I finally got up enough courage to cut through deck of the Outer Island to install the compass recess. For some reason, I was more apprehensive about this than I've been about cutting out hatch openings. Prefacing the action with a few primal sobs, I drilled a few pilot holes for the jigsaw blade. After cutting the rough opening, I spent a few hours enlarging the opening to make an exact fit for the recess. This picture was at the final stages of fitting.

I glued it in-place last night. Later I'll add some light glass over the exposed joints on the surface of the deck and some fillets underneath. So far, I'm pleased with how it's turned out.

There's a couple more photos on the OI page of my website.

Ross