Hanging the gallows

We hung the gallows today!

The act of hanging the gallows, drilling the final four bolt holes and tightening down the bolts, was not a challenging task.  The satisfaction of installing the finished product and nearing the completion of a project started two months ago is a feeling to be relished.

Note in the image above the stern rails originally ended at stanchion (vertical post) that slopes aft.  We added the forward section as bracing for the gallows.  This has the added benefit of providing more security in the cockpit and a great backrest when sitting atop the cockpit combing. There are still lingering aspects of project - polish the new welds and possibly purchase/create some leather covers for the cradle sections of the gallows.

In the images above and below the dodger is missing since we are continuing to refinish the wood on deck. 

To me the gallows looks much larger with the dodger absent.  We did complete all the brightwork this afternoon and plan to reinstall the dodger tomorrow.  I'll post a set of pre  & post gallows images once the dodger returns to the picture.