Fitting the outer stem. Like the inner stem it is 3 layers of mahogany staggered for strength, laminated together with thickened MAS epoxy, and attached with stainless steel carriage bolts through the inner stem.
Note on stainless steel: Don specifies bronze for all the fasteners, but after researching I concluded that stainless is fine for this build where the fasteners are completely encased in epoxy and will never see water at all. They certainly will never be soaked long term in stagnant salt water... I've spent the money so far on the best materials, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money unnecessarily for bronze fasteners that will be sealed up permanently.
Exposed fasteners will be bronze.
Outer keel attached. The bobstay eyebolt is stainless steel. Couldn't find bronze with a long enough shank even after searching the ENTIRE internet. Could have had one custom made of course, but this isn't a particularly traditional boat that absolutely requires bronze.
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