Outside vent covers

30 April 2016

Builder had never made an attempt to build covers for the external vents for the engine rooms.  They have simply been covered by plywood and removed when the boat was moved.  Calculations were made to provide a total opening area equal to the full opening and a plug was made from wood.

All imperfections were filled and the plug painted, waxed, and coated with a mold release.

Molds were then produced using a two-part epoxy mold product.

Release was far from ideal, but accomplished to find out that the heat from the epoxy had caused moisture to release vapor from the wood and produce a lot of small bubbles on the mold.  They will require a lot of additional work to create usable molds for fiberglass vents.

Pilothouse dash console

16 April 2016

The builder had built a console that had become less than desirable.  A new one was fabricated using expanded PVC board with black Formica laminated onto it.  The new console will be trimmed with cherry.

Headliner progress

16 February 2016

Serious progress has been made by my nephew on the headliner and LED light installation.  Of course we continue to get in his way and require much of it to be pulled down for our other work, but it is starting to look good.

Bed lifts and a surprise

16 February 2016

Installed electric lifts to access storage under the beds.  Simple system using inline skate wheels with two electric linear actuators from Frigelli.  The surprise came when the storage area underneath the bed storage was opened and found full of water.  Initially alarming, it was determined that the front of this area is the bulkhead separating it from the chain lockers.  The chain locker drain was plugged filling the locker above a horizontal seam and leaking into the storage area.  The drain became covered by a rubber chain pad and allowed debris to plug the drain.

Area underneath the bed storage after draining showing bed lift

Area underneath full of water

BBQ and propane cabinet

01 February 2016

A cabinet for the Magna grill, propane tanks, and some additional storage was fabricated from PVC sheet - both solid and expanded PVC board.  Installation includes dual propane tanks with auto-selecting propane plumbing and automatic off solenoid in case of a leak.  Enclosure will also spill toward the side scupper on the other side of the staircase in case of a leak.