Looking aft you can see that we added a small transome, deviating from Jay Benfords plans. This did not change the water line shape in any appreciable way, but it did give us a lot more room to work on deck, not to mention the additional space in the lazarette. I had done much sailing on true double enders, and never liked working back there with nowhere to plant my feet or hold on.
Luckily I had acces to a metal boat shop in Bellingham, IOTA Metal, owned and operated by Pete Silva and his son Joquine. Without them I would not have all the cool hand rails and other clever peices of metal all over the boat. The solid rails in the cockpit and up on the foredeck are so useful and secure, I would not want to be out there without them.
The anchor is sort of temporarily, permanently mounted there. I have the hardware to do a proper job of it, but, well, hmmmm, I guess I am tired of working on the boat for now. It is very happy there, and only occasionally does the sheet get hung up on it.
I have received many comments about the fact that my main sheet is anchored off of our stearn pulpit. Most think I am nuts, that it will tear away. Well, that is no ordinary pulpit and it is strong as hell and has held up for nearly 15,0000miles with no signs of stress. The arrangement has the happy outcome of keeping all those sheet parts up out of our way during cocktail hour with friends.
The two bits aft there are exceptionally useful and strong. They are made of pipes that penetrate the deck into the lazarette. The top caps are held there by threaded rod, the result being a sort of dorade ventilator that can be closed off if need be. I put two more of them on the foredeck, adding ventialtion for the v-berth.
