April 2, 2015

Thanks to good weather, I was able to apply multiple coats of Epifanes RapidCoat to the overhead trim pieces and complete the trim installation this week.  Huge improvement, but of course it makes the unfinished areas of the cabin look worse.  Not sure what’s next.  With the looming water crisis in California, I’m giving very serious thought to installing a watermaker, which could be a nice addition regardless.  That would mean digging into engine room projects…. I still want to get out sailing too.  But it may be a couple of more weeks at least before enough novice steersmen/women are developed in the outrigger club to allow me to take off for a while.   We’ll see….

March 26, 2015

It was a productive week.  I worked hard both padding outriggers and on boat projects, but I've also been enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.  The pictures tell the story of my progress on the overhead in the v-berth.  Bottom line:  I'm very pleased with the results so far. Next week I'll start on the trim.

March 19, 2015

I finished up the final details on the staysail hardware installation and continued work on the forward cabin this week.   As usual, the forward cabin work was planned and executed from the top down.   So, after completing the refinishing of the teak hatch trim and replacing a broken-off bolt for one of the hatch lifters, I started on the preparation for a new overhead above the v-berth.   Because this cabin doubles as a mini home theater, I took acoustics into account and decided to use perforated vinyl backed with foam rather than hard paneling.  To accommodate the installation of new LED reading lights, I needed to build a channel for the wiring and terminal blocks at the top of the aft bulkhead.  The underside of this channel will provide a place to mount the recessed light fixtures as well.  So far, it’s coming along nicely.  Stay tuned to see if my plans for hanging the soft headliner work out….