Week 45, 46 & 47: All I want for Christmas…

Three weeks.  What do we have to show for ourselves?

Well, in our defense, it’s been cold and rainy and wet and it gets dark early. (Plus we are supposed to be Christmas shopping. We tried that yesterday, we went to the mall, and Bill will honestly say that we would both prefer to sand fiberglass).  All this conspires to make it difficult to a) epoxy things to the boat, b) paint anything on the boat, and c) stay warm enough to really get a lot done and d) actually see what you are working on.  We’re also to the point in the project where it makes sense to sit and think about how we want to build things.  And to realize how many pieces rely on having the pantry, icebox and galley built.

The last post was focused on the settees.  They are pretty much in place, and while Bill worked on figuring out where cleats in the galley would go to support shelves and bulkheads, Nina started working on making patterns for insulating all the compartments we’ve created.  Our little space heater keeps the boat almost warm enough for epoxy to kick.  The almost warm air also creates condensation on any surface below the waterline.  We’re using 1/2 inch Armaflex for insulating the hull sides.  To make sure it will fit, Nina has been making brown paper patterns.  Dry fitting takes on a whole new meaning when every surface has to be dried off before anything can be fit.  Most of the salon is done, at least as far as lockers go.  Cutting out the Armaflex is easy to do with a pair of scissors, and the dry fit of all the pieces went well.  We’ll be covering the Armaflex with vinyl.  Here’s what fitting the pantry looked like, and yes, the coat was needed.

We need to trim off material where the pantry shelves will go, otherwise it fits nicely.  All we need is a dry, warm weekend…

Meanwhile, we are getting some epoxy coating done at home.  The starboard settee lid over the water tank is about ready to install.

Bill’s also been working on how to build the icebox.  He built a cardboard mock-up a while back, and now needs to decide how to build it.  Do we fit the foam in place first and then glass in a box, or do we build a box and then install foam around it?  There’s also the question of the lid and how we want to do that.  Much to ponder while we wait for the days to start getting longer.