Small changes

I'm making a few small changes over the winter.  The first is a halyard hook, that I'm hoping will fix some of the upper spar issues I've had.  This should allow me to more easily control where the yard contacts the mast, be able to haul it all the way up with less of a binding due to twisting issue, and keep it against the mast when reefed.  It may twist a little bit more, but more downhaul tension can address that. 

I bent up the hook at home, making it out of two pieces, and one fo the maintenance guys at work welded it up for me.  A little paint and some leather finished it off.

I also made a small horn cleat to attach to the mast for the halyard so that I can leave it all attached together when dropping the rig and trailering. 

I also decided to add some oarlock risers.  The freeboard is just too low to row in any sort of swell, and I found my oars hitting waves faces on the return stroke far too often.  I made them out of a couple layers of leftover ash, then shaped them to something I liked.  They'll get epoxied on and then varnished.  I didn't like how proud the oarlock sockets set, so I took the time to recess them.