March 25, 2013 - moving forward

Not much to report.  I'm still waiting for the yard to install the stabilizer fins and start fabricating the hydraulic pump mounts.  I've pulled most of the wiring for the stabilizers and have made the main hydraulic hoses.  I've been working on our dinghy davit (the crane) and it is about ready to be put back o the boat.  I cleaned up both dinghies over the weekend and found the fast boat had a seized throttle cable.  It would only idle.  I also found the lanyard kill-switch was broken.  I've ordered a new cable and switch.  The dinghy should be operational again by the weekend.

The wood veneer has been glued onto the settee seat base as well as the beds in the master stateroom.  Our cushion guy has come out and patterned the new cushions.  We should have them in about 2 weeks. At that point we will have a working settee!  Oh, we still need a table.  I've ordered the pedestal base that bolts to the floor and will allow the table to lower enough to turn the settee into a spare bed.  I think I will just use a temporary plywood table top at first so we can fine-tune the exact shape and size.

The wood veneer applied.  What a difference that made!  There will be a big
drawer in that opening to the right.  All the rest is storage cubbies accessible
from the top side.  There is a ton of storage under the settee.

Settee taking shape.  The fabric we are having the cushions made with is very much
like the small sample (tan) sitting to the left.  Ours will be just slightly darker.
It's a super durable fabric that should withstand years of daily use.  It is very
stain resistant and should be cool in warm weather, and warm in cool weather.

New  raised dot floor.  This stuff is tough.  It is glued down
with a two part epoxy adhesive made just for this flooring.
It's not going to come off.

The lower bunk/couch in the master.  Now onto building the upper bunk, which
will be formed by the seat back (of the couch).  The seat back will fold up and
become the upper bunk when we need extra sleeping capacity.

March 15, 2013 - Boat projects update

I haven't posted for a few months, so I think I'm a bit overdue.

The boat project is going slowly.  I have SO many projects underway at once that it is a bit overwhelming right now.  But, progress is being made almost every day.  I have hired a friend that works for American Tug here in La Conner.  He's a woodworker and I'm having him build us our new salon settee and he is totally rebuilding our master stateroom.  He's doing a GREAT job.

Since our last update we took a much needed vacation to sunny Acapulco.  It was fabulous with temps around 88-90 every day, a light breeze, clear blue skies.  The water temp was near 80 so hanging out in the ocean playing for hours on end was not a problem.  We spent countless hours body surfing, boogie boarding, and both kids even tried surfing.  Both kids were able to ride a wave all the way to the beach after a short lesson!

Now back to the boat.  The stabilizers are coming along now too.  The actuators have been installed and I am now fabricating and running hydraulic lines.  I've got the hydraulic coolant/conditioner tank mounted in the engine room.  I've also installed a few conduits from the master stateroom to the engine room to make running wires much easier.  I'm in the process of installing depth sounder transducers as well as several new sea water pickups underwater.  I have ripped out our old toilets but have not yet even started to install the new ones.  Our new swimstep has arrived and it is temporarily mounted on the transom.  The exterior painting is now complete.

I am almost done installing our new freezer.  We've modified the galley counter top so that it is now a lid for the freezer.  We have installed a new "sea rail" to the edge of the counter top to help prevent items from slipping off, and to keep spills from making it to the new settee cushions.

Stabilizer actuator on the stbd side.  I'm installing copper foil
to the inside of the hull below the waterline for an SSB
radio "counterpoise".  It will make the radio preform MUCH better.

The master stateroom before.  Port side single bed.

Master stateroom original dresser.  Center of room.

Original Double bed on stbd side.

The dresser after I cut it in half, cut two inches off the back, and
narrowed the side rails by almost 2 inches.  

Our new walkaround queen sized bed.  Nightstand to the left side.
This in on the port side of the boat.  Holes in the floor filled with new panels.  

Another view of our bed.  We can now walk around the bed, and it's queen
sized.  This is rare on a boat.  This room will now sleep 4 when needed.  We didn't really
loose any drawer space.  There are several big "cubbies" under the bed and the couch.

The new couch.  The back (not yet started) will flip up to become a 2nd
bunk when we need sleeping capacity for guests.  Stbd side.  This will sleep 2.

This hole was from the old faucet.  We don't need it, so....

We made it disappear!

The new sea-rail.  Also, the new lid for the freezer is in the corner.  Hard to
tell because it just looks like counter top.

My friend Steve straightening out the long edge of the Corian counter top.
It had a bow in it that stuck out about 3/4"  It was quite noticable.  

The new hole for the freezer lid.

The settee is mostly built.  Just the end caps and then gluing on the wood
veneer that will make it match the rest of the interior.

New "rubber dot" floor.  Spills from the settee won't ruin the carpet now.
Also, a section of the new wood veneer that will be installed.  I can't wait to see
this done!  What a transformation it will make in the usability of the salon.

The cushions are temporary.  They are from our old 11' Boston Whaler dinghy.
Look how nice this wood veneer is going to look!  It's a close match to our
existing wood.

The new settee with flooring that matches the galley.

New hydraulic tank in the engine room.  The bracket that it
is on is custom built.  It is VERY heavy duty.

New swimstep.  The 3 holes are actually hinged hatches (not installed yet) that
will flip up to relieve pressure from waves under the swimstep.

View of the swimstep from below.  Two new brackets installed.  There are two
more new ones that are not in this picture, out at each edge.

Polishing some stainless steel.  Before on the left.  After on the right.

Boat painting done.  "Adagio" on the side of the flybridge.  Looking much
better.  Wow, is this a big boat?

And now a few non-boat photos!

Cindy surfing in Acapulco

Kevin catches a "big one".  

3 of the Elston's go boogie boarding

Kevin and Cindy come down an advanced run at Mt. Baker

Beautiful day at Mt. Baker.

Nowhere to go but "Black Diamond" runs.  These are for advanced skiers.
We skied "The Canyon"!

January 10, 2013 - project progressing

It's been a while since my last post.  With Christmas and New Years progress came to a crawl.  We spent about 10 days over in Idaho skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, and sharing Christmas with Kathy's family (which included her two brother's and their families, from New York and Colorado).

The flybridge is all painted now and looking great.

Flybridge side with repainted stripes.

The painting project has grown to even more of the boat.  We are now painting the salon side walls, and the top of the cockpit surround.  That will really complete the painting with no unnatural break points in the paint.

Sal painting part of the cockpit overhang with primer.  Most of the topside
of the boat will have been painted by the time we are done.

Primed and ready for sanding.  It will look considerably newer when we are done!

A while ago I removed the 4 portholes from the bow stateroom and two heads.  I am rebuilding the mounts by sealing them in fiberglass to prevent leaks and to structurally tie them into the hull.  It is going to be a big imporovement because the old one would leak water when in really rough seas.  The water would work its way in between the plywood and the hull soaking the foam and fabric liner eventually.  The it would take weeks to dry out.  This problem should be gone forever.

Forward porthole opening before any work.

Sealed in fiberglass.  This should be quite strong and sealed for life.

I had to tear apart the two beds in the master stateroom so we can install the stabilizers.  They are located right underneath the beds and they take up quite a bit of room.  I had to remove the master toilet pump and all of the associated plumbing (not a fun job).  I had to cut out part of the floor and cut apart most of the bed's structure.

The port side bed partially torn apart

Floor cut out, pump and plumbing removed.  Heat unit moved and re-plumbed.
Ready for the big hole to be cut in the hull.

I have started to paint some of the decks on the boat with non-skid paint additive.  It's a multi-step process; first one coat is rolled onto the deck, then you sprinkle the non-skid additive like you are sprinkling salt on a bland meal, and last you roll another thin coat of paint to seal in the additive and give it an even finish.  The results are quite amazing.

Close-up of the non-skid surface on the steps to the flybridge.

I have even more projects going on.  Our new swimstep has arrived.  It is much bigger.  I hope this doesn't become an issue in really big seas as the water slaps up against the bottom side.  Time will tell....

We also have a new sea-water cooled freezer being built that will need to be installed under the galley cabinet with the corian surface converted into the access lid.

We are installing two new toilets.  One is a manual toilet (for maximum reliability) and the other is a fancy electric model that will be easy for non-boaters to use.  We will be making new railings for the boat deck and repositioning the dinghy to a spot that leaves more open space on the boat deck.  I am going to be modifying the anchor roller assembly to better secure our new anchor.  I'll be painting the running gear with a barnacle prevention paint (Pettit Barnacle guard) that we use a year and a half ago.  There was no growth on the props or shaft when we hauled the boat.  New zincs will be installed.  I will try to wax the bow of the boat before it leaves the paint shop if I can find the time.  This is a job that is almost impossible to do at the dock.

more to come.....

December 12, 2012 - painting underway

Lots of things are going on right now with the boat.  I am removing several through hull so they can be up-sized, or moved, or replaced.  The old holes will be fiberglassed over.  The stabilizers have finally arrived and we need to get going on that project now.  I have had to remove two depth sounder transducers and several through hull to make room for the active fins (including swing room) and the actuators inside the hull.

One of the stabilizer fins.  This thing weighs about 150 pounds and is 5' long!

A crate full of VERY expensive hardware.

One of the hydraulic actuators.  This goes on top of the fin and moves it
back and forth directed by the "brain box".  Amazingly, it will eliminate more
than 90% of the roll of the boat in heavy seas.

Lots of final prep work has been going on so the flybridge can be painted.  Sal applied primer the other day and it looks great.  But the primer did reveal several flaws that we just couldn't see before.  All minor an easily dealt with using a special 3M marine filler compound.  The primer needs a few days to cure before it can be sanded.  Sanding should begin next week.

Sal applying the two-part epoxy hi-build primer.  He's painted a lot of boats
and really knows what he is doing.  I'd mess it up if I tried to do this.

Flybridge exterior primed

Back of pilothouse ready for sanding.

The flybridge interior.  The helm isn't getting painted because I'm going to
rebuild it next year to incorporate modern electronics.

Flybridge bench seat all primed and looking good.

Several parts received their final paint today.  First is the hatch for the v-berth ceiling.  It was a rough textured lid before, with paint coming off the aluminum vent louvers, and it was all an extremely dull finish.  It almost resembled a find sandpaper.  Lots of sanding and filling of gouges and holes on my part, and then Sal took over to apply primer and paint.  The results are simply amazing!

This is the lid after a few coats of final paint.  WOW.  Look at that gloss!

The three doors also got painted today.  And they look equally impressive.  Extremely smooth and unbelievably glossy.

Nice looking doors.  Super glossy, flaw free, and ready for
another 10 years of service.

And finally, the cockpit ceiling is taking shape.  The rough texture and peeling paint on the ceiling have been sanded off.  The inside lip/edge has been sanded smooth, filled with epoxy filler, and sanded smooth.  It will be a smooth finish now, not the rough texture it had before.

Looking much nicer.  The ladder opening is gone, the BIG old lights are gone.
The terrible paint and texture are gone.  Two small and efficient LED lights will
be flush mounted in the ceiling.  It's looking SHARP.

The inside lip converted from rough texture to smooth finish.  I can't wait
to see it with the final paint.  These changes are going to really update
the look of the cockpit.

  Nest week progress will slow with the Christmas break.  Same for the week after with New Years.