110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
The glasswork on the overhead and forward cabin ceiling supports had cured overnight, and I lightly sanded the new material to remove rough edges and prepare it for later steps.
I cut out the three final pieces of cherry veneer plywood, and tested their fit on the settee faces in the main cabin. Satisfied with the fit, I coated the back sides of all pieces with epoxy; later in the day, when the epoxy had cured enough, I flipped the panels over and applied a sealer coat of varnish to their faces, setting the panels aside.
Preparing ahead for the new water tanks beneath the settees, I made some modifications to the port side. The starboard side, which had previously held a water tank, didn't require any changes at this time, but to fit a tank beneath the port side I needed to open up the top of the berth for access. Using the template I made of the tanks some time ago, I roughed out a cut line extending forward from the existing after locker opening, where the engine batteries used to be, and cut the top of the settee and removed it; afterwards, I removed a small mid bulkhead that had supported the top.
I resecured some of the support cleats with new screws, and then cut plywood panels to fill three old openings in the settee face, gluing the patches in with epoxy. The scraps of wood over the outsides ensured that the new panels would be flush with the face, and these areas would later be covered with the new cherry veneer panel.
In the forward cabin, I templated and cut a new seat/step panel to fill the center portion of the berth. I'd thought there was an existing piece from the original boat, but I couldn't find it, and reviewing old photos I could find no evidence that one had even ever existed; it may have been a panel with built-in cushion, which I would have disposed of during the first day of work. In any event, this posed no problem, and from a section of plywood left over from something or another I cut a new panel to fit. This panel would remain removable for access beneath.
Total Time on This Job Today: 6.25 hours
