October 2024

 Oct. 10

The weather is getting much nicer and I'm itching to do more work on the boat. Last week I finished the jams for one of the lockers (closets) and mostly finished the other. I completed the putting together doors for both. I'll upload some pictures when I take them. I've also worked out some custom made hardware for the latches.  I'll probably make these out of black walnut to contrast with the white oak.

The drawing on the left is an edge on view of the door with the door jam on the right. The right drawing is looking from the inside (door not shown) with the latch (gray oval) engaged with the jam. I'll probably replace a bit of the jam with HDPE so as not to wear out the wood. The bottom drawing shows that I'm planning to use some bearing material (sleeve) for the stainless steel (SS) bolt. 

My wife took a few good photos that I'd like to share below.

That is yours truly.

Me and my wife hanging out and dreaming.

Now some recent work. I hung the locker doors. I used half pin barrel hinges so if you open the doors up all the way, you can lift them off and get them out of the way. But really, they open flat against the cabinets so I only expect to do this when outfitting the boat for a voyage.

Eight door latches for the design at the top of this page. The only question is: Is eight enough. These are made from some black walnut that I've had for awhile. I always wanted to have black walnut accents to counter the white oak and I think this will be a nice start. These will be nice and shiny when they are clear coated. 

Oct 19.

I had to drill the 1/4" hole for the bolt and the slightly larger hole for the bolt head and I wanted to do them all in the same place. So, I make a jig. Drill the bolt head hole first which only goes in about 3/8" and then drill the 1/4" hole all the way through. That way I can quickly drill all of the handles.

A view showing the hole.

I do not have the hardware complete on the inside yet but I needed handles so I could open the doors. 

This is the locker door. I was pretty sure that the door would clear the casing for the cabin door so it would lay flat. I did not know it would be this close. The light (on the right) coming through the edge of the door is extremely uniform. This is how square and true this cabinetry turned out. I am rather surprised it was this good.

I finally got some screws for some of the cabinetry that I've been putting off buying for awhile. I was able to glue up a lot of the cabinetry in the main salon and finish the trim on the berths. Everything is feeling more finished. I'm still basically working from the bow of the boat to the stern but nothing is linear. 

Finishing up the bulkhead end trim for the last locker. It still needs some significant sanding and finishing.

There will be a locker below where the pex for the shower comes out and I'll put a shelf above.

Long view.

This will be the header for the locker with two handles. It will be partially morticed into the jams. It will match what we did on the other two lockers (see photos above). Since I have a rounded corner, I choose to bring the header (with the handles) down below where the curve starts on the left. 

September 2024

 September 15,

Working on some trim and figuring out how to finish some of the closets. 

Vee berth from above.

One of the closets with hand grips. There will be a door here and open storage on top where the hand holds are. I spent quite a bit of time working this out so that it looks good. This photo doesn't really make it look good but it's much nicer in person. 

The Vee berth seat in the raised position. This section will drop down making a nice seat. When raised, like it is now, it makes a nice sleeping area for two. 

All trim rough fit. There is a bit of sanding and fitting that still needs to be done.

I finally figured out what I'm doing here. The inside of this "cabinet" is the lavatory for the guest bathroom on the starboard side. I need access, hence the opening at the bottom. I'll put a cabinet door over that later. There will also be open storage at the top. 

August 2024

August, 3

 Oh, the hot, hot, dog days of August. A good time for some cabinetry. 

There will be four hatches in the Vee berth to gain access to all that space underneath. Here is one laid out but not installed. The hinges are half pin-barrel type so when opened you can slide the hatch off the hinges and remove altogether when loading the hold.

Here, I am clamping in the support for the hatch. The support is just doubling up the plywood around the edge of the hatch with a rim the hatch can sit on without falling through.

August 10, 11.

Half of the "Vee" berth laid in showing the two hatches with the rim.

Hatches fitting tightly.

Additional support for the "Vee" berth bed.

"Vee" berth in without hatches. 

Removable insert for the "Vee" berth. This drops down to make a seat.

Under the seat of the insert, I have added a drawer. 

I've been cutting out these hatch holes and making new hatches from additional plywood. This has worked well for the various size hatches that I've needed in the "Vee" berth. It's also a significant waste of expensive plywood. I decided for the salon where all the hatches (or access panels) can be about the same size, I've decided to make a nice router pattern and use a 1/8" router cutter to cut out the hatch hole and hatch at the same time. This saves time and significant amount of plywood. It took longer than I expected to make the pattern, and some trial and error, but ultimately the results were pretty good. I've cut all the access panels or hatches in the salon area; two in each bench and two in each crew berth bases above the benches. I'm going to dress the edges of the hatches with laminate tape using heat activated glue. This will result in a 1/16" gap between the hatch and the hatch hole. Very acceptable. 

The router pattern cut 2 3/4" larger (radius) than the actual hatch. The radius needs to be almost perfect because any defects are magnified (like a lever arm) to the much smaller radius of the hatch. The large PVC pipe section with 80 grit sandpaper glued to it (purple cylinder on the right) really came in handy cleaning up the radius.  

Starboard side bench in the salon. Adding the lip around the hatch hole to support the hatch cover and add strength to the bench. 

 July 2024,

July 8,

July fourth holiday weekend here in the states proved to be a productive day working on the boat.  I finally purchased that little bit of southern yellow pine to finish up the ceilings (walls actually). With that, I have been finishing up the sole for the front half of the boat. Interior progress has move along quickly this year. Happy fourth to all you yanks out there.

Some of the new flooring laid out before installation. I'll remove it all and add some epoxy to hold everything in place. The glue is almost not even necessary since everything fits together pretty tight but I figure it will cut down on the squeaky floors.

Some more loosely in place. I number all the pieces in pencil and take a photograph so I know how everything is put together when it is time for gluing. 

I got the much of the sole completed all the way to the "Vee" berth with two more hatches. I'm planning one more hatch on this half of the boat. The salon and galley will have a few (but not nearly as many) as well for access to the keel bolts and plumbing. On this section, I have a hatch to access every space between bulkheads, all keel bolts, all electrical runs, and most plumbing. 

The sole is taking shape. I still need to finish off some edges on the right and behind the shower on the left.

July 21,

I've finished cutting out and dry fitting the remaining sole on the front half of the boat. I'm actually missing one short piece next to a hatch. I need to buy some more flooring to finish out the back half anyway although I was hoping to finish this part with what I had. Below are some images of the finish work around corners and into the ceiling (walls). 

Fitting the "Vee" berth. I spent about half a day making a pattern for this piece. The interface with the ceiling (white wall) is beveled to make a clean fit. This fit amazingly well. Also, the pattern worked for the  other side with only a mild modification. This boat is very symmetrical.

Both pieces cut out. Both have been fitted but not together. It would be very difficult to get them back out again if they were both fitted together. 

Access hatches cut out. More on this later. 

June 2024

 June 2.

I have worked out how all the doors and walls come together at the forward head. Most of the casings are built and put in place temporarily. I was all kinda like a jig saw puzzle. Things had to be put together in a specific order to get everything locked together. I am very pleased with the results. 

Looking forward. To the left will be a door to the shower and beyond, another door, to the "Vee" berth. To the right, will be a door to the "Vee" berth. 

A close up at the casing and trim.

Final layer of epoxy on the shower pan.

June 16,

I turned my attention back to the oil skin locker near the aft entrance. The top of the locker will have storage held in place by a cargo net attached to sides with hand holds. I had my wife test the hand holds so that she was comfortable. We have vastly different size hands so coming up with something that is comfortable for both of us required a bit of thought. All the hand holds are 6" long and 1.25" wide. The will be 1.25" from the radiused edge. This seams to work for most adult hand sizes. I used a hole saw to cut the rounded ends of the hand holds and used a jig saw to connect the two holes to make elongated slots. The jig saw cuts are cleaned up with a chisel and then block sanded. I also wrapped 80 grit sandpaper around a metal pipe to clean up the hole saw cuts. A router is used to make the radius around the slot and on the top of the hand hold. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning these up before the router work. The router bit bearing is going to follow the wood and any bumps will be translated to the radius.

I have rough cut the hand holds using a hole saw for the ends and then using a jigsaw for the sides. 

A block with 80 grit sand paper is used to clean up the cuts. A router with a bearing is used to round off the edges. If the cuts are not perfectly clean and straight, the bearing will transmit imperfections to the round off. 

Ah, nice and clean.