-Week 31 Write Up- Surfaces installed, touch up varnish, and ceiling planks

With all the surfaces shaped and fit in the boat, it is time to remove the countertops and tables in order to apply an 1/8" veneer of mahogany to them.  The other surfaces which make up the bunks, will get a single coating of sealer.  All the the bulkheads that got extensions put on throughout the installation process, or any that got scuffed up were removed and the varnish was touched up and blended in seamlessly and are now ready to install for good.

The hardware arrived this week, and Brendan got busy attaching the cabinet doors, and other areas where hinges are used.  The holding tank also arrived, as well as a shipment of Teak for the decking, and Mahogany for the veneers and ceiling planks.

Oliver and I milled out the Mahogany for the ceiling planks, routed the edges, and sanded them smooth in preparation for varnish.  We were lucky enough to get to spend a beautiful friday outside to apply three coats of varnish on them.  I also got the first sunburn of the season!

Drew installed the breast hook in the bow of the boat, and did all of the touch up varnishing on the bulkheads and panels.

On a side note from the MC project, if any are interested, we had a successful haul out of one of the largest boats to be hauled at Pease, the 60 Crocker Schooner, TYRONE...quite an impressive vessel.  She was hauled out at around 11:30pm Friday night in symmetry to the highest tide of the month.

-Week 31 PHOTOS- installing surfaces, hardware, and building the mahogany ceiling planks

Here is the surface that will make up the starboard bunk.  

The aft cabin desk.

Here is the STBD water tank and strapping that will hold in in place.

Here I will take you through my project of building the aft cabin bunk.  1st: layout and shape cleats so that they provide a level space for the surface of the bunk to land on.

2nd: install a cross beam approx. half way between for added support.  This is also level and plumb and as you can see here, it ties into a stringer.

After using a jig to find all the distances and shapes to be cut out to accomodate the cleats and trim, the plywood is cut and placed in.  The aft cabin is made up of two pieces...

Here, the first piece is in on the right, and my jig is set up for the second piece on the right.  Small sticks are hot glued to a larger board to find all the points.  These points are then connected and traced onto the ply.

A detail of the jig in a difficult area.

Another detail of the jig to get the spacing around the trim.

The bunk is finished.  It is also strong, level, and fits pretty well.

Unfortunately, I only had a moment to rest.

The bronze hardware arrives and Brendan gets busy installing the cabinet doors.

In go the galley cabinet doors.

A shipment of Teak arrives for the decking.

Oliver and I mill out some Mahogany, 2 1/2" with rounded over edges to make up the ceiling in the boat.

The Last Shot of The Week.  Oliver and I got to spend the entire day Friday outside in the beautiful weather applying three coats of varnish to the ceiling planks.

-Week 30 Write Up- Installing the surfaces, cleats

After getting all the bulkheads and panels installed and situated, it was then our task to custom fit the surfaces for the bunks, settees, and counter tops.  All of these surfaces, especially the bunks, needed some sort of specialized cleat along the hull where the frames and stringers are.  I worked mainly on making a new counter top for the galley, because when we re-installed the panels, things had shifted.  Then, I began shaping, leveling, and installing the cleats for the aft cabin bunk, a fairly daunting task for someone of my boat building skill.  The cleats curve and have bevels cut into them for the surface to land on.  Where they meet the hull, they are split up into two sections because a single piece would not take the bend.  since it is so long, the shape of the hull raises one end of the cleat up on the frame, so a wedge is needed to hold it down flat.  A jig of two straight edges clamped together so you can extend it as you need is used to find level throughout your cleats, and once all this is done, with only your two hands, the cleats are screwed into the frames.  I am still not finished with the cleats in the aft cabin, but expect to have the surfaces layed down early next week (4/20-4/25).

Meanwhile, Oliver and Drew work on the surfaces in the forepeak and main saloon.  Brendan installed the water tank cleats and began working on the strapping which will hold it down.

Pictures next week!

-Week 29 Write Up- Installing the finished bulkheads and panels.

This marks the end of a very exciting week. After a month of gluing and fitting trim on the interior bulkheads, the time finally came to begin installing them in the boat. After moving so slowly for such a long time, installing the bulkheads was very refreshing. By lunch time on monday, we had every bulkhead installed in their proper locations. It went so quickly because of all the preparation we had given them in the weeks before. All we had to do was simply fit them into place, apply some silicone, and slip a bolt through and tighten the nut. Once they were all in, we could begin fitting in the panels.

The panels are a bit trickier then the bulkheads because they have to fit in between, and in a perfect world, all our measurements and cuts would be 100% correct and they would simply fall into place. However, in reality, this is just not the case. Each panel has to be given some time fitting and fudging to get it into its correct spot. By the end of the week, we had mostly every panel in the boat and her ambiance was starting to show through.

Alfie stopped by on Friday to see our progress and noticed a few errors in our placements. In order to correct these, we had to remove all the panels and install the Fir cleats that we otherwise would have tried to install in place. The method of installing them first and then fitting the panel in the boat will help us line up all of the trim and have the panels in the right spot. So Friday was spent removing panels and installing 1" x 3/4" Fir cleats in the specified locations on the panels. These cleats will be used to fasten panels to bulkheads, and also support the weight from the surfaces. The panels will be ready to go back in the boat on monday. Thanks again for checking in.

Here is march's time lapse clip:

- Week 29 PHOTOS - finally installing the finished bulkheads and panels.

Here are all of the bulkheads, finished with three coats of varnish and ready to install in the boat.

By lunch time on monday, every single bulkhead was installed in the proper locations.

A detail forward, where the bulkheads land on the stringers and in some cases the cabin sole.

A detail of the head, looking aft, with the chart table and hanging locker to the left.

With all the bulkheads installed, we begin installing the panels.

An alternate view of the interior bulkheads.

Detail of a corner post where it meets the cabin sole

Oliver, Drew, and Brendan use the model to solve a location issue.

Here, two bulkheads are clamped together to tighten up on the panel in between.

Here is the galley surface that I worked on.  This is where the ice box will go, with the stove to the right and cabinets above.

The forward berth in the forepeak.

When all the panels were installed, we had to remove them in order to clear up a few issues, such as installing Fir cleats, as Drew is doing here.

1" x 3/4" cleats are glued and fastened to the panels in the appropriate locations

The Last Shot Of The Week.  On Friday, Oliver finishes gluing on one of the last cleats.  The panels will start going back in the boat on monday, this time under Alfie's supervision.

-Week 28 Write Up- Sanding, installing chain plates, and mast steps

Sorry again for the late post.  This post corresponds to last week (week 28).  We spent most of the week focusing on the finished bulkheads.  They were sealed with a penetrating epoxy on the edges only, then stained, before being varnished.  Because of a time constraint, instead of sanding in between each coat of varnish, we applied three coats on top of each other, then sanded it down to apply the final coat.  It was nice spending a few days in the finishing shed with Meg doing some sanding for a change, since we had spent the last month gluing and fitting trim.  Now we could finally see some of our hard work turn into objects of beauty.

By the end of the week, Brendan had constructed mast steps for both the main and mizzen masts out of Locust, a very strong and heavy wood.  Perfect for such a high stress area like a mast step.  I stayed late on Friday to help Brendan install these in their locations on the stem and horn timber while he installed the chain plate blocking for both masts as well.

-Week 28 PHOTOS- sanding/varnishing bulkheads, installing chain plate blocks and mast steps

Here is the last bulkhead that needs the stringer notches cut out.

The same bulkhead, with notches cut, being fit into its place in the bow of the boat.

Brendan checks for plum as we install the largest bulkhead with the corner post.

Drew sands one of the bulkheads before the final coat of varnish

A sanded bulkhead ready for varnish.

The bulkheads are sanded down to 320 grit before the final coat.

Meg hoses down the floor to get the dust to settle before varnishing.

Quite a sanding production in the finishing shed.

Drew lays on the final coat of varnish on one of the bulkheads.

A finished bulkhead.

Brendan installed these chain plate blocks for the masts.

The main mast step, made out of Locust, ready to install.

The Last Shot Of The Week.  The mizzen mast step, also Locust, installed to the horn timber.