Friday

To get started, I inserted all four through hull mushroom fittings in their respective holes (marking each accordingly),securing them temporarily with tape from outside.

Inside, I marked where each fitting came through the backing pad, then screwed on the flange base as far as it would go to determine whether I’d have to shorten the threaded fittings (expected and almost always necessary), and by how much.  With these references, I’d be able to mark and cut off the excess thread length to allow the two pieces to be properly and tightly connected together in the final installation.

With all the fittings removed once more, I threaded the supplied backing nuts all the way on (I’d need these to clean up the threads once cut), and for each fitting marked the cutline with masking tape, before cutting off the excess length and cleaning up the threads to ensure that the fittings would easily thread into the flange base.

Once more, I dry-fit the mushroom fittings through the hull with tape, and, at each location, threaded on the flange base fully, then drilled the 5/16″ through-bolt holes through the base, pad, and hull, cleaning up afterwards.  Once all the holes were drilled through, from outside I milled countersinks at each bolt location to accept the flat-head machine bolts that would secure the bases to the boat.

In the galley, I soon found that attempting the installation with existing access was not possible, so I cut a larger opening in the plywood cabinet above the fitting location to improve access for now.  Later, I’d cut and install a new plywood base above to clean up the final installation.

Now, for each of the four fittings in turn, I applied heavy sealant to the mushroom fittings, and installed them from without, securing them with tape.  Scampering back into the boat, I applied additional sealant around the protruding threads, and on the backing pads, before threading on the flange base and pinning it in its proper position with temporary and sacrificial bolts from inside.  Then, hurrying back outside again, I replaced the temporary bolts with the proper bronze, flat-head machine screws, which I gooped up heavily, and, with the bolts in place, threaded in the through hull fitting tightly with a special tool.  At this point, I could clean off most of the excess sealant from outside.

Finally, back inside the boat, I installed bronze washers and nuts and tightened the three through bolts, completing the basic installation other than final sealant cleanup.

With that done, and any excess bolt length removed from within, I completed the installations by installing the ball valves and pipe-hose connections at each location.  While this step didn’t strictly have to happen now, I saw no reason in this instance to postpone it either.

After cleaning up and getting reorganized after this flurry of activity, I prepared to reinstall the rudder permanently following its various repairs, which had taken place sporadically since I dropped the rudder for this purpose some months before.  The rudder had been more or less ready for some time, just awaiting the right time–which apparently was now.

Before raising the rudder back into position, I filled the packing nut with four rings of new graphite packing, then, inside the after steering room, reinstalled the nut on the packing box glassed inside the hull.  I also slipped over the rudder shaft a bronze steering arm that I’d obtained as part of a newly-conceived rudder stop system, which would ultimately prevent the rudder from being over-turned and crushing against the hull, a previous design flaw that had directly led to and caused the damage to the upper part of the rudder blade that had required me to remove the rudder in the first place.

Now, I could raise the rudder back into position with a jack, which process went smoothly and without issue.

With the rudder all the way up, I heavily applied sealant to the bronze shoe casting (which I’d previously cleaned up), and reinstalled it with new bronze bolts.

In the boat’s previous iteration, a rudder stop system had either failed, or not been in place to begin with, and this allowed the rudder to turn nearly 90 degrees to each side.  This caused the top of the rudder blade to hit the hull above, and this ultimately caused failure of the rudder laminate.  While the rudder was now whole again, the overturning problem hadn’t gone away.

The steering system now was to be a simple tiller, so to prevent the oversteering from occurring in the future, I came up with a rudder stop system based on the existing situation and with as simple a design as possible.  The existing rudder shaft featured two machined grooves leftover from the old steering quadrant, and with these as a basis, I found a hefty bronze steering arm that fit my design brief–way overbuilt for this particular task, but pleasingly reasonable in cost–that I could fit to the keyway in the rudder shaft.  I did have to modify a length of 3/8″ brass key stock, since the keyway in the shaft was 3/8″, but the corresponding key in the bronze arm was just 1/4″.  This was easy enough to do with the brass stock, and soon I had the key stock modified to the point that it would fit and lock the bronze arm in place, facing dead aft.  This, along with the pinch-bolt and a cupped setscrew that I tightened against the shaft, would hold this assembly securely.

From here, to complete the system I planned to install lengths of cable between the steering arm and the bulkheads on each side, the cables’ lengths to be determined based on how far the rudder could safely be turned to each side.  This would prevent oversteering in a simple yet effective way.  I’d complete and install the final portions of the system later, but the steering arm had had to be installed while the rudder was still down.

To finish up the day, and the week, I lightly sanded the new glasswork on the companionway hatch, removing the excess material that I’d let hang down during the glassing session.  Now it would be a straightforward matter to smooth and fair the final surface.

Finally, I unclamped and sanded the new lazarette hatch, smoothing the seams and rounding the exposed corners.  There’d be some final fitting and scribing to allow the hatch to fit the deck properly, but that was for another time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather observation:  40°, cloudy.  Forecast for the day:  Rain showers and fog, 52°

Thursday

These photos show the new interior paint work after the second coat, and with the coating cured and in its final appearance.

To allow the fresh paint plenty of time to fully cure and harden up, I planned to more or less stay out of the cabin for the rest of the week, which gave me time to continue to focus on some of the cherry trim preparations and other tasks.

To that end, I cleaned all the new ceiling boards I’d cut earlier, and set them up on three separate benches so I could apply a thinned coat of varnish to all sides of all the pieces.

The new hatch opening I’d cut and prepared in the poop deck required a hatch cover.   Since the boat was to have no exterior woodwork (all future exterior trim would be made with “vegan” wood or other substitutes), I chose to build the new hatch from fiberglass, which would eventually receive paint to match the rest of the deck.  Using prefab 3/8″ fiberglass sheeting, I cut a lid of appropriate size, and 1″  tall strips of the same material for the edges of the hatch.  The fore and aft ends would require scribing to match the deck camber, but I planned to to that later, after assembly.

I epoxied the pieces together into a hatch shape and set the assembly aside.

The original sliding companionway hatch was a massive assembly of plywood and teak strips, and was in sound structural, but poor cosmetic, condition.  The old teak, neglected for years, was heavily weathered and rough, and unsalvageable from a cosmetic standpoint, though it remained solid all around.  During earlier discussions, the owner and I agreed to try sheathing and painting the existing hatch, in keeping with the no-wood mantra.

To prepare the surfaces for the work ahead, I sanded the hatch with coarse paper, exposing fresh wood in many areas.  The black sealant between the wood strips was generally quite a bit lower than the wooden surfaces, so by skimming the sander across I eased the hard edges to bring the surface into general fairness and smooth enough for what was to come next.

I applied a coat of unthickened epoxy to the wood and, after allowing that to sink in for a little while, applied a coat of epoxy fairing compound, mainly over the curved top surface of the hatch to fill in the seams and smooth the surface. I also used the filler to smooth any grain patterns in the sides and ends of the hatch, as needed.

Next, I installed a layer of 10 oz. fiberglass cloth that I’d previously cut to the appropriate size.  I allowed the cloth to drape below the edges of the hatch in all areas, and sheathed the top, sides, and wrapped around the bottom edges of the side and end rails where possible and as necessary.  It would have been nice to come back sometime later with the epoxy in a green state to trim the excess cloth, but the timing didn’t work out for that so I’d cut and sand off the excesses once the epoxy cured fully overnight.

To round out the day, and prepare ahead for one of my planned tasks next time, I used a drum sander to ream out all the through hull holes, removing any excess epoxy that had squeezed out when I installed the interior backing pads.  Then, I took care of various pedestrian–but necessary–tasks with the bronze through hull hardware itself, removing too-sticky pilfer-proof labels (that is, labels that only come off in tiny pieces to prevent removal and  transfer to another item)  from the pieces and replacing the bronze plugs in the valves with the supplied zerk grease fittings, and otherwise getting in order for the through hulls’ installation.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather observation:  32°, cloudy, 2″ sticky new snow overnight.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 46°

Wednesday

To begin the day, I applied a second coat of the semi-gloss white paint to the cabin areas and loose hatch covers.

After solvent-washing the new cherry fiddles, I applied a highly-thinned sealer coat of varnish to all sides of the various pieces.

Next on my list of trim to mill and prepare were the ceiling strips, or hull liners for the forward and main cabins.  Using some rough measurements of the spaces that I’d taken earlier, I chose enough cherry boards for the job (I hoped) and, in a series of steps, milled 2″ wide blanks from the boards (plus a couple 1″ wide pieces as by-products), then resawed each blank more or less in half  to create two thinner pieces of roughly 5/16″.  The two halves ended up slightly different thicknesses, and I could have made another saw pass on the thicker pieces, but that was unnecessary since my next step was to clean up and dimension all the planks to 1/4″ in thickness using the planer.  It took a couple extra passes on the thicker pieces first before I could run all the blanks through the planer to achieve the final thickness.

The planer left the surfaces smooth and clean and ready to go, but to finish the work on the blanks, I used a block sander to ease the top edges of each piece, creating a small v-groove between boards that looked nice and would help hide any inconsistencies in the planks in whatever installation lay ahead.  Sanding these small chamfers on all the blanks took me through the close of business.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.5 hours

0600 Weather observation:  12°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 41°

Tuesday

I spent the morning hours applying the first coat of semi-gloss white enamel to all interior surfaces in the forward and main cabins.  While it appears glossy in the just-applied photos, the paint would cure to a pleasing soft sheen.

Next, I applied a coat of the enamel to the top sides of the various loose locker lids.

During the afternoon, I sanded all the newly-milled trim pieces, working through the grits from 80 to 220 to remove tool marks and smooth the wood to prepare for finishing.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather observation:  26°, mainly clear.  Forecast for the day: Partly sunny, 37°

Monday

With the primer well-cured after the weekend, I spent the morning lightly sanding all areas with 220 grit, with subsequent vacuuming and solvent-washing.

I identified a few areas requiring some filler touch-up, mainly a few of the filled fastener holes in the paneling, along with an edge here and there on the fiberglass liner, so I applied the filler and then, after lunch, sanded it smooth and cleaned those areas again as needed.  This left the interior ready for finish paint coats, which I planned to apply the next morning when there was ample time.

When I primed the plywood locker lids, I’d not worried about setting the wet primer on the lids’ bottom sides on the stickers, but for the finish coats I’d need to do one side at a time, so to jump-start the process, I applied a coat of semi-gloss white enamel to the lids’ bottom sides.

I spent the rest of the day in the woodshop, where I milled enough cherry to use for the various fiddles throughout the boat:  berths and shelves, galley, and elsewhere. I’d purchased wood that was surfaced on three sides, which saved me from a long day at the planer, but I’d planned the time in and around the interior paintwork to mill and prepare most or all of the millwork.

With a short cut list detailing the various raw lengths I needed for the fiddles, I chose boards that would provide the rough dimensions required with the least waste, and as needed I straightened edges and milled the blanks to the correct width for the fiddles.  Afterwards, I used a router to mill rounded edges on three of the four corners of each board.

The final milling step for these pieces was a 1/4″ x 1″ dado on the inside lower edge of the boards, to allow the fiddles to cover and slightly hang down beneath the edges over which they’d be installed.  This brought me to the end of the day; next, all these fiddles would require sanding and sealing, and then there’d be other trim pieces to prepare.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather observation:  32°, mainly clear with fog.  Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 45°

Friday

The day’s main event was to be the primer on the interior, and I got right to it, priming all surfaces in the forward and main cabins that required it, including the bulkhead paneling, overhead (forward cabin), cabin trunk, galley, and settees.  The main cabin overhead, as it stood, did not require painting as it would be covered with a cosmetic veneer later.  I left the head compartment for a separate operation some other time.

After a break, I primed both sides of all the loose locker hatches from the settees and forward berth, except the large center pieces from the berth, which I’d left in the storage area beneath the forward berth and would finish later.

The owner and I had a conversation about the battery placement, and ultimately decided upon a plan with four of the batteries across the centerline of the engine room, and two additional on each side, with the two house batteries to be located forward, beneath the v-berth, to help with weight distribution.

Meanwhile, I finished up work on the forward cabin door trim.  After unclamping the UHWM inserts, I lightly planed the surfaces smooth and flush again before setting up the dado cutter for a 5/16″ groove, which I then milled in the appropriate location down the new plastic.  As before, I chiseled square the curved ends of the plunged-cut bottom rail.

Afterwards, I milled rounded edges on the trims where necessary, and sanded them smooth and clean before applying a sealer coat of varnish.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather observation:  -8°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 32°

Thursday

Starting in the engine room, I lightly sanded the new support platform and cleaned up the results.

With a couple cardboard “shelves”, I tried out some various battery placement configurations in the engine room, starting with a potential shelf running across the very forward end of the space, with battery overflow onto the existing platforms on each side.  This might have been nice in some situations, but here, with the only access to the space through the doorway from the head, the batteries, were they to be placed as shown here, would intrude too much on the doorway opening and make access difficult to the other parts of the space. It would also make construction, installation, and maintenance more difficult because of the way it limited access. This configuration assumed the full-width shelf would be at the same height as the adjacent platforms.

A close alternative idea was to run a shelf between the two side platforms, but down at hull height, several inches lower.  This limited space to five batteries on the shelf, with the remainder to be distributed on the two platforms on each side.  While the extra inches would improve access through the door, all the other pitfalls remained.

Ultimately, I thought the best probable solution was also the simplest:  Divide the batteries into two banks of five on each side of the boat, using the existing platforms.   Because of the way the existing dividers were configured, this plan would require modifications to the port side to increase floor space, and because of some curvature to the platforms because of their existing height, which died into the hull as they moved outboard, I’d have to raise slightly the platforms on both sides, just enough to provide sufficient space for the five batteries.

For now, the port platform held only three batteries, but imagine it in an expanded state and identical to the larger starboard side.

I’d probably choose to orient the outboard pair of batteries in the other direction to save space and better fill the floor plan.  Access would be straightforward, but out of the way, and weight distribution would be equal.  It’d be as simple as possible to enclose and/or cover the battery areas as needed.  Regardless, this was a fair bit of weight to add here, somewhat  more than the original diesel installation when all was said and done, but there was no other–and no better–location for the substantial battery banks in this case.

Moving on, I had a meeting with my upholstery contractor to discuss early details about the interior work, and start the process in motion.  More on this to come soon.

Next, I got back to work on the forward cabin door trim.  After some final layout, I set up the table saw with a dado cutter and milled the grooves required to accept the UHMW inserts in the two trim pieces.  The shorter upper trim was straightforward, as the plastic insert could run from end to end, but the long bottom piece required a blind plunge cut that started and ended well inside of the ends of the trim, but with some additional layout work the process went as expected. I intentionally milled the dados just smaller than the plastic to allow final trimming to the exact size desired.

To finish off the ends of the dado in the long trim, which were arced because of the circular saw blade, I chiseled them square to accept the 3/4″ square plastic.

Finally, I roughed up the two bonding sides of the plastic inserts for the trims, and epoxied them into place.  Despite the anti-adhesive nature of the plastic, I hoped that this would prove sufficient for the requirements here, but later, should it be necessary, I could install screws through the final groves that I’d cut later once the epoxy was cured.

I chose the locations for the four new through hull assemblies.  The pair of cockpit scuppers would go back in the same location as original, more or less, and I marked the locations outside the hull based on the flattest section of the area to best accommodate the mushroom fitting.  The galley sink drain would be centered beneath the opening in the cabinet above, so this was also a simple fitting to locate.

For the new holding tank discharge fitting, I tried a few locations in the starboard settee locker, using the loosely-assembled seacock, base, and hose connector to determine the final location based on available headroom and, with the hull angle, clearance to the side of the compartment.  I also wanted to keep the fitting, and its eventual hose run, clear of the remaining space and as unobtrusive as possible.  I had hoped to place the fitting well aft, but there turned out to be insufficient headroom and other clearances there.  In the end, only one location really fit the bill:  directly in the middle of the locker between the two hatch openings.  This worked in all ways, including keeping the bulk of the space clear for other uses, and the ability to hide and secure the hose run directly above and away from the locker openings.

After vacuuming up the spoils and solvent-washing the inside of the hull at each location, I laid out the new 3/4″ backing pads, centering them over the new holes in the hull.  To help hold the pads in place while they were being secured, I hot-glued little blocks beneath each to keep them from slipping down the hull.  There’s no photo of the galley fitting dry-fit this way because initially I thought the hull there was flat enough that it wouldn’t require a glue block, but later I found I needed to hastily install one after all.

With all preparations complete, I installed the pads in a bed of thick epoxy, smoothing fillets around the pads with the excess as needed.  Where the hull was well-curved at the scupper locations, I kept the pads basically square to the holes through the hull so the through hull fittings would seat properly.

The main event for next time was to be the interior primer, so to prepare for that I cleaned up the cabin, moving all tools and supplies out of the way and thoroughly vacuuming and solvent-washing all surfaces to be primed (which was more or less everything).  There was minimal masking to complete around the new cherry lockers above the settees.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather observation:  -8°, mostly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 20°

Wednesday

After unclamping the laminated electric motor platform, I cleaned up some epoxy squeezeout from the edges, then test-fit the platform in the engine room once more, double-checking it for level and against the alignment marks I’d put on the hull and also in relation to the shaft string, which I set up again for a final check.

I used the platform itself to create a pattern for the fiberglass that I’d use to secure it to the hull, and with that done I coated the bottom side of the platform with epoxy, then installed the platform in a bed of thickened epoxy adhesive along the edges and atop the vertical brace in the bilge beneath.  I installed a lavish fillet along the edges where the platform met the hull, and used excess epoxy to coat the top of the platform and the adjacent hull areas as well, before cutting out four layers of 1708 fiberglass and installing them with epoxy resin.

Next, I lightly sanded the new holding tank shelf in the head, completing work there for the moment.

The epoxy primer in the other parts of the cabin had now cured enough so I could continue lightly sanding those areas as required, then cleaned up the spaces, particularly the forward cabin, where I planned to do some painting later in the day.  I had to depart the shop for a couple hours, but with a little time on hand before then I started some rough layout for the planned battery bank for the electric propulsion system, which would consist of eight six-volt batteries to make up the 48-volt bank required.  In addition, there’d be two separate batteries to make up the 12-volt system for the ship’s basic services (lighting, etc), but that pair didn’t pose any installation issues.

With a series of paper cutouts I made to the overall size of the chosen batteries, I set up and measured a few layout alternatives so I could better measure the spaces in the engine room and, in concert with the owner, determine the desired placement for the batteries, after which I could move forward with constructing whatever was needed for that purpose.

When I returned in the afternoon, I got to work in the forward cabin and painted the chainlocker and insides of the hull on both sides, along with the interior of a small locker at the end of the berth.

I now had all the bronze and other supplies for the four new through hulls required (two cockpit scuppers; galley sink drain; holding tank pumpout), and it seemed a good time to prepare the 3/4″ G-10 backing plates, which I cut out to fit each base.  I’d be continuing this installation in the near future.

To round out the day, I spent a little time on some layout for the forward cabin door trim.  The original doors simply slid in a milled groove in the wood, but I thought I could improve upon that with some UHMW plastic inserts, which would make the operation slipperier.  First, I’d have to mill a large dado to accept the 3/4″ square strips of UHMW, and then mill the door groove in that.  For the long bottom piece, this would require a cut that started well in from the end of the trim, and ended before the other end, since this new trim extended all the way across the bottom of the bulkhead, and this required some additional layout steps that I worked on now, though I chose not to do the millwork this late in the day.

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather observation:  0°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 23°

Tuesday

I began the day by finalizing the details on the two new tanks required (water and waste), i.e. determining the desired locations for the various fittings and then submitting the details and the order to the tank manufacturer.

With that done, I prepared to lightly sand the new “tie coat” primer I’d applied in the cabin, but found that it was not yet ready for sanding:  it clogged up the paper immediately.  So I left that job for another time and decided instead to build the support platform for the holding tank in the head.

Using my plywood mockup, I placed the tank in the desired location outboard of the head and made some marks on the two adjoining bulkheads where the ends of the tank fell, which would give me a starting reference point for the new platform’s location.  From there, I created a cardboard template of the space, first with a rough piece on which I could scribe, then a more accurate template based on the first go-round.  Once I was satisfied with the template, I transferred it to 12mm plywood and cut out the platform itself, leaving 1-1/2″ extra width inboard  of the tank width itself to allow for support cleats and minor adjustments.  This left some open space within the locker that would be required for hose access and the like.

After marking the ends of the platform on the bulkheads (with the platform level in both directions), I removed it and used a hole saw to cut a large hole through the forward bulkhead and into the space beneath the starboard settees, where the overboard pumpout through hull would eventually be located.  To comply with discharge requirements, all waste would be routed into the holding tank first, but from there would be the option of evacuating the tank to a shoreside facility (through a deck fitting) or overboard via a hand pump when the boat was in waters legal for such behavior.

After cleaning up the space, I installed a pair of hardwood cleats for the ends of the platform, securing them to my marks with epoxy and screws, before installing the platform on the cleats and against the hull with more epoxy, and a pair of screws into the cleats just to hold it.  I coated both sides and all edges of the platform with epoxy before installation, and smoothed in a nice fillet along the hull and at any gaps at the ends.

To complete the installation, I installed two layers of heavy fiberglass over the platform and up on to the hull.

Now that I was on a roll, and anxious to finish up structural and epoxy work in the boat’s various compartments, I decided to work next on the new support platform for the boat’s electric propulsion motor (and please forgive me if by habit I lapse into calling anything here an “engine”).  With the basics of the system chosen by the owner now determined, I was ready to figure out the motor placement and also where the large battery bank would be stored.

To begin, I set up a string through the shaft log so I could determine the shaft position and angle, which, as always, was the key reference point for such an installation.

A great benefit to electric propulsion motors from my standpoint is that, because the motor is compact and lacks all the protrusions and low-hanging  transmissions and oil pans found in diesel engines, it can be mounted on a simple flat platform, and in this particular boat such a basic platform worked well with the given space in the engine room.  Using the reference drawing of the chosen electric motor, and the measurements contained therein, I chose as a starting point 5″ below the shaft centerline, which was well within the requirements of the motor installation itself and would also give ample room for minor adjustments in height later.  If, during final installation, I found it beneficial for whatever reason to add height to the platform, it would be straightforward to do easily and accurately, but the mounting system with this motor provided substantial adjustment capability for myriad situations.

To transfer a starting baseline down from the shaft centerline, I cut a pair of plywood  pieces to 5″ in height, and wide enough (and with sharp angled ends) to extend from hull to hull in a couple different positions along the shaft line.  With the angled ends resting on the hull, I could level the plywood and then use a small straightedge held tight to the bottom edge to transfer a mark to the hull at the new, lower height.  I drew a line between the two points on each side with a flexible metal ruler.  Positionwise, I planned to begin the platform just at the forward edge of the old scupper locations (which would soon have new seacocks installed), and extending 18″ forward from there, which happened to be the overall length of the electric motor and housing, but mainly this platform size would give me final mounting options later, as the full length wasn’t required for the mounts themselves.

The line ran into the V-shaped small bulkhead that was leftover from the original engine installation, so as best as I could I transferred the new line around the support and cut off the top with a saw, which I found to be difficult in the small space, leading to bent blades and, on the starboard side, an inaccurate cut–but for the moment it was good enough.  Now I could continue the line forward as far as needed, after which I measured for and cut a basic plywood template to fit.

My first cut on the old support had allowed the cardboard to pass by, but I wanted the final platform to rest just on top of and wrap around the existing support so as to incorporate it into the new structure.  I planned to build the platform from a laminate of 2 thicknesses of 12mm plywood, so I made new marks on the top of the support using a scrap of the plywood as a guide, then cut to the new marks with a grinder and cutoff wheel, which was accurate in the confining space  but created lots of wood smoke from the support’s plywood core.

Now I transferred the template shape to one sheet of 12mm plywood, and after some minor adjustments fit the piece in place, level from side to side, in the proper longitudinal position, and 5″ below the shaft centerline.

My last task before knocking off for the day was to use the first piece of plywood to transfer the shape to a second layer, which I glued to the first layer with epoxy adhesive after cutting out little notches in the bottom layer to fit around the engine room bilge support.  I used temporary screws to clamp the two pieces together while the epoxy cured overnight.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather observation:  8°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 24°

Monday

Preparing ahead to be sure we were on the right track in the head, I printed out a full-size template of the owner’s chosen unit, the Marine Elegance, so I could test its fit in the head compartment.  I used the included measurements to check the accuracy of the size of the printout and then cut out the template, which I then test-fit in various positions on the platform in the head compartment.  The cutout, which represented the overall size of the bowl and base together, seemed to fit well in any of the possible positions, and with room for adjustment in the final position, so with that step out of the way we could continue planning accordingly.  Actual installation would be some time in the future.

Much of my work in the cabin during this week would focus on various chores required before I could begin the primer on all the paneling and fiberglass surfaces, and this meant taking care of numerous smaller tasks throughout the spaces with this overall goal in mind.

In the forward cabin, I lightly sanded the new fiberglass over the ceiling support cleats at the aft end of the space, completing the basic work there.

Next, I turned to the galley countertop.  Using marks I’d made on the bottom of the substrate earlier, I cut out the opening for the stovetop and then, with nothing else standing in the way of final installation, secured the plywood substrate to the fiberglass galley with polyurethane adhesive and screws.  The finished countertop surface would come a bit later.

At the main bulkhead, relating to the new sliding door trim, I made various measurements and recorded some compound angles for the ends, then transferred these to the ends of the trim blank I’d made earlier till I could fit the piece in position.  The bulkhead itself had some curvature at its lower edge, which I’d known in advance and planned for in making the blank so I could scribe it to the actual shape.

After scribing the bulkhead to the new trim, I cut the trim as needed and eventually achieved a decent fit in all areas as required.  There’d be some additional milling work on the trim to prepare the grooves for the doors, which groove I planned to line with slippery plastic for better operation, but that would come in just a bit once the new materials I required arrived.

I also worked briefly on the companionway ladder.  Using the old one as a general guide, I prepared a piece of new 12mm plywood for the backing for a new replacement ladder (and head doorway).  I chose to do this now because I needed some of the plywood for other uses soon, but first wanted to set aside the large piece required for the ladderway.  I’d continue working on the ladder later, but for now I set it and its new plywood backing aside.

There were many directions I could go and projects I could do, but as I was having a little trouble focusing while I impatiently waited for the snow to end so I could head out and clean up from the storm, I spent a little time beginning the layout for the main cabin overhead, which required a cosmetic veneer of painted plywood to hide the existing fiberglass liner, which was riddled with holes and poor repair work.  I laid out a longitudinal centerline, along with a known seam location corresponding with the companionway opening, then began to work out other seam and trim locations that in the end would make the overhead look good.  More to come on this project soon.

With snow over with and cleanup outside complete, I returned to the shop in mid-afternoon, with an hour or so to kill before I could start the epoxy pre-primer work on the new fiberglass in the forward cabin and elsewhere (I left this till the end of the day because of the strong paint fumes), so I decided to cut holes in the settees and v-berth for some little vents that I’d bought to satisfy the owner’s request for natural ventilation through all the lockers.  I chose round louvered vents made from cherry to match the rest of the cabin trim, and now armed with an appropriate hole saw, I laid out for and drilled six holes (two in each main cabin settee, and two in the v-berth) for the 4-1/2″ round vents.  I’d pre-finish the vents and install them permanently later, once the cabin paintwork was complete.

After final preparations, I went through the forward and main cabins and applied a coat of epoxy-based primer to all the recent glasswork and fairing compound, including the new chainlocker floor, bulkhead tabbing, v-berth ceiling cleats, and other areas throughout.  This primer coat was required  in order to allow one-part paints to cure over the fresher epoxy (some of the work was old enough that it wouldn’t likely be a problem, but I pre-primed it regardless).

With just a bit of time left in the day, I worked in the woodshop to select several cherry boards that I’d soon begin milling into the various fiddles and other trim for the cabin.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  30°, snow, an inch or two down.  Forecast for the day:  Snow, 4-8″ total, then clearing.