Moved aboard !!!

It has certainly been a long time coming.  We had bought the boat just over 2 years ago.  We originally planned to take a year or so to refit it and move aboard.   We found out the true meaning of "Boat=Bring out another thousand" as we found more and more things that made sense to repair or replace while we had things torn up.  The 1 year plan turned into 2, but with our lease up at the end of July where we live, we confirmed with our landlord that we would not be renewing and that put the deadline firmly in place.

That lease is up at the end of July.  We intended to be on the boat by the end of June in the event we needed that bit of a time cushion.  We made it... for the most part.   I keep hearing how cruisers have to adapt to changing plans and not tie themselves to deadlines so I am ok with "for the most part".

To add a little more detail, we have been sleeping on the boat since the 30th of June with the exception of July 3rd when I had a problem with power and there was no 110v and no air conditioning.  Since we still had the apartment, we decided to sleep there that night and I would look at the problem the next day.

Bottom line is we are still working on finding homes for all of our stuff on the boat.  We have, for the most part, setup the major electronics for comfort and pleasure while living aboard (internet, TVs, wifi, and laptops and of course have all of the marine electronics as well)

So here I sit at the Nav station writing my first blog as a live aboard.  I am reflecting back to 2 years ago.  Deb and I had bought the boat, and with a few of our experienced sailing friends not being able to make the trip from Florida to Texas with us, we decided to give it a shot on our own.  So 2 years ago today (on July 5th) we had pulled out of Houma, LA on the Inter-coastal waterway, heading west through what can only be described as something you would see on that show "Swamp People"   It was beautiful and gave us a taste of what it would be like one day living and traveling on the boat.

Salon - Port Side forward (DURING) I can't find a true before

So far so good, This is the first day, that Deb and I have been down on the boat and just relaxing or chilling out in almost 2 years.  We heard some loud booms outside and realized that there was a big ole firework display over the water in Kemah.  We walked to the end of our dock where there were another 6 or 7 live-aboards sitting on dock boxes and enjoying the show.  It was a good time and relaxing :)

 We thought we would show a picture of what it looked like the first day we actually moved aboard.  We knew that as soon as the last coat of varnish was dry, we would be ready to move on.  Each coat we added, we kept hoping "Maybe this will be the last coat"   But... Deb and I like to have a really thick rich coat of varnish so the wood looks like it is almost encased in glass.

Salon - Port Side forward (AFTER)

So, this time it took about 7 coats to get to that point.   You can see the difference with the before and after shot of the same area.   We still have to add the door catches to the teak salon cabinets, but we sure like the way they came out.  They are all solid teak frames for the cabinet and doors.  The door inserts are 1/4" teak plywood that has been sanded, sealed and varnished.

At some point in the next year or so (low on the priority list right now) we will end up recovering all of the cushions in a nice plush white leather like material that is soft but can be cleaned and withstand the environment.

All in all it has been a crazy, busy, educational, fun and frustrating time to get to this point.  I wouldn't trade it for the world because I am excited about what the future holds for us.

Below is a 360 degree view of the salon from the bottom of the companion way stairs.  If you drag the picture right and left you can do a full circular view as if you were standing in that spot.

Aft Head - Teak and Holly and Epoxy, Oh My !

We now have a working rear head with electric flushing head (toilet), new counter and Teak wood sink basin.  

We removed the artificial marble that was in the head for an old counter.  It was stained and not installed at the right angle and sadly after showering, the water would puddle on the countertop and not run off the front.

We pulled all of that out, repainted all of the walls with a porcelain paint to refresh all of the walls in the shower.  We also decided to make the counter out of Teak and Holly.  To do this we used 3/4" marine grade plywood with teak and holly veneer on it.  

After dry fitting the counter and vertical wall, we cut all of the holes we needed for the storage access, shower pump switch, sink drain, faucet and shower knob.  

Because this is also the shower, it was important that we consider how to avoid rot from the water.  To do this we decided to cover all of the wood in epoxy.   After mounting, we have used painters tape to protect the newly applied porcelain paint, and then did an initial coat of Epoxy.  After dry, we sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to get it very smooth.  The next step was to wipe it all down with a tack cloth and then apply another coat of epoxy.  I noticed in the first coat that by the time I was finishing up the work the epoxy was starting to get too thick to work well with.  

To combat this, I mixed smaller batches and focused on specific parts of the counter starting with the top because I wanted that to look the best of all of it.  I applied a fairly thick coat of epoxy with a chip brush on the wood, and then gently stroking in the direction of the grain to blend it all in and ensure any bubbles in the epoxy were popped.

I added the shower control and the sink faucet and then installed our favorite feature and that is the sink carved out of an actual teak log.  We bought the sink online and when installed it leaked around the drain.  We contacted the company and without much help from them other than an assurance that the movement and gaps in the drain would not be a problem (turned out it was), we did what most boat owners end up doing, we figured we could do it better.   We removed the old drain from the log, cleaned out the sealant that was used by the place we bought it from to seal the drain.  From there I carved the drain a bit deeper so that the flange of the drain actually sat lower than the lowest portion of the bottom of the sink.  I thickened some epoxy with sawdust to a peanut butter consistency and applied it in the newly carved drain seat.  After installing and letting it dry, this worked great and was no longer leaking.  I still need to anchor the sink to the counter (likely will use silicone to do that in the event I ever need to remove it I can) but will do that after the fact.

In the end, we loved how this turned out.  The epoxy coats are thick enough to protect the wood for many many years even when getting wet during showers.  The finish is so shiny that it is reflective.  In the top picture you can see the reflection of the outlets.  Now I may have to make an outlet cover out of some spare teak that I have and epoxy them so they look close to as nice as the counter.

When we finish all of the work such as hanging the mirror back up, finishing with the outlet covers and doors for the counter, I will post more pictures.

Galley Cabinetry assembly

The Galley is starting to really come together now and it is nice to see items going back into the boat, rather than out of it.

We put the new laminate surface on all the counter tops.  We chose a laminate rather than granite due to the weight and the desire to ensure we kept the practicality of having fiddle rails on the counters.  If we went with a granite or stone, we were not sure how we would have effectively mounted fiddle rails on the edges.

After the laminate was down, we installed a shelf under the galley sink that has an access panel from above for dry storage. 

We then veneered all of the lower cabinets in African mahogany.  This included the side of the cabinets (one facing the nav station in the walkthrough the other facing the salon, and all front drawer and cabinet panels.  The veneer was put in place using not only the Pressure Sensitive Adhesive that it came with but also the standard contact cement on both surfaces method (like a laminate).  All of the new veneer received a sanding with 240 grit sandpaper.  This will smooth out the surface, blend in the joints and have a smooth surface to put a finish on.

We installed the new front panel to the pantryWe still do not have doors on it as we are not sure if we want to go back in with sliding doors or opening doors.I suspect due to the limited counter space we will go with sliding doors to not have to move items on the counter if you need to open the pantry doors. 

The rear wall of the galley was laminated in Teak rather than Mahogany.  We are trying to keep the bulkhead walls in teak and really like the way it looks   For this we removed the Electric Propane control switch, cleaned the mating surfaces of all dust using a towel dampened with denatured alchohal.  This allows for a fast drying time and allowed us to then coat both mating surfaces with contact cement.  The new wall was cut out of a single large piece to fit the unique shape of the rear galley wall. 

The teak panel is 1/8^th inch thick and made installing a little bit of a challenge as you had to cut it with a saw to shape rather than a knife like the thin veneer.  (Tip:  When applying contact cement to an area this large, it was helpful to have 2 people, Deb applied it to the wall and I applied it to the back of the teak panel, this allowed us to install it when it just started to get tacky rather than dry.

A new GFCI outlet was installed at the first plug in the wire chain and mounted back into the face of the pantry. 

New wire was run to the ceiling where insulation (3/4” closed cell foam) panels were installed between the fiberglass and the new pine slat ceiling.  The installation of the ceiling always presents a unique situation in that the roof arches to some extent, additionally the sides are not square so it starts with a single pine slat run fore to aft on the center line of the boat.  It then works outward from that so that the angled cuts to align with the outer curve of the boat can be made.   We have 

decided to install all LED lighting in the boat and wanted to have that light being emitted from the ceiling for general lighting, and then add reading lights at locations that make sense.  To that end, we mapped out how we wanted to control the lights for the common central are of the boat (the Galley, Nav Station, Walkthrough and Salon).  We liked the idea of having control of those lights from a central location near the  companion way.  We decided on mounting 6 switches (3 on each side of the companionway) that each control specifc lighting.  For example the 2 most forward switches will control the led lighting on the salon ceiling lighting on the port and starboard respectively.  The center switch on each side turns on the general lighting across the galley and companionway.  The next switches back control either the lights down the walkthrough, and on the port side control lights to light up the galley including one that shines into the top loading fridge/freezer unit. 

We are pleased with the LED lighting we chose.  They have a brushed aluminum finish, are bright but still a bit warm (not that sterile white from some LED’s) and can swivel slightly to point in specific directions.   They do not each have their own switch on the base which is why we mounted the bank of switches.

When we were looking for LED lights we considered just getting the marine fixtures with LED’s in the, however we wanted a little bit more versatility and selection for our lighting choices.  After speaking to some marine LED vendors at boat shows, I learned that LED’s for marine use are not something special but are typically the same as the ones that you can buy on line that are not “marine” specific.  Armed with that information, we decided to look at all LED lighting options.  We settled on some LED lights from Ikea that came with an adapter that went from 110V AC to 12V dc.  Because the output of the device included with the lights was in the 2-4 amp range, we worried a bit about the potential higher voltage that would be going to the lights.  I have ben assured that the lights will only draw what they draw, regardless of how many amps the supply “can” provide.  That said, I suspect that I won’t see the same life expectancy out of these as someone might on a regulated 2amp output.  So in the end, if I lose 25% of the life expectancy of these, it will still provide some 7500 hours of use.   For the money saved and the selection, I am hoping that I made a good choice.  So far so good but it has only been a couple of months at this point.  We will keep some spares on board in the event we needed to replace these.  Because of that reason we made mounting and replacing them fairly easy if we need to.

After the veneering, sanding, ceiling, lighting, electrical, etc, the sanded molding was all wiped down with denatured alcohol and the dry fitted.  Because the new ceiling is a bit thicker than the old headliner, and because the rear galley bulkhead veneer is thicker than the original, we knew we would have to slightly modify (trim) some of the molding.  We made those minor adjustments and reinstalled all of the trim in the galley and along the new ceiling. 

At this point we still have to build a new fridge/freezer lid with the new counter laminate to match, need to have the compressor serviced (still can’t believe I dripped water on the control panel when taking the sink out), fasten the sink and install the new faucet in the galley.    The next step from there will be bungs in all screw holes and varnish as a last step.

90% complete on the Owners Stateroom

Work has continued on the Owners Stateroom, and we are thrilled with the way that the ceiling planks are starting to look.  We started with a plank running up the center of the boat on the ceiling and then started to fit each plank from the center to the outer edge.  Because of the angles, it was necesaarry to install the rear ceiling trim to hold the planks in place and screw them to the ceiling joists (fancy way of describing the small wooden cross beams attached to the fiberglass).

Once we made it to the corner (in the picture above and right) it was required that every piece be cut with an angle and then fit into the tongue and groove.  A few mistakes were made when I would cut them at the wrong angle.

Once the ceiling was in place, the trim was all screwed back into place. When we disasembled the stateroom, we drew diagrams and traced the screws and then stored the legend and screws in a zip log bag so when we were assembling, we could ensure the right screws went back in the correct location (didn't want any to go all the way through and poke through the cabin top.)

After the trim was all in place and secured, the bungs were installed.  I have a cheap set of bung cutters (under $10) that I picked up from Harbor Freight and using an old scrap of teak trim, I cut 160 or so plugs/bungs.  After removing all of those bungs, we found that the best way to assemble is to NOT glue them in place but rather hold them in place with varnish so that if they ever have to be removed again, a drill bit run into the center of the plug will break the varnish free and it will pop right out.   

After a 24 hours drying period the bungs can be popped one time gently with a sharpened chisel and then sanded flat and flush with the trim.    We were in the home stretch at this point so we cleaned up the mess we had made in the stateroom and vacuumed and cleaned up all of the saw dust.  We used tack clothes to wipe everything down really good so that it was ready for a first coat of varnish.  You can see in the picture to the right just what a difference that first coat of varnish makes on what looks like a rather bland wall or piece of teak trim.  This was the excitement shot we needed because at this point we wanted to see some victories after all this work.  Seeing that shine was it.

With 3 coats of Varnish on now, it is really staring to come together.  Here are some photos in it's current state.

We couldn't be happier with the knotty pine ceiling planks.  I hope they do last and don't cause an issue over time.  We were able to install the solar vent through them and there is enough gaps in a couple of small locations to allow a little bit of air flow in there as well.


The next Blog update that we post will be photos that have the new bulkhead for the vanity seat installed and the bedding back in place.  We do still need to install lighting and have held off right now because we just haven't found the ones that we both decided are the ones we really like.

Knotty Pine Ceiling