Forming the aluminum keel/stem guard ended up being a lot more work than I expected. I have some thin aluminum bar stock on hand, that, cut in half lengthwise, was about the right width for the job. Cutting, grinding, and sanding the two resulting strips ended up being a lot of work however. My back and hands convinced me a brushed aluminum finish was fine vs the mirror finish Sam managed on his.
I drilled/countersunk holes for screws and trial fitted it to the boat.
Then hunted up some adhesive... 3/4's of tube a tube of Loctite Marine Adhesive I had picked up at Home Depot late last year looked like it would do the job nicely.
This was a mistake. Not because it's a bad product, but because it is white and the boat bottom is red, soft, ablative paint. It was very difficult to clean up after the strips were screwed down on top of it. After a couple nights of clean/touch up it turned out ok though.
Then it was time to flip the boat back upright and get it on the trailer. Again, the engine hoist on the front, twin block and tackle at the back made quick work of it, although I'll say (and I guess it only makes sense) it wants to roll upright easier than turtle.
My son and I cleaned the interior with Simple Green and water. That's all I'm doing in there for now. Refinish interior next winter.
Then I took care of a couple more repairs to deck planks and gave the existing exterior varnish a good scuff with 220 sandpaper on the random orbital sander. I plan to put two or three maintenance coats of varnish on it for the season.
