Tuesday
First thing in the morning, a local boat hauler arrived to take Acadia to her owner’s home port for launching and the season. Thank you!
Tuesday
First thing in the morning, a local boat hauler arrived to take Acadia to her owner’s home port for launching and the season. Thank you!
Tuesday
Finishing off the interior work were a few final touches from the upholstery contractor, including curtains on the cabin windows, a curtain to hang and close off the passageway by the head, and two filler cushions designed to fit in the convertible starboard settee in the saloon (one of which stored against the hull in the quarterberth; the other as a small backrest on the port settee), as well as some throw pillows in a coordinating fabric.
0600 Weather Report:
42°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: mostly cloudy, drizzle, and a shower, 50s
Friday
A few months earlier, the owners met with my Jason, my canvas contractor, and I to discuss the new interior and cockpit cushions and make final fabric decisions. Now, the new cushions were complete (minus two filler pieces for the convertible berth in the cabin, which pieces were still under construction), and Jason brought over the new cushions for installation.
With only a small fabric sample on hand during the final decision-making, the cushion upholstery was a bold choice, but the end result looked terrific in the cabin and, as always, brought all the upgrades and improvements together well.
The cockpit cushions, complete with an extra-tall 5″ cushion at the helm position, looked fantastic as well, and would match the boat’s existing canvas work.
Still to come: interior curtains, and those two filler cushions.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Over a few days, I wrapped up the varnish work on the second side of the v-berth door.
Third coat:
Fourth coat:
Fifth coat (rubbed-effect satin):
Total time billed on this job today: 1 hour
Tuesday
In the galley, there was a narrow area above the storage shelf where the hull was covered with an old vinyl liner, much like that in the quarterberth that I’d replaced earlier. Actually, this vinyl material was in place throughout the boat, but this section in the galley was decrepit, heavily stained, and the owners asked that I replace it with the same material as in the quarterberth.
The original liner had been installed before the cabinetry, so it extended past the shelf and into the space beneath. I used a sharp knife to cut the material even with the top of the shelf so I could remove it. Several pieces of trim at the bulkheads at either end also held the fabric in place and covered the raw edges, so I removed these in order to release the fabric, after which I could pull it away from the hull and remove it. Access was tight at best; at the after end, I could barely fit in a hand and arm over the fiddle and with the minimal clearance beneath the deck.
I used the old liner to rough out the width of the new fabric. I decided to wrap a little of the fabric onto the shelf during installation, which I thought would look nice and finish off the area better.
After dry-fitting the new material and making adjustments and relief cuts as needed. I permanently installed it with spray adhesive. Clearance at the aft end was so tight that I had to spray the adhesive into a cup, then with maximum effort reach into the space with a brush to get some on the hull and fabric. Once the new material was in place, I reinstalled the trim at the forward end, but left off the aft trim since there was quite simply no way to install it, whether by hand nail (as original) or with an air tool, as the clearance was simply too tight. Fortunately, this trim wouldn’t be missed nor visible.
To wrap up work for the day, I applied another coat of varnish to the back side of the v-berth door.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
33°, mostly cloudy. Forecast for the day: rain, mixing with or changing to snow, 30s
Monday
Now that the paintwork in the passageway and forward cabin was complete, I unmasked the area and then reassembled the various doors, hinges, and trim to complete the work.
The owners requested a curtain to close off the saloon from the forward cabin, and this was underway at the canvas shop. To hang the curtain, I installed a simple curtain rod made from stainless steel rod with simple removable ends.
The door leading to the vee-berth had a second side that required the full varnish program (the head door had wood veneer on only one side, with Formica on the inside), so with the first side now complete and cured, I turned over the door to begin the work on the second side with a sealer coat of varnish. I also applied the first of a few coats to the little handles that came off the settee backrest cushions while these were being reupholstered.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
21°, clear. Forecast for the day: sunny, 40s
Friday
It was tough to come up with flowery prose to describe such a simple set of tasks on this day, so I thought I’d try a simple list:
1. Lightly sand the fresh paint in the cabin
2. Clean up
3. Apply second coat of semi-gloss enamel.
4. Watch paint dry.
Total time billed on this job today: 1 hour
0600 Weather Observation:
23°, mostly clear. Forecast for the day: sun and clouds, 40.
Thursday
I lightly sanded the fresh primer in the cabin, then vacuumed and solvent-washed the area. Afterwards, I applied the first of a couple coats of semi-gloss white enamel.
Total time billed on this job today: 1.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
32°, clear. Forecast for the day: sunny, 40s
Wednesday
In the cabin, I masked over the new varnish on the trim and bulkheads in the passageway and forward cabins, preparing the area for primer and paint on the remaining surfaces. Afterwards, I applied a coat of primer to these areas.
I sanded the previous coat of satin varnish on the drawer fronts and doors down in the shop; the first coat of this finish hadn’t cured correctly, and had been oddly glossy. Working with well-stirred product this time–I figured the new can of varnish I’d started for the first coat must not have been stirred up, so the flattening agents had settled–I applied another coat of the rubbed-effect varnish, which I was happy to see cured to the proper level of soft sheen by the morning.
Total time billed on this job today: 3 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
34°. clouds and drizzle. Forecast for the day: eventual clearing, 40s
Tuesday
With the varnish work on the interior trim and bulkheads looking good, I deemed it complete and removed the masking tape. I’d give the fresh varnish a little time before taping over it for the next painting steps.
I sanded and revarnished the loose doors and parts in the shop, this time with satin varnish, but found that it dried with substantial gloss for some reason, perhaps because it was a new can of product that I might not have stirred. So I’d do another coat on those parts next time.
Total time billed on this job today: 2.25 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
32°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: cloudy, rain showers later.