The end of the current task is now in sight and I'm keen to get on. With that in mind I aimed to complete the fitting of the keel bands today and with Tina's help to chamfer the edges of the long metal bands in the warmth at lunchtime I was ready to go. As soon as I was able after work I set to.

The keel was wiped down with alcohol to remove any dust and grease.

This left a clean surface on which the sealant will be placed.

It is not an easy job to apply a thin bead of sealant, I had to stand on a stool, lean over the hull but not press on it sideways and, using two hands, carefully follow the pilot holes all the way down the side of the keel.

The appropriate band was then bedded onto the sealant and screwed in place.

This is the second band halfway through the screw insertion process.

As I was carrying out the screwing down of the last keel band I noticed that the forward end of the slot in the hull for the centreboard was damaged as you can see in the photo. This is due to the leading edge of the centre plate hitting the wood when it is lowered and digging into the wood as it does.

The solution was to put a metal strip across the end of the slot so that if the centreboard is left go and bangs down again, it will hit the metal and not the wood. That's the  backup plan. The main plan is not to let the centreplate crash down again.

So, here at last is the boat with all the keel bands fitted. All that remains is to remove the excess sealant once it has cured. But that's a job for another day.

Time for a cup of tea.