Friday

To avoid the chore being lost to absorption in the day’s other major job, I started once more with the sanding and varnish work on the forward cabin doors.

Next on the companionway trim agenda was the little shelf area to port of the ladder, covering a flat area on the top of the molded liner components.  The original trim here had been secured with heavy beads of silicone sealant, most of which was still present (as shown below), so my first task was to scrape this away.

In a series of test-fits and markings, I prepared a base piece of 1/2″ cherry plywood for the shelf.  I angled the shelf past the ladder itself, and edge-banded that portion of the shelf with solid cherry since it would be exposed when the ladder/door (should I call it a laddoor?) was opened.  I extended the shelf past the trim on the center part of the unit, and secured the platform with screws that I’d bung later.

With this basis in place, I continued with the aftermost piece to starboard, which extended up to meet the overhead and out to meet the back edge of the laddoor.  I milled a small rabbet so the fiddle could extend past and cover the plywood edge grain within.

At considerable length belying the small area in question, I laid out, milled as necessary, and installed the remaining fiddles to surround and trim out the shelf.  This was particularly complicated at the ladder side, but because the existing moldings and adjacent surfaces were all at various small yet noticeable angles to one another and everything else in creation, the cuts to conjoin various pieces of this essentially simple t rim required many small adjustments and test-fits to approach serviceability.  These remaining fiddles didn’t really come together for installation till all three pieces were carefully cut and fitted, so photo-wise, it turned in ton an all-or-nothing proposition.

I purposely left the new trim unprofiled at the top edges and corners, since I didn’t want to pre-mill anything and find that it interfered with the various joints.  Instead, I planned to profile and ease these final edges later, along with some related and similar cleanup and sanding required on much of the companionway trim area and following bunging of all the screw holes.

Next, I laid out, milled, and eventually installed a piece of trim to cover the last piece of exposed raw liner edge running from the companionway/head opening aft into the head along the overhead near) centerline.

Now all that was left (though by now I’d no illusions about this representing a straightforward nor minimal effort) was the final trimming at the top of the ladder, where the existing teak companionway trim required modification and enhancement to complete.  The minor change in how the laddoor rested in its final place meant that I needed a wedge-shaped piece of trim to fill in at the very top edge, which piece was simple to make and install with epoxy adhesive and screws (after preparing the bonding surfaces accordingly).

This filled in the top part of the gap (and later I planned to apply a new surface to the companionway walkway that would cover and reinforce these various glue joints and improve cosmetics for the planned paint finish), but there was still a substantial trim challenge ahead to finish off the remainder of the opening from inside.  This would clearly require a multi-step approach, and with the day drawing to a close I knew I’d never get it all done now, but I started with a piece of cherry to close off and support from beneath the gap between the head liner and the companionway above.  Once I’d fit this piece as needed, I secured it with screws into the wood above.

There were still gaps to be dealt with around the top of the laddoor, which I figured I’d build with additional solid wedge-shaped and angled pieces as needed, but for now, with fresh glue on the piece above and the day’s time run out anyway, I left this final trimming task for next time.

Total time billed on this job today:   8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Partly cloudy, 40°. Forecast for the day:  Mostly cloudy and showers likely, 53°

Thursday

First thing, I sanded and varnished anew the forward cabin doors.

I made a plywood template of the shape of the side of the companionway ladder, which I could use to mark the required angle on both sides of the laminated blank I’d made for the hinge mount and trim.  I made a series of cuts into the blank from the waste side, stopping just short of the layout lines; these cuts would acted as guides as I planed and sanded the blank down to the proper shape, sneaking up on the line and final shape.

After a test-fit to measure and cut the angle at the top edge of the new trim, I installed the trim with glue and screws.  Because this trim would support the weight of the door and the users of the ladder, I added extra screws on either side of each hinge location.

Now I could install the hinges and operate the door for the first time, which I did with some trepidation, hoping it would swing as intended; it did.

With the door fully closed, there remained an angled gap on the outboard (starboard) side of the opening, since apparently the angles of the molded interior on the hinge side didn’t match that of the opposite side of the opening.  Inspecting the original trim from the starboard side, I found that an angle had been cut into the rabbet that helped make up for this in the original setup as well, but I didn’t have any detailed photos to show just how the old door/ladder unit had rested here; this was of no matter, but I would have liked to compare the original for my own edification.

Regardless, now I had to trim the opening to accommodate how the door rested now, so to begin I cut and fit a piece of trim on the head side of the opening, running from sole to overhead and following the line of the opening.  I attempted to set up the trim so it was plumb, but found that the original opening was far from this ideal, and to bring the trim out far enough to correct it would have been frankly silly, and impeded the narrow opening even more than the opening managed on its own.  I decided there was no reason the trim had to be plumb, and that it was better to match the existing angle.  Since the adjacent surfaces were angled as well, there would never be any visual cues to draw one’s eye to it, so the practical answer was to match the opening’s contour itself.

This first piece of trim provided a landing point for the next piece of trim, which would provide me with the angle I needed to close off the outboard side of the opening and meet the back side of the door.  After some measurements, I cut an oversized blank to fit in the opening and extend out as needed to meet the door.  To allow trimming the side of the opening on the main cabin side, I held the bottom edge of this trim 1/4″ out from the bulkhead; the top edge would be substantially further proud of the bulkhead.  I clamped this edge trim in place against the closed door, then marked the edge where it passed by the vertical trim I’d just installed on the inside.  Then, I cut the trim to the line, sanded and profiled the edges as needed, and finally installed the new piece with screws into the side of the head trim.

From above the companionway, it was easy to see how the new trim piece (shown in the second two photos) filled the gap where the door’s natural closure ended.  The large gap in the companionway opening itself had originally been covered with additional teak trim, which had broken free even before the boat ever arrived here for the project, and I’d kept the piece on hand for future use; in any event, this missing piece is why the opening looks so strange at the moment.

To finish off this side of the opening from inside the boat, I prepared a 2″ piece of 1/4″ thick trim.  This was too thin to secure with hidden screws, so after some surface preparation in the bonding areas I secured it to the bulkhead with a few dabs of epoxy adhesive, clamping the trim in place while the glue cured.

While I was at it, I glued back on the missing piece from the top of the companionway.  I needed this back in place just as a structural basis for the remaining new work required at this top end, and all this would later be covered and/or cosmetically enhanced as I wrapped up work in this area in the coming days.  This whole clamping arrangement obviated the use of either the swinging ladder or my construction ladder, so I had to climb out of the boat through the forward hatch; this pretty much ended any further chance for work inside the boat till the epoxy cured overnight.

Total time billed on this job today:   7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Partly cloudy, 40°. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 62°

Wednesday

Now that the varnish work was complete, I installed the head trim pieces, and hung the door to the engine room.

While I was being screw-y, I installed the little cover panel in the galley cabinet to cover the ugly hole over the through hull, and installed a matching handle on the port locker above the main cabin settee.

The hinge blocks for the companionway ladder would need more varnish, but for the moment I wanted to get going on the companionway and head door trim in the cabin, which required the ladder assembly to be in place, so to begin I installed the bronze hinges I took off from the old ladder.  Then, I installed some nonslip treads on the steps, which would not only protect the wood but add traction.

With the ladder in the boat, I positioned it as needed in the opening, using some slim 1/8″ shims beneath the ladder feet to ensure that there was clearance above the sole.

As I’d done several other times during the rebuilding of the companionway ladder area, I reviewed photos of the original setup and dismantling,  various stages of which can be seen here, here, and here.  Also, I still had the original trim pieces I’d removed on hand for reference, though I planned to use them only for general configuration rather than exact duplication.

Both sides, and the top, of the opening would require substantial trim to finish off the openings, provide placement for the fixed side of the door hinges, and otherwise support the door in its closed position.  The first piece of trim I prepared was a wide piece of cherry to rest against the centerline liner of the boat, which would also cover those two large holes in the liner, the purpose of which I could never determine, but always planned to cover with trim in this way.  I cut a piece of cherry 5-1/2″ wide (leaving a reveal along the port edge), and after a test fit recut it to the final length to be flush with the top of the center liner unit, which area would later be covered with more trim to create a little storage area, as per original.

I aligned the top edge flush with the rough opening to the head, and, with the new trim plumb and clamped in place, secured it with screws in recessed holes, which I’d bung later.  Like all the molded surfaces and assemblies in the boat, the opening itself was not plumb (molded parts require small angles to successfully remove from the mold), but featured a slight angle, so the lower edge of the new trim extended past the opening at the bottom edge.

To cover the raw edge of the door opening completely, the trim needed to essentially wrap around the opening and into the head itself.  The original trim had accomplished this in two pieces:  one thick piece for the outside, which was milled in various ways to accommodate the door hinges and wrap through the opening; and another piece within.  I planned to do it in three pieces (outside and inside trim, and a thin piece to span between the two), so my next step was to mill, fit, and install another piece of trim on the head side of the opening.  I held this piece in alignment with the outside piece, using a small board to keep the edges properly aligned with one another, and secured the trim with screws in recessed holes.

Next, I resawed a 3″ wide piece of cherry to 1/4″ thickness, and cut and fit it to cover the space between the outer and head trims.  I secured this with glue and brads, and this completed the basis of the inboard edge of the door trim.

Now I could replace the ladder assembly against the new trim so I could lay out and build the next layer of trim that would support the door hinges, which were some distance above the wide trim I’d installed as a basis.  Because of how I’d changed the angle of the ladder, increasing the exposed edge’s angle to 20° (whereas the angle of the back of the ladder, and the adjacent molded interior, was 15°), now this next section of trim had to be taller at the bottom than at the top to accommodate the positioning of the ladder itself.  

This meant I’d have to shape a piece to match the angle, and since the overall depth required was greater than the thickness of the stock I had on hand, my next step was to glue up a rough blank to use for the trim.  I set this aside in the clamps, and it’d be ready for me to continue working with next time.

To wrap up the day, I sanded the new forward cabin doors and installed a second coat of varnish to one side of each.  Since both sides of these doors would be exposed during normal usage, I’d need to varnish all surfaces fully, which would take a couple weeks of elapsed time, so I had to be sure to get a coat on each day that I could.

Total time billed on this job today:   7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Cloudy, drizzle, 40°. Forecast for the day:  Showers, then cloudy, 54°

Tuesday

I eased into the day by installing the VHF in the panel using the flush-mount kit, a simple clamping arrangement that held the radio in place from behind.

Next, I washed and sanded the new epoxy on the keel.  This happily brought things nearly to their final contours, with only some minor fine-tuning still ahead, which I’d finish soon.

I unclamped the forward cabin door assemblies and sanded off any excess epoxy from the joints and smooth and clean up all surfaces of the doors, then milled rabbet details at the top and bottom edges of both doors to allow them to fit into the grooves in the door rails on board, following the basic concept of the original doors.  During an earlier stage of the interior joinerwork, I’d prepared a sample piece to fine-tune the length of the door stiles and the details of each rabbet, and using this sample I could replicate the details on the doors themselves.

Afterwards, I test-fit the doors in the boat.  I’d designed the edge details so that I could slip the doors into place with both rails fixed to the bulkhead, and I planned to add a small extra runner at the bottom to slightly raise the doors once permanently in place, to aid operation, and to prevent the doors from easily being lifted out inadvertently.

Satisfied with the fit, I performed some final finish sanding, cleaned the doors thoroughly, and applied a sealer coat of varnish to all sides.

Meanwhile, I continued the varnish work on the ongoing trim bits, applying one more base coat to the companionway hinge blocks, and a coat of satin varnish to the head trim pieces.

To finish up for the day, I applied gray bilge paint to the generator and battery platforms in the engine room, as well as a second coat of paint on the aft side of the engine room bulkhead, which had absorbed most of the first coat leaving a sort of “graywash” appearance.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Cloudy, 37°.  Forecast for the day:  Rain, 42°

Monday

I started with the daily round of sanding and varnish work on the head trim pieces, and also the companionway ladder hinge blocks.

The back side of the engine room door required some of the gray bilge paint to match the engine room and after spaces.  I also painted the plywood panel I’d built to cover the rougher hole beneath the galley sink.

I’d previously cut all the pieces for the forward cabin doors to size, and now I moved on with the last milling details so I could assemble the doors.  As with the other interior doors, I planned flat panels, two per door, so the next step was to mill grooves in the rails and stiles to accept the panels, which I did with a 1/4″ slot-cutting bit and a router.  The short rails were too small to allow for effective clamping, or even to clamp ineffectively and provide enough room for the router base to reach the whole length, so instead I hot-glued the small pieces to the bench and milled the slots that way.

Next, I dry-clamped the frames together tightly and routed an angled chamfer detail on the insides of the frames towards the open panel areas.

After some sanding to clean up the inside edges of all the rails and stiles (I’d await the rest of the sanding till after the doors were assembled), with the final dimensions of the panels now available (based on the slot depths), I milled four 1/4″ plywood panels to fit, and dry-fit both assemblies.

Finally, I glued together the doors with epoxy adhesive.

Much earlier, having noticed the usual evidence of seepage at a few portions of the joint between the ballast keel (external) and the fiberglass keel stump, I’d ground out the suspect areas, and these had had substantial time to air and dry out in the meantime.  Now, I decided to finish up the minor repair work here, so as needed I cut new fiberglass material to fill and span the joint where I’d earlier prepared it, and installed the new material in epoxy resin.  Later on, once the fiberglass had gelled sufficiently, I applied an early coat of fairing compound to these areas as well.

Now that the area beneath the galley was painted, I slipped in the new portable cooler, which fit well inside the space.  There was little room for it to move much from here because it would soon hit the overhead were the cooler to slide to port.

Another small lingering detail in the cabin was a restraining strap for the water tank on the port side beneath the settee.  I’d had this strap on hand for some time, but it had been neglected till I recently uncovered it in a tray of pending parts.  I installed the ratchet strap with stainless steel lags to the wooden framework around the tank.

Impatient, and unwilling to wait a few weeks for the new fiberglass securing the battery and generator platforms to fully cure before paint, I coated these new assemblies with a 2-part epoxy-based paint (which works as a tie coat to allow the final paint to cure properly over the fresh epoxy) so that I could presently finish up the gray engine room paint at my earliest whim.

Total time billed on this job today:   7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Mainly cloudy,45° Forecast for the day:  Sun and clouds, 54°

Thursday

I spent the morning taking care of various odds and ends and small tasks, starting with the companionway ladder, which I unmasked around the new blocks to remove the epoxy residue, cleaned up, then remasked for varnish buildup.

The drawer fronts were complete now, so I installed brass knobs and installed the drawers.

Beneath the galley, in the space containing the sink through hull and space for the portable cooler, I finally cleaned up the surfaces, masked as needed (mainly around the through hull, and applied gray bilge paint to the area, reaching as far as I could beneath the cabinet and beyond the through hull.  This was one of the last spaces to receive this treatment.

Still in the galley, I secured the cherry piece to the top of the little raised platform, using epoxy adhesive to hold it in place without fasteners.

I continued the varnish work on the head trim with coat #3 of gloss varnish.

A power outage in the afternoon limited work time on some potential projects I’d planned, but with bright sunny weather, plenty of light in the shop, and a mild agenda for the rest of the day anyway, I worked on the electrical panel to install the two 12-volt outlets (USB and socket types), the battery monitor unit, and test-fit of the VHF, though the flush-mount kit I required to secure the VHF in the panel was still on order; in the photo, the VHF is just resting in place in the cutout.

Total time billed on this job today:   5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Clear, 32°. Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 59°

Wednesday

When all was said and done, regular access to the after part of the engine room–and in particular the stuffing box–would be hampered by the large battery bank at the forward end of the engine room, so to provide potential access for maintenance and inspection, the owner and I decided to install an access hatch in one of the longitudinal bulkheads that divided the lockers from the center part of the engine room.  I chose the starboard side since the locker was much roomier, and potential access much better.

Earlier, I’d measured the bulkhead and chosen the largest access hatch that would fit in the space.  When the hatch arrived, I used its own cardboard packing material to create a simple template of the cutout and overall size of the hatch for layout purposes.

In the locker itself, I used the template to mark the location of the cutout, and made the cut with a jigsaw.  Then, I installed the hatch with screws.  I had planned to install the hatch so the lid flipped up and out of the way, but I found that the hinges only opened 90° (never let functionality get in the way of thoughtless design), so instead I installed it so the hatch flipped down, allowing access to the engine room within.  It wouldn’t be fun to work on the stuffing box through this hatch, but at least it would be possible.

While it was on the mind, I went ahead and installed the new packing box from inside the engine room, securing it to the stern tube with solid-band clamps.  I had the new graphite packing on hand, but didn’t yet install it.

I’d held off installing the forward transverse battery shelf in the engine room while I finished up other chores in the space, especially painting the area beneath and around the location, but now it seemed like as good a time as any to complete the installation.  I’d built the shelf itself earlier, and had left an unpainted area at the forward end to await the shelf’s final installation.

After a final test fit and thoroughly cleaning the bonding area, I coated the underside and edges of the shelf with epoxy, then set the shelf in place on the hull to each side and the wooden cleat I’d installed along the forward bulkhead, using thickened epoxy as an adhesive and to create a nice fillet along the top edges of the shelf.  I used excess epoxy to coat the top side of the shelf as well.

Afterwards, I cut two layers of tabbing to fit the three sides of the shelf, and installed it in epoxy resin.

With nice weather outside and a pending date for another boat in the yard to be transported out, I took some time to uncover and prepare the boat for its departure in a few days, but with that complete I returned to Scupper and finished up the installation of the interior doors, installing hinges, knobs, and door catches at each location as required.

The companionway ladder required a pair of hinges salvaged from the original ladder to mount and operate the door unit.  Truth be told, I’d completely forgotten during the new ladder’s construction to add some additional blocks as required to support the hinges properly, since the hinge bases were wider than the ladder sides.  I’d long known about the doublers on the original ladder, but regardless it had slipped my mind to install the new ones when I’d originally assembled the new ladder.

So now I set about building and installing the little blocks so I could eventually move on with the ladder’s final installation, to which completion was also tied the installation of the last (not insignificant) trim bits in the main cabin and head to finish off the last raw edges in the boat.

From cherry stock, I made a pair of small blocks to fit the hinge profile in as unobtrusive a manner as possible, and with the blocks clamped dry in place outlined their locations with masking tape.  Then, I scuffed off the varnish inside the tape, and secured the new blocks with epoxy, clamping them securely and carefully cleaning up any excess.  I set the ladder aside for the adhesive to cure.

To finish up for the day, I applied a second coat of varnish to the new head trim pieces, and a coat of satin varnish to the drawer fronts, engine room door trim, and galley sole piece.

Total time billed on this job today:   6.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Clear, 40°. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 57°

Tuesday

To finish up the cabin sole, I installed all the baseboard trim pieces.  In the galley, I temporarily installed the solid cherry piece on the little raised area to show the completed appearance, though this piece required more varnish before final installation.

Afterwards, I installed paper over the main cabin sole to protect it during the rest of construction.  I added some in the head as well, since I’d be working in there later.

Before I could hang the interior cabinet doors, I needed to install some hardwood cleats that would support the door catches for each door, since the fiberglass interior liner wasn’t thick enough.  At each location, I installed a cherry cleat with epoxy adhesive, clamping it while the epoxy cured.  At the chainlocker bulkhead, the plywood bulkhead allowed me to install the catch right away, without need for a cleat.  Door knobs are on the way for this and all the other doors.

I temporarily installed the hinges on the engine room/head door, then hung the door in its opening, again temporarily.  This was partly to check the fit, but mainly to allow me to trim around the door at the bottom edge, which was my next task.

The head required trim at the bottom edge of the aft bulkhead, where the plywood met the fiberglass liner, as well as at various points along the edges and other interior intersections, much like those in the forward cabins.  Cutting and fitting all the raw trim took much of the day.

Once I had all the trim in place, I removed it all so I could sand and varnish it, beginning with a sealer coat.  Meanwhile, I continued work on the varnish on the other pieces underway, including the drawers, cabin sole piece, and engine room door trim.

To finish up for the day, I completed the final steps to assemble permanently the companionway ladder.  With the back in place dry, I used tape to mark the edges of each tread on the back panel, which helped me lay out accurately the screw locations for each tread.  Thus marked, I drilled pilot holes from the front (painted) side, then milled small countersinks on the back (varnished) side to accept the screw heads, and finally assembled the whole ladder with glue and screws.

Total time billed on this job today:   8.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  Partly cloudy, 41°.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, showers possible in the afternoon, 64°

Thursday

There wasn’t much I could do in the boat while I let the fresh cabin sole cure, but I’d planned this around a short shop day in any event.  After inspecting the last coat of varnish and deeming it satisfactory, I removed the masking tape while perched on the settees or in the bilge in the main cabin, thus avoiding stepping on the fresh varnish anywhere.

Back on the shop floor, I sanded, cleaned, and varnished anew the drawer fronts, engine room door trim, and galley cabin sole piece.

In the aft part of the boat, I solvent-washed the remaining parts of the lockers port and starboard to prepare them for paint.  Later, I applied paint in these lockers, working from the transom forward to cover the remaining area.

There was no way to get all the surfaces while I was in the lockers–I had to leave enough room to maneuver and turn around and get out of the spaces without getting into the fresh paint, so I did what I could from within, then taped my brush to a long pole and finished up the rest, as the lockers were much too deep for me to otherwise reach from the cockpit.  On the starboard side, I left the new generator platform uncoated for now in order to give the fresh epoxy there some additional cure time before I tried to overcoat it; I’d either prep it with 2-part epoxy primer later and press on, or wait a couple weeks for the epoxy to fully cure before proceeding.  In any event, it was nice to get these spaces mostly painted out.

The new door for the chainlocker, and the one for the cooler storage area in the galley, were designed to actually rest upon the lower surfaces in each location, and thus wouldn’t take well to traditional hinging.  So for these two doors, I installed a pair of stainless steel dowels in the bottom rail, which would later fit into corresponding holes at each location to hold the doors in place while allowing easy removal for access to these spaces when necessary.  To aid the friction fit of the dowels in the door frame, I roughed up the metal surface a little and applied some thickened epoxy to help hold the dowels permanently.

I had hoped to assemble permanently the companionway ladder, but, running out of time, I decided to hold off rather than rushing through.  I settled for dry-fitting the plywood back panel in place to confirm its fit and prepare for final assembly another time.  I was quite looking forward to having the permanent ladder back in place so I could pass between the main cabin and head/engine room without removing my awkward construction ladder;  there’s a reason doors with hinges caught on long ago.

Total time billed on this job today:   3 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  40°, light rain.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds and rain, 46°

Wednesday

Most of the remaining trim work still ahead was either in the head itself, or near it (i.e. the companionway/head door).  I’d be focusing on that all very soon, but for the moment I started with the loose ends of the two cover panels I’d built earlier for the space:  Over the waste tank, and the future instrument panel access to the cockpit.  These needed to be in place so I could trim around them.

For both panels, I first used tape to mark existing screw locations in the backing cleats at each location; left to my own devices, I seemed to have an uncanny ability to choose and attempt to drill into the exact location of some screw in the underlying structure unless I marked them first (if only I could find them when I wanted to).  Then, I laid out for screw locations to secure the panels.  Both needed to be removable for access, but wouldn’t require regular access, so I chose regular screws to install the panels.

To allow the future trim to slip behind the waste tank panel, and to allow the panel’s removal later as needed, I used some future trim stock to mark the corners of the panel as needed, and then cut out the reliefs.  I planned to finish up the trim in the head soon, but wanted to get the engine room door  hung so I could trim around it as needed (clearances for required trim at the bottom edges of the opening were tight).  For now, though, I awaited the door’s final finishing (underway), and, with the cabin sole finishing in its final stages also didn’t want to be in and out of the boat unnecessarily, so the trim project would continue next week.

Another trim-my loose end was a small molded raised area in the galley, where the original interior molding had to take a little step to allow hull clearance while maximizing the galley sole area.  I’d saved for duplication the original teak piece from the area, and now used it to cut a new cherry blank to fit.  With the rounded corners of the molded liner, I had to relieve the back edges of the piece to fit, as per original, and after one test fit I found I needed to take off a bit more, after which the new piece fit as expected.  Afterwards, I sanded the new piece clean and to prepare it for finishing before installation.  The old piece used many screws, but I planned to install the replacement with adhesive alone.

Note that the cabin sole baseboard trim I built earlier would cover the lower vertical edge of this new piece once installed.

That was about all I planned inside the boat this day, so now I lightly sanded, then cleaned, the cabin sole to prepare it for its final coat of varnish.  These photos show the sole after drying overnight, all taken from deck level since I planned to stay strictly off the fresh sole till it had several days of cure time.  I’d planned this around other aspects of my schedule.

I also finished up the varnish work on the cabin sole trim pieces; this photo shows them after curing overnight.

The two cabin sole hatches, which were now complete, looked good, and I installed the brass ring pulls to finish them up.

Meanwhile, I continued the varnish buildup on the remaining ongoing parts, including the drawers, engine room door trim, and now the new galley cabin sole piece I’d just milled.

After confirming the layout I’d produced earlier, I went ahead and cut out the openings for the electrical service panels as marked.  I ended up leaving narrow vertical strips of the original cabinet in place between each panel for added strength, whether required or not.  Once I had the openings cut, I test-installed the three panels, then confirmed the locations of the additional installations I required at the forward end before marking and cutting those openings, working from both sides of the panel to avoid tearout on the back.  I didn’t yet have on hand the VHF, monitor, and outlets, but would install them once they arrived.  To finish up the panel for now, I installed a handle at the top edge.

To finish up for the day, I prepared all the rails, stiles, and panel blanks for the doors into the forward cabin.  I’d previously cut a sample stile (vertical piece) to get the length and end details right, and had measured the width of the opening, so knew my doors had to each be 11″ wide, so I cut the rails 7″ long.  I pre-cut four panels to generous dimensions but would wait till I’d milled the grooves before cutting them to final size.  For that, I had a new router bit on the way to streamline the job, so for now this was as far as I could take the doors’ construction.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25  hours

0600 Weather Observation:  28°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Increasing clouds, 56°