The rat bars were finished last time, so we move on to the stanchion bases. They are held in place be four 1/4" through bolts to make them fully secure.
To properly back them, I used a 1/4" piece of starboard cut a bit larger than the bases to help spread out the loads.
The bolts are held in place by locking nuts with 1" washers. All fasteners involved are stainless steel to avoid dissimilar metal corrosion with the stainless steel stanchion base.
The nuts on the underside could scratch the deck when we carry the gangplank on deck, so additional sticks of mahogany were installed with bronze screws. The sticks are stand more proud than the nuts, protecting the deck from scratches.
Once again, after all pieces were fitted, they were also all removed. I didn't want the hardware to get in the way of the tung oil I needed to apply to the rat bars.
Lastly, padeyes were installed at the ends to serve as anchor points for the lifelines. They are attached with #8 stainless steel screws. Since I didn't want nuts on the underside so close to the edges, I installed them with wood screws, 1 3/4" long. It uses all but the last 1/4" of the plank, so it should hold very securely.
With the padeyes in place, the whole plank was oiled liberally and allowed to dry
