Lackey Sailing | Calliope Girl 122

May 14, 2024

Calliope Girl 122

Tuesday

My first task was to reinstall the ceiling planks in the forward cabin. These were part of the interior as it came to me, and earlier I’d removed them for a spruce-up and to access the hull behind when I was working in the space. They’d been complete and awaiting reinstallation for some time, so to begin I organized them in order on each side (I’d numbered them as I removed them, from bottom to top), then reinstalled them from the top down on each side. At the berth level, when the planks–which followed the sheerline–met the new berth platform at an angle, I cut the final two planks short as needed where they naturally ended, not worrying about the small exposed spaces since the cushions would cover the small gaps. (The original berth had allowed the final two planks to extend all the way aft, but the after end was below level by several inches.) Attempting to taper the planks to fill the space would have left unsupported sharp angles as there was no further support between the four widely-spaced wooden supports roughly glassed to the hull.

Once all the planks were installed, I cut and fitted trim pieces at the four corners to finish things off.

Departing the boat, when I broke the top step of my construction ladder for the second or third time during the project, I decided it was high time to permanently install the new companionway ladder. I’d planned to eke out a few more days with the decrepit 2×4 ladder–patched and shortened and lengthened and modified and repaired and “strengthened” and so forth over and over through many years and many boats–but enough was enough, and now I planned to retire the ladder permanently to the dumpster.

I installed the new companionway with bronze ladder brackets, located inside the ladder at the top of the engine compartment hatch, and protected the treads with some rags to get me through the final days of work.

I was expecting Jason to install the interior cushions later in the day (this ended up getting delayed for a day), so to prepare I spent some time cleaning up and removing unnecessary tools and things from the cabin. In the meantime, I continued to knock small jobs off my list, including running the propane hose up to the bulkhead heater and securing the excess, and installing the Charlie Noble on deck to finish off the installation.

In the galley, I spent far too much time installing a new gooseneck lamp and terminal block to which the CO detector could be wired, these small jobs taking so long because of extremely difficult access.

On the opposite side of the galley, I installed the bowl shelf and its fiddle trim, now that the shelf was fully painted (and the trim had a couple coats of varnish on it too). I bunged the screw holes. I had earlier made a small piece of trim to cover the edge of the vertical divider in this compartment, but couldn’t lay my hands on it now (late in the day I found it in a pile of spacers I’d used while varnishing trim, and which I’d just cleaned off a table a day or so before).

I spent a few minutes drilling out and tapping the starter holes in the mast step that I’d located once the new part arrived. This part could be easily removed later if needed.