Hatching a plan (chest)

Last Boat Thursday we carried on with work in the galley. We built the top surface for the planchest that will support our tea+coffee area. We're not sure how we're going to finish it off yet- probably with tiles. We also put in the deep shelves underneath that will house watercolour paper and old paintings. We left space at the very bottom for our mini fridge and a narrower set of deep shelves.







We also finished panelling out the space with plywood everywhere except on the side that will be behind the floor to ceiling shelving unit. This isn't for aesthetic reasons but because we ran out of large sheets of ply. We then filled the countersunk holes with filler and when they are dry we'll sand them down and be ready to paint. It will make a big difference to the space when it's got light walls as it will optimise the light that comes in through the small porthole and window.


This weeks job was making the metal hatch to go over the old skylight in the galley.

The old hatch covering was a window with a wooden frame that leaked a lot. It also made the pathway around the wheelhouse on that side really difficult because it meant stepping over the window.


Steve cut the angle iron to the right size. There was a bit of fiddling to get it to perfectly fit over the gap which is why is much better suited to these initial stages than I am.





And I welded it up into a solid frame. I thought I'd've forgotten how to weld as it has been a while since I last did any, but surprisingly I've started to get a feel for it. I still haven't got close to mastering vertical welding, but the horizontal stuff was looking pretty neat for a change.











Steve then ground the welds flat and I did another pass anywhere where there were small holes. These were mostly on the vertical surfaces- which as we have established- I suck at.


Next step was to attach the frame to the top piece. We found an almost perfect sized top sheet of metal in the engine room with a really nice handle. I welded it in place and Steve cut it exactly to size and then ground down the welds so that it was a perfectly smooth.






When it was all smooth I painted it with 2part epoxy paint.






And that was it. It looks great in place and I'm really proud that we made something like this from scratch. Hurray.

Boat Thursday: Recce.

Boat Thursday was postponed this week because Steve was off shooting in Scotland. As it happens, the shoot was on a giant cargo ship so we still had our eyes peeled for shipy inspiration.

Did someone say boat thursday?

Still trying to stick to our 2010 plan of working on the boat every thursday unless work prevents it, we did another days fiddly work in the galley today, building on what we did last week by making a framework across the hull wall with battens, leaving room for the window so that we can put in a nice wooden frame around it


and then cutting plywood panels to fit to make the wall, which, true to form on the boat isn't just a simple square but has 3 separate planes, one of which has a window in, necessitating lots of fiddling. The dark patches are due to the fact that the tarp under which the plywood was being kept wasn't as waterproof as we had thought, resulting in some wet bits of wood. But they'll dry out soon enough...


All in all though, it all came together really quickly and easily, and we could feel all the old skills coming back, after quite a long break from building rooms. By the end of the day we'd made a good start cladding the walls, and now just need to work our way round the rest of the walls. They'll be easier too, as they're not all crazy angles.

Boat DIY Thursday

We've been attempting to get some kind of balance between work-work and boat-work (and everything else). One solution to this that we are having a go at is 'Boat DIY Thursday'. So one day per week we spend a full day keeping things going with the renovation.

Today, our first, was great, and although we nearly canceled due the it being VERY VERY COLD, it turned out to be a great way to get the blood flowing.

So, the main job we are concentrating on over the next few weeks is renovating the Galley in the Captain's Cabin. Eventually this will have a little tea and coffee making station, a bog planchest for my artwork, and floor to ceiling shelving for all
our creative-industry related books.

The first step was to clear some space, rub down the hull, paint any rusty bits with Vactan, insulate, then spray foam the edges to create a nice airtight seal.





As well as this we fixed a few other bits and bobs around the place which we've been putting off doing. Even though they are only small things, it's surprising how satisfying it is to have them done.

It doesn't seem much, but at least it has started the momentum of progress.

Corridor

Last winter, most of the heat kicked out by our stove seemed to disappear in the icy icy corridor. So, again getting ready for winter, we covered up the bare hull with insulation.

This involved welding brackets onto the hull for the battens.


Packing neatly with celotex.


Spray foaming the gaps to create an air tight barrier.


And then cutting ply to size to screw on top.


We also put ply in to create the other walls of the corridor. We're looking forward to painting these too- and putting in a suspended ceiling so that it has less of a 'fun house' feel when you are walking down it.

Wheelhouse Studio

I (Lorna) went away to as Vegas in the summer, and Steve was very busy turning the wheelhouse into my new painting studio.

Step 1 was insulating. We pulled up the old floor, packed it with celetex, then relayed the floor on top. There was just one tricky bit where there was a hatch down to the engine room that we had to leave accessible.

We also insulated the ceiling ready for winter, but need to get some thinner ply to finish it all off.



Steve pulled out the old tongue and groove woodwork, I welded on brackets for new battening and cut some sanded scaffolding planks to size for my perfect desk and then vanished for a week. Steve put insulation between the battens and carefully cut ply to size.







He then filled in the screw holes, primed the plywood and neatly cut sections of the reclaimed flooring to size to make window sills and edges.



He gave it all a lick of paint and it looks so neat and tidy. He then laid the floor, leaving a removable section to keep access to the engine room. This used up almost all of our remaining reclaimed flooring (which we used in the corridor). Being solid wood it is going to withstand greater wear that the wheelhouse will have so was a good choice.







He built a fancy support for my homemade desk, utilising some more of the scrap wood that had been pulled out. The raised section at the bottom is there to give more headroom for the galley below. As my feet will be kicking around on it a lot, it was worth putting flooring down on the horizontal surface of this too.




As soon as I returned from America, I could make it really feel like home and put all my art stuff in place.


And my carnivorous plant collection too.