in a certain shape, the extension snaps right in. I further theorize that it will snap in just a tad more easily once I varnish it.
Snapped in place, the extension seems to transform the once-ungainly tiller into a permanently ungainly tiller. I lke it!
Finally, let's review the kinds of supplies needed for boat-building. Stainless steel doohickies, check. Scrap wood of some kind, easily shaped, check. Dark chocolate ... wait, that should go at the top of the list.
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