Committing to the Cut

I still had some sunlight when I got home from work on Friday. I figured I could get the hole for the mast track block cut out of the board, and maybe even work the first epoxy and fiberglass layers. I was able to get the hole cut out - it took longer than I thought because when I made the deep passes with the router, the waste material ended up flying everywhere - looked like a snow flurry hit. It has been awhile since I used the router - I forgot about the vacuum hose attachment. Here is the finished hole. On Saturday I'll fine tune it with a file/microplane and get the epoxy work done. In all honesty, there was still a small part of me that didn't want to make this cut. Knowing my OCD will kick in, perfection will be the goal and that means a lot of time - and less fishing and paddling. But it isn't everyday (actually every year) that you rip the deck pads off your board. And the rubber cement I'm using the put the pad back down works better than the 3M adhesive sheets - a least it becomes extremely difficult to get the pad up without ripping it. So here I am - drilling, cutting and routing my way to a commitment to enhance the versatility of the Hooked SUP (and the opportunity to drag trolling lures under sail). It'll all be worth it....