Dog Days of Summer

Galley or kitchenette:

Left side of the galley with white "glass liner"
panels in ceiling to protect from moisture and grease. Hanging cabinet with brass wire doors separates galley from the dinette area.

New u-shaped galley counertop to provide more workspace. The refrigerator will go under the cabinet on left side.













Right side of galley has dish and glasses cabinet, all woodwork is teak. Small round sink for galley with separate 6-gallon freshwater tank for drinking water only that has it's own small faucet. New shelves in lower cabinet area. Behind the refrigerator is the 6-gallon hot water heater. This water heater gets some preheating help from the heat of the engine. All 110 volt electrical needs re-wiring yet.








The window over the galley sink allows for lots of natural light. New hoses, clamps, etc. new 4.5 hp full boat automatic water pump. Deck fill for drinking water installed into the nautical blue counter top.


New marine plywood installed in storage area beneath dinette and in storage cabinet at the end of the bunks. Rigged upper bunk to lower down and become the "back" of the lower bunk converted into a "settee".

All damaged teak was replaced and now wait for final sanding and refinishing. How time flys when you're having fun!


Head or bathroom to landlubbers:



Inside the head, the wood floorboard were inspected and repaired where needed. The floor then had an inch of concrete smoothed over it, a drain placed in the floor for shower water drainage, a step up support built for the toilet. We purchased a new toilet in case there were problems with the old one more than what we already knew anyway. A new pump for the old toilet cost the same amount of money as a brand NEW toilet, go figure...anything called "marine" is twice the money as household version of the same thing. The floor was then waterproofed with "Gluv-it" sealer and painted a nice nauical blue.

The wall supports needed to all be replaced due to water damage and the we placed white "glass liner" material over the walls. This helps with water runoff and brightens the room up. We also put the material on the ceiling to prevent water damage there.



We installed a stainless round sink with a combination sink/shower faucet. The handle pulls out 6 feet for shower usage. A flexible shower rod will help keep water off the wood door. Under the floor boards we installed a shower base unit that automatically pumps the used water outside the boat via a thru-hull connection.





We installed a macerator pump on the waste line to create more usage of the 36-gallon waste tank. There is also a lockable valve to switch the waste to outside dump in allowable areas via another thru-hull connection. All Coast Guard regulations pertaining to dumpage are followed to the letter. Installed all new thru-hull connections, hoses, clamps, etc. to ensure proper disposal of waste and prevent leakages. There is also a bilge pump beneath the floor to take care of any small spillages. All new wiring and connectors. Access to all connections at any time provided for by hidden access panels.


V- BERTH or main bedroom:

The porthole wall was repaired (water damage) and new teak laid on porthole wall, along with new teak and framing for the sides of the berth walls. New marine plywood laid for mattress area.




Still need to get a mattress, and finish the woodwork before this room is done.





Berth doors were removed and rehung to open out into the dinette area instead of into the berth to make more room for entering and exiting the bed area. Small door under the porthole wall goes into the prow of the boat where the water tank fill tube from the deck comes down. There is also a 2.5x2.5 foot excape hatch in the roof directly under the porthole area.







Howard thinks it's time for a break! Under the two sides of the v-berth, we installed two 52-gallon fresh water tanks made of a flexible plastic. The area under the berth used to have three stainless steel custom made water tanks, we are told, but they had disappeared before we got the boat. Two 110 volt electrical outlets were in the walls of the berth, but with such limited space, what could you possible plug in?






Two heavy electrical wires that went nowhere were removed from under the berth, and all new water lines were run from the freshwater tanks to the deck fill, galley, and head. Luckily the berth has good air flow as you have two double-sliding windows; two portholes; and the escape hatch, all of which can be opened for fresh air.

More news to come next week!

Exterior Work Continues

We carefully inspected all caulked deck boards and cabin wall caulking to find weak spots or missing caulking. Each spot found had to have all the caulking removed, then the seam cleaned out and make sure it is dry, then tape off each seam and recaulk for water tightness.

The entire inside of the hull had been painted battleship grey, which has prevented the boards from soaking up moisture when we wet it down. We have tried to wet it down with having gunny sacks laid inside the hull with water sitting in it as a way of trying to get the boards to swell up so the seams are smaller. The paint is preventing alot of the swelling that would normally occur. John, author of many articles in Classic Wood Boat and Traditional Boats maggazines in Great Britian has been alot help with technical questions on caulking and repairing, thanks John!

Howard inspected every board and rib for damages, replacing or repairing where needed. Some places had wide gaps between the boards and small strips of wood are installed to narrow the amount of okum and caulking that will be needed to make it water-tight.

Every screw and old square nail was also inspected to make sure they held tight - used mostly stainless steel and bronze screws for replacements, builders of the boat had used square cut nails which some are rusting away. We have to watch metal usage to prevent "galvanic" erosion.


Wood plugs or epoxy mix was installed in every nail or screw hole in preparation for the final sanding before painting the primer on the hull above the water line. We hired two local guys to sand the entire hull of the boat for us as that was a really physically tiring job, holding a heavy sander up alongside the boat for hours. It took the two guys four hours to sand the hull and keel.









New stainless steel double track was installed on all 14 double sliding windows of the upper and lower cabins, over $1000.00 in materials alone! The windows previously had been caulked, had foam around it, or otherwise "glued" into place without the ability to open them. Now all the windows work smoothly. Problem is, how do you devise a lock system that can secure the windows all closed when not around the boat? Something to ponder.




The boat also has two solid picture windows on the rear of the salon, and three large windshield windows, two of which can open outward. Then each window trim had to be refinished or replaced inside and out. This project took several days to finish.

Time slips away from me!

I have fallen behind on my postings and I am sorry I let it slip for those of you who have been following our progress...new photos have been taken and will be uploaded tomorrow with updated information. In the past month we have sold our house in KY, moved into an apartment here in VA, been back to Nashville for doctor's appointments, and worked on the boat nearly every day. Howard is such a slave driver! Of course we only work 3-4 hours per day on it..kind a putt-putting along, huh?