The Skeg

The skeg is the "fin" in the bottom of the stern that helps the boat track properly.  Installing it is a fairly straightforward procedure:

I've marked the skeg position and also where the four screws go.  They are drilled from the top, then I went underneath to drill counter sunk holes.

After making sure the skeg is plumb to the bottom, the surface of the contact points of the skeg and bottom are coated with epoxy thickened with silica, the skeg is applied in the measured position and then the wood screws are sunk from the inside of the boat into the skeg.

The "tail" was a little warped so I forced it into a centered position with duct tape.

A fillet of wood powder thickened epoxy is applied to the angle formed by the skeg and bottom.

There was quite a bit of rasping and sanding to get the "tail" to blend into the stern stem, but it turned out pretty well.  Another strip of wood is tacked and epoxied to the bottom edge of the skeg (called a wormscrew) which will absorb most of the abuse and can be replaced if too worn, leaving the skeg unharmed.  After some more sanding, etc. three coats of epoxy are applied.