Monday

My first task of the day was to lightly sand and varnish once more the small trim pieces I’d been working on.

My immediate focus was to prepare the new trim in the boat for its own varnish coats, so I spent most of the morning on that task, including removing excess bungs from the newest trim, lightly sanding all the bungs and trim, and masking off everything as needed.  I also permanently installed the fiddle on the now-complete plywood v-berth filler piece so I could complete the varnish on that trim as well.  With one coat possible per day, I hoped to finish up the varnish work during the course of the week and weekend.

I’d planned to apply the varnish right after lunch, wanting to ensure its completion but unsure how long it would take, but was called away unexpectedly and unable to return in time to complete the work I’d planned.

Total time billed on this job today:  4.5 hours

0600 Weather observation:  25°, clear.   Forecast for the day:  Sunny and windy, 37°

Friday

After a light sanding and solvent-wash, I applied another coat of varnish to the various loose trim pieces and the forward hatch area.

The plywood v-berth filler base was nearly complete, and now I applied its final coat of semi-gloss white paint.

With these smaller tasks out of the way, I worked on completing the teak countertop, cutting and installing the various pieces remaining to fill in the wider section of the countertop.  I relieved the back side of the short pieces along the outer edge of the countertop to fit over the slightly-protruding original molding as needed, and when I’d reached the last plank–for which I’d set aside a wide plank for the purpose–I started with a plywood template to figure out the various cuts required at the outboard end, then transferred the shape to the final plank for an easy fitting.

The ceiling at the edge of the countertop was slightly angled, and thus left a wider space at the forward end than at the after end.  With the countertop now in place, I made some measurements to determine how much additional material was required, then removed the lower ceiling board and, down in the shop, edge-glued another ceiling plank to the lower edge, leaving this assembly in the clamps for a while while I worked on other things.

While that was gluing up, I worked on the galley fiddles.  All three pieces of the fiddle had to coordinate exactly with the others for a proper fit, so  there was a lot of test-cutting and careful sneaking up on the final lengths and angle cuts, but once there, all three pieces were complete at once.

By now, the ceiling glue-up had cured sufficiently for me to mark the new lower  piece according to my measurements and cut out the new wedge.  Afterwards, I reinstalled the slightly-expanded piece to complete the ceiling at the countertop.

The day’s UPS delivery brought me a router bit I needed to trim the various openings in the countertop.  With minimal clearance within the openings, thanks to the support cleats and other factors, normal flush-trim bits, which incorporate a bearing at their lower end, wouldn’t fit here, but I found a small pilot flush-trim bit that used just a solid bearing surface beneath the cutting edge, which required less clearance and would fit in these openings.  I first had to grind off a pointed cutting edge below the bearing, which was designed to allow the bit to plunge-cut through a solid surface, and this gave me the short clearance I required in order to use a small router to carefully remove the excess countertop from within all four openings, with the router bit following the shapes of the cutouts in the plywood substrate.

Earlier (no photos), I’d glued up the planks I’d reserved on the two locker lids for the storage area, and now I could trim the excess overlap there as well to complete the lids and the basic countertop construction.  Later, I’d add pulls to lift these hatches for access.

The final surface for the countertop would be a self-leveling bar-top clear epoxy coating, but for these to flow properly the temperature was required to be at least 70°.  It was fairly impractical to raise the shop to this temperature, so instead I planned to wait till later in the season when the ambient temperature was more appropriate.  To protect the countertop surface in the meantime, I masked and covered it completely with heavy paper, and I’d probably add a layer of cardboard for additional protection while construction in the rest of the boat continued.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.5 hours

0600 Weather observation:  38°, light rain. Forecast for the day:  Showers and light rain, 49°

Thursday

Next, trim-wise, was the galley, which required edge trim along the overhead and liners above and beside the space.  As elsewhere, I cut 1-1/4″ wide trim to fit as needed and secured it with screws.  At the aft countertop corner, where a piece of vertical trim spanned between the overhead and the countertop, I used a scrap of the countertop material to hold the trim up an appropriate level above the substrate so the countertop would fit beneath.

This was the last of the removable trim in the main cabin, so now that I’d just constructed and installed all the trim, I removed it all so I could prepare and varnish all the pieces.  Down on the bench, I lightly sanded each piece as needed, removing layout marks and rounding the outer, exposed edge for better appearance.  Then, along with the trims from the forward cabin, I applied gloss varnish to all pieces, as well as the plywood electrical locker panels.  I’d continue a coat of varnish per day  till I had sufficient base coverage, and would finish up with satin varnish.

I planned soon to start the varnishing on all the fixed trim in the boat, but I went ahead and masked off and varnished the forward hatch trim now, since this tied in with the bulkhead trim and I wanted the adjacent pieces to be completed all at the same time.

For the galley countertop, the owner requested teak covered with a deep-glossy bar-top epoxy finish, and earlier I’d milled some of the boat’s original interior trim into a series of 1/4″ teak planks for this task.  Now it was time to start the installation, and I began by vacuuming and solvent-washing the plywood substrate, and laying out all the teak boards on my bench so I could choose boards easily as I went.  The planks were random widths from a little over an inch wide to about 3-1/2″ wide, all based on the sizing of their original source boards.

I wanted the planks to end up straight and parallel with the outer edge of the galley once I got there, so to begin I started with a plywood mockup of the 3-1/2″ wide board I planned to use for the first plank against the bulkhead.  With this template cut to length and set in place near the aft bulkhead, I measured from the countertop edge in several places and aligned the template accordingly, making marks on the countertop as needed.  Though it’s not shown here, I also measured from the shorter leg of the countertop to properly align the first plank–against which all others would register–as close to parallel to both parts of the edge as possible.  Then, with the template held firmly in place, I scribed the template to the shape of the bulkhead, which was far from parallel to the forward end of the galley.

I used the template to mark the teak plank and cut out the shape, then, after a dry fit, secured the plank to the substrate with waterproof glue and brads.

I cut down my template strip to straighten the edge I’d scribed, and now I used it as a marking device to determine the lengths of the remaining planks, most of which from now on would not be continuous full-length with the numerous openings to work around.  The second plank slightly overlapped the after storage locker in the countertop, and I made a layout mark to show where to cut the plank to allow some extra into the locker opening for later trimming to the final shape.  Then, the third piece of teak–and others following–required cuts for the locker opening, and in these instances I used a single board, cutting each length as required in order so the grain patterns would remain aligned and consistent.

In this way, I worked past the first locker opening, measuring and cutting the planks as needed and choosing the board widths randomly.  In each case, I secured the planks with waterproof glue and brads, leaving overhangs at the various openings for later trimming.  The outboard ends of the planks slipped beneath the ceiling nicely.

From here, I had three openings to work across for each plank:  the stove, sink and the forward storage locker, so the pieces required were short, but I continued using a single board for each strip and setting aside the cut pieces for the locker doors, which I’d set up and glue a little later.  By the end of the afternoon, I’d reached the final plank on the short (stove) side of the countertop, which seemed a good place to stop for the day, as it was already late and there wasn’t time to complete the entire countertop.

Here, I had to remove some of the bottom of the final plank to clear the molded edge of the original countertop, which was just a bit taller than the 1/2″ substrate I’d installed within, and I wanted the teak to overlap it so the surface would remain a consistent height, and also to allow the fiddles to sit directly on the countertop.  I’d cut the relief a little taller than needed, so to secure the plank solidly over the fiberglass lip, I used some thickened epoxy adhesive in that area to fill the gap, and also at the short exposed end of the plank near the sink, where another plank would soon butt up against.  The next series of planks would require this relief cut on their inboard short ends to clear the lip on the next section, and I’d finish up next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather observation:  25°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny, 47°

Wednesday

After unclamping the trim around the forward hatch, I cleaned up the overlaps where the pieces of trim met, sanding these areas smooth and lightly rounding the corners for a clean appearance.  Once that was done, I finished up the installation with screws on the horizontal trim pieces.

I removed the bulkhead trim pieces from the forward cabin and, down in the shop, lightly sanded them and rounded the exposed corners, then prepared them for the first of several coats of varnish–gloss for the base coats, then a final coat or two of satin–that I’d complete with the trim pieces out of the boat.

I continued work on the trim at the forward end of the saloon.  The new piece I’d prepared for beneath the transverse door trim was ready, but I decided it would look better and be easier if I first installed the thin vertical trim along the bulkheads between the cabin sole and the door trim, then installed the other trim inside of it, so I cut and shaped these trims as needed and, after slightly shortening the new apron trim accordingly, installed it as well.  Then I bunged the various screw holes in this area as needed.

I received a call from Jason, the upholstery contractor I use, and he’d recently been in touch with the owner about some of the interior details.  With these resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, he was ready to come and template the berths for the new cushions, and, since it was also a good time for me, we arranged for him to come this very afternoon, so with the time left in the morning I prepared the cabin a bit, cleaning up the berths and removing tools and supplies out of the way.  I also temporarily installed the fiddle trim on the v-berth filler piece, which wasn’t complete yet with another coat of paint to go, but this way we could ensure that the pattern for the forward cabin could be accurate.

When he arrived and got to work, after some final discussion with him about the settee backrest cushions (which would also be the locker doors), I made up four new plywood panels for the purpose, which would accept his new upholstery and cushions as needed.  I cut the 12mm plywood to overlap the openings by an inch on all sides, and cut 2″ radius corners so Jason could wrap his fabric and welting easily and cleanly around the corners, at his request.  I milled a 1/4″ roundover on one side of the panel, and just eased the sharp edge on the other with light sanding to complete the new panels in time for him to take them back to his own shop for the upholstery work.

Once I had the boat back to myself, I spent the remainder of the day on more trim in the saloon, mainly the trim around the bulkheads and cabin sides at the main and after bulkheads, where there were gaps either between the beadboard and the sides (forward), or, at the aft bulkhead to starboard, a wide open space between the two molded interior liner components.

These trims were basic in concept, but the realities of the surfaces meant that they were (un)suprisingly fussy.  At the main bulkhead, I also had to relieve the front top corners of the new electrical locker panels to fit around the bulkhead trim, since those panels were meant to be removable and therefore had to fit around the trim, rather than allow the trim to butt up against the panels.  At the overhead, I fit the trim to the existing shape, but since there would later (soon) be a 1/4″ plywood overhead panel to cover the original, badly damaged fiberglass overhead in the main cabin, I might have to change the top edge of the trim later; plus, there’d also later be an additional piece of trim across the top edge of the bulkhead once the new overhead was in place.

At the starboard aft bulkhead, I had to start with a wider piece of trim for the bottom piece (below the sidedeck), since this  trim had to incorporate a stepped shape in the liner at the outboard side.  This posed no problem, but once I had the top shape properly scribed to fit, I trimmed the bottom edge of the over-wide piece to the final dimension intended (1-1/4″, to match the other trim), forgetting at the time that the gap between the molded fiberglass pieces was so wide, so the narrower trim I’d just cut didn’t cover the gap.  Fortunately, it was not a lot of work to cut a new piece of trim using the first one as a guide, and by angling the cutline on the lower edge I could properly cover the gap at the outboard side, while still reducing the trim to the required 1-1/4″ at the inboard edge, where it met the vertical piece in a miter cut.  I didn’t trim the top edge of this bulkhead at this point because, like at the forward end, there’d soon be a new overhead cover panel here, so I’d complete the trim once that was fitted.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.5 hours

0600 Weather observation:  12°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 43°

Tuesday

To start, I finished up another round of light sanding and spot-filling on the companionway sliding hatch, now nearly complete.

Beginning with some 3″ wide pieces of 1/4″ plywood, I made simple templates of the inside of the forward hatch frame, and used these templates to cut solid cherry to the correct lengths and angles to fit on each side of the opening, just below the hatch itself.  These fit up against the angled corners of the opening, and, securing them with screws into the sides of the opening, I let them hang down below the liner for the moment.

To mark the overhanging trim where it met the liner, I used a scrap of 1/4″ cherry held in place along each of the four sides to scribe a mark on the hatch trim.

I planned to let the side trim, which would cover the space between the liner and the hatch opening, run over the bottom edge of the inner trim, so after removing the four pieces, I transferred the scribe marks 1/4″ up, and made the cuts with a saw before reinstalling the trim permanently, now flush with the liner on all sides.

To complete the angled corners, I prepared a piece of 1/4″ stock with 45° angles on both edges, and cut small pieces to fit each corner, securing them with glue.  I used tape to hold these in place while the glue set.

While I waited for that, I decided to install the lower door trim across the main bulkhead, at the forward ends of the settees.  I secured this with four screws into the bulkhead on each side.

The shape of the port settee meant that with the trim level, there was a wedge-shaped gap between the bottom of the door trim and the berth top.  During construction of the beam, I’d considered, then discounted, the possibility of shaping the beam itself to fit this, as it would have taken out too much of the beam material, and since this area would be hidden by the interior cushions, I decided I could trim it out later.  Later was now, and I cut a small piece of trim to fit inside the gap and glued it in place, holding it up with some wedges from beneath while the glue cured.  The starboard side fit closely and didn’t require additional work.

By now, after lunch, the corner pieces on the forward hatch were ready for more work, and I began by trimming them flush to the adjacent trims with a saw and a little sanding.

I spent most of the remainder of the day cutting and fitting the horizontal (more or less) side trim to complete the framing of the opening on all sides.  I marked a distance 1-1/4″ out from the inside trim on all sides (the general size of the edge trims I was using elsewhere), and, using wider stock, marked and cut each piece, starting with the after, widest piece that butted up against the bulkhead trim I’d installed last time.  I apparently didn’t take photos of the various steps, but I let the horizontal trim extend just a bit proud of the inside edges of the opening (for later flush-trimming), and glued the trim to the edge of the inside trim, holding it with clamps.  For the moment, I secured these pieces with clamps only while the glue set, but later I’d add screws as well.

Throughout this cutting and fitting process, with its numerous trips back and forth, I also worked on some additional trim in the main cabin, including trim between the new lower door trim and the settee shelf fiddles, along the forward edges of the backrests on each side.   These trims required scribing to the shape of the bulkhead, and then a final cut to the proper width to match that of the lower door trim.  I also shaped and sanded the exposed edges, and drilled holes for eventual screws, though I didn’t bother with the screws now since I planned to remove these small bits of trim for varnishing off the boat.

I also cut to length, and to the proper angles on each side, a piece of 3/4″ x 2″ wide stock to fit below the door trim and cover the gap at the bottom of the door opening.  I’d do the final installation soon, but since the piece was still bare wood, I held off till I could apply varnish to all sides.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.5 hours

0600 Weather observation:  12°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 37°

Monday

I got started by removing the excess bungs from the v-berth filler cleats, port settee shelf fiddle, and the starboard berth fiddle.

The port berth fiddle, which I’d milled and test-fit last time before removing it for a coat of varnish, was now ready for final installation, which went quickly since all the real work had already happened.

I planned to install the lower door trim at the forward edges of the two berth fiddles soon, but for the moment, with work ongoing in the forward cabin, it made more sense to leave it off till that was complete.  With new ceiling trim milled and seal-varnished on all sides, I spent most of the rest of the morning completing the narrow ceiling areas aft of the berth on both sides, bringing the ceiling down to the final board where it died into the cabin sole.

The angles involved meant that at the forward end of this space, the area was wider than at the aft end, and again this would require some small pieces of the ceiling trim to completely fill it in.  Since the small angled pieces at the forward end would otherwise be too small to install on their own–plus the support cleats ended just above–I started by templating and fitting the last full-length strip; then, removing the pieces, I edge-glued on another piece of the trim beneath and set these assemblies aside to cure in the clamps for a while.

While the trim was gluing up, I prepared to install the forward hatch.  I wanted this in place now so I could complete the trim inside the hatch opening.  With the hatch properly positioned in its opening, I drilled and  tapped all the fastener locations in the solid fiberglass hatch surround to accept 10-24 x 1″ machine screws, and milled small countersinks at each hole location to better accept sealant.  After final cleanup, I applied heavy beads of sealant and installed the hatch with 20 screws.

By now, my ceiling glue-ups were ready for more work, and using angles and measurements I’d determined earlier, I trimmed the bottom edges and fit the pieces.  To allow the future cabin sole to slip beneath the ceiling at the edges, I used a scrap of the sole material (same as the ceiling) to mark the height at the lower edge of each ceiling and, removing the boards one more time, trimmed off the excess to the line.  This completed the ceiling, other than final finishing, which I’d start soon.

Next in the forward cabin, I turned to the trim between the bulkhead and the overhead or cabin liner, starting with a long strip along the top edge of the bulkhead.  I used 1-1/4″ wide cherry that I’d milled earlier, and after various test cuts and measurements, eventually fit the long piece in place and secured it temporarily with bronze screws into the fiberglass liner above.  I planned to remove this and the other small pieces of trim for final varnishing once I’d cut and fit all of them.

Continuing, I worked on the remaining trim along the bulkhead on both sides, down the sides of the cabin trunk and beneath the sidedecks, and completing the dry fit on both sides took me through the end of the day.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather observation:  32°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 38°

Saturday

I’d used up most of the trim pieces I’d previously milled, so in order to keep moving ahead on trim it was time to prepare more stock.  From my stock of cherry on hand, I proceeded through various milling steps to straighten and rip the boards to appropriate widths–2″, 3″, and 1-1/4″, in this case–and then resawed each board in half across its thickness, creating a series of planks just over 5/16″ thick.  I kept a couple of long lengths of 2″ stock at full thickness to use for door stiles and rails for various interior doors later.

From here, I used the planer to dimension each piece to the final desired thickness of 1/4″, smoothing both sides in the process.   Then, I sorted through the pieces and chose the best side of each, and, for the moment, marked it with a scrap of tape so I could keep track.

I picked four of the planks to use as ceiling material in order to finish off the forward cabin, and on these I used my sanding block to create the small chamfers on the two top edges, as I’d done on the other ceiling boards, and, since these were my immediate priority, cleaned them with solvent and took them up for their sealer coat of varnish while I continued work on the remaining stock.

Any leftover pieces of the ceiling stock could be repurposed later for either the cabin sole, or for other trim as needed.  I’d also milled additional 2″ wide stock to have on hand, as well as some 3″ wide pieces for the forward hatch trim, and a series of 1-1/4″ wide pieces that I planned to use to trim between the bulkheads and overhead throughout the boat.  I hoped I’d milled more than enough for everything planned, but also didn’t want to overdo the amount of wood that I turned into small pieces.

In any event, the remaining trim needed the edges sanded to remove tool and burn marks from the milling process, since at least some of these edges would ultimately be exposed, so I took care of that and, afterwards, cleaned and applied thinned varnish to all sides of all the pieces.  Now with all this prepared trim on hand, I thought I’d have no trouble staying busy in the boat for quite a few days.

total time billed on this job today:  4.25 hours

0600 Weather observation:  36°, cloudy. Forecast for the day:  Slow clearing and windy, 40s

Friday

Not wanting to let the companionway hatch languish incomplete, I started off the day by sanding the second coat of fairing compound, then cleaning up and applying additional fairing compound to those areas necessary.

With the v-berth filler cleats now seal-coated with varnish on all sides, I installed them permanently with screws, and bunged the screw holes.

Bungs are tedious little things, and since I didn’t like to let their numbers–during either installation or the final paring–get too far ahead of me, I went around with a chisel and cleaned off the excess bung length from the fiddles in the forward cabin and the starboard settee shelf in the main cabin.  Now these areas would be ready for a light sanding, masking, and varnishing at will.

I continued in the main cabin with the fiddle trim on the port settee shelf, which required an L-shaped return across the aft end as well.  After various careful test-cuts to achieve the final length required, I installed the two pieces in concert, and bunged the screwholes forthwith.

Next, I cut and fitted the berth fiddle on the starboard side.  At this point, I had two longer pieces of the fiddle trim remaining, as well as some shorter offcuts.  I thought the shorter of the two long pieces might just work here:  initial measurements suggested it would, but by the time I cut the angle required at the aft end, where it met up with the angled section leading to the head, I found that it was just barely too short to actually work–about 1/2″.  So close, but alas.  So I used the other, longer piece to create this fiddle, which fit just behind and met up with the lower sliding door trim I’d built earlier, and which now I dry-fit in place.

Because I’d discarded one of the long pieces of trim I’d milled for this purpose, not liking the grain appearance, now I needed to mill an additional length to complete the final long fiddle on the port berth.  I had enough previously-milled pieces to complete the galley countertop fiddles when the time came, so I needed only one more length, which I milled and sanded now before cutting and dry-fitting it in place, as per the opposite side.  Then, I removed it and applied a thinned coat of varnish to all sides so I could finish the installation next time.

Whenever I work on long pieces of trim in the woodshop, I often have to spin the pieces around to gain access to the other side and edge.    With tall ceilings that allow me to easily spin even long lengths of wood vertically, I can’t help thinking of those guys from ZZ Top in their 80s videos.

Now that the cleats were in place in the center part of the v-berth, I scribed a cardboard template to fit the space, then transferred it to my last bit of 18mm plywood.  As I suspected, the scrap was barely large enough to accommodate what I needed, but accommodate it it did…if by the closest possible margin.

After final fitting in the space, I prepared a length of the fiddle trim for the aft edge of the new panel, though I wouldn’t install the trim till after paint.  To get that process going, I applied a coat of primer to all sides of the new plywood, drawing to a close another day and another week.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather observation:  32°, mostly clear. Forecast for the day:  Rain, maybe mixed with snow and sleet before 0900, 39°

Thursday

Continuing in the forward cabin, I turned to the narrow shelf surrounding the v-berth, which required a fiddle.  Laying out the several pieces of fiddle trim stock I’d milled and seal-coated with varnish earlier, I selected the appropriate pieces for the job.  I’d previously chosen the milled trim for its intended location in the boat based on available lengths of clear, usable wood (i.e. no knows or sapwood), and in this highly theoretical ideal I’d milled enough trim, supposedly, for all the berth, shelf, and countertop fiddles, but now, judging the appearances after a coat of varnish, I could see that one of the boards I’d milled had some weird grain that I didn’t like much, so I sacrificed that board to become the short forward center piece in the v-berth (out of the clear section in the middle of the board, and used the remainder as templates to help me work through the angles required for these and other trims.

After some measuring and test-cuts to determine the proper length and miter angles at the ends, I installed the first piece of trim at the forward end of the shelf.

From here, it was a relatively simple matter of just time to cut and fit the two long side fiddles, which had to meet the forward center piece at the corner and also a short length of fiddle at the after ends.  This required numerous trips up and down to cut the boards to, eventually, their final lengths to satisfy the installation requirements on each side.  I secured the trim with bronze screws in recessed holes to accept plugs. I cut the short fiddles at the after ends to match the angle of the hull, but held the trim back enough from the ceiling boards so that one could remove the short pieces of ceiling to access the chainplates as needed.

With the shelf fiddle complete, I bunged the screw holes with cherry bungs.

The exposed aft ends of the berth required fiddles to hold the eventual cushions in place, and I cut and installed these next.

In the center of the V (not actually the center, come to that), there’d be a removable filler piece, and to support this small panel I used some offcut 1-1/2″ wide cherry stock to prepare the cleats required.  I cut, fit, and performed the basic milling at this point, but since the stock was unsanded and as-yet unfinished, I only completed a temporary installation before removing the trim and sanding and seal-varnishing it accordingly.  I’d install these next time and, like all the other trim, the final finishing would occur in place.

The old plywood filler piece that had been here originally was too small in all dimensions (because of the way the original trim had worked with it), but it looked like I had juuuuust barely enough of the 18mm plywood leftover from the cabin sole substrate to make a new piece.  I’d template and cut the new piece once the cleats were in place permanently.

Now fairly late in the day, I had enough time to measure, cut, and install the starboard shelf fiddle in the main cabin, running full-length at the top of the backrest.

Total time billed on this job today:  8.25 hours

0600 Weather observation:  25°, mostly clear. Forecast for the day:  Partly sunny, 46°

Wednesday

Before getting back to work in the trim inside the boat, I took a few minutes to lightly sand, as necessary, the first coat of fairing compound on the  companionway hatch.  Afterwards, I applied a second coat of epoxy fairing compound with a broad trowel to conform to the overall shape of the hatch’s curvature and smooth in the low areas formed by the original surface.

Back in the boat, I finished up the port side of the main cabin ceiling, beginning with the final full-length board with its short extra width attached at the aft end.  This left only a short piece at the forward end to complete the work here.  I made a template of the curve at the outboard corner of the settee shelf where it met the ceiling, since I needed to prepare some trim to cover some of the uneven fiberglass edge on the shelf, but at the moment I didn’t have stock ready for the trim, so I set aside the template till another time.

Now, with all the long pieces of ceiling in place, I could get back to work in the forward cabin, where I spent most of the rest of the day cutting and fitting as many of the short pieces of ceiling at the aft ends of the space as I could, using two remaining longer boards on hand and any offcuts from earlier that were long enough.  Short as the pieces were, it took just as long and required nearly the same work to install these little strips as it would have if they’d been longer, since most had to be individually measured and cut; I did have some success cutting two at a time, using the first as the marker for the second, but generally the spaces required more individual attention for each piece.

I worked on both sides to bring the new ceiling down below the level of the berth top, since this would allow me to continue other trimwork in the space, but I ran out of suitable ceiling stock before I could finish, so the rest would have to wait till I could mill some additional 1/4″ x 2″ stock for this purpose, as well as other uses like the cabin sole and other trimwork.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather observation:  10°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 43°