Transom Vent Cleat and Baffle. Sound like a mouthful?

IThis bit of the Paradox sounds like a real mouthful and I did what I could to worry over it (unduly). I read The Guide several times and still didn't 'get it' mainly because when I first looked at The Plans I was blown away by the fact that there was a gaping hole in The Transom - I came away imagining a smile-shaped cavity about as wide as The Transom. 

So I kept trying to comprehend what was Cleat, what was Vent and what was Baffle, and nowhere could I see where or when the Vent (ie: The Great Gaping Hole Across The Transom) was to be cut out. So I kept reading The Guide and I was starting to get Really Annoyed with the author's willingness to get off topic. So I started making notes "scribe an arc ... make a Template for the angle of the Baffle ....". 

About this time, on my third coffee, I was in full procrastination mode because I just did NOT know how to proceed, I decided to have a look at a video I had of the completed build of JOHANNA. (I'll stop here and get off topic; if you love the Paradox videos that abound on line and don't want to download their files every time you watch them and you have two tablets, video the video so you have your own copy.) I checked my vid. file of JOHANNA, as the builder patiently showed her from each angle inside and out, and then the penny dropped, there is no Great Gaping Hole Across The Transom at all. In fact it's a nice little hole just big enough to allow the Tiller to enter the Transom and with the pivot point being close by, the tolerances are relatively small. Phew! 

So, I needed to cut out a curved piece of ply to match The Radius, making the lower edge a 35 degree angle to mate with the upswept Baffle. Once all my ducks were in a row, everything went surprisingly well. Having no 1"/25mm plywood hanging about, as per The Plans, I made two curves out of 5/8"/15mm ply and they are currently having a meeting over a nice blob of epoxy resin.  Baffle next.    

Baffle. I've just popped out a Baffle. The most difficult part was getting hold of a nice piece of 6mm ply. That done, I clamped the centre of the ply to the centre of the Cleat, then used ratchet tie downs to induce the bow, marked off 300mm width and cut it out. It needs a sand and epoxy sealing, but basically the Cleat is glued up now, but the Baffle must wait until the Hull is assembled. 

All held together with string at the moment. In real life it's much more curves. A nice design.