Projects

Winter days in Puget Sound (for those who don't know) are overcast, cool, and damp most days--and then there are the rainy days.  Suffice it to say that winter means indoor projects on your boat.  Other than days when we are off running errands or visiting family, Jerry is working on a project on the boat.  He never takes a day off.  So, there is always something he's working on.  

After a cold ride crossing Puget Sound after Christmas celebrations in Edmonds, we decided either the Red Dot heater needed reconnecting or we needed to get a diesel furnace installed.  Lots of research on the internet (lots!!!) led us to calling the Wallas dealer in Seattle.  

  
A visit to their sales room followed and we got to see up close and personal the choices for diesel furnaces.  Now many a times we have walked past boats who had their furnaces running and it sounded like an airplane taking off (you boat owners know which brands I'm talking about).  We were interested in a quieter option, but still wanted the fuel efficiency.  We found both of these with the Wallas diesel furnace.  Jerry installed the system himself; hardest part getting a clear shot for the vent to go from the furnace to the back salon (tight quarters down in the bilge).  Bottom line?  We have heat when underway on cold winter days!

Other projects?  We took the old headliner fabric out of the pilothouse, insulated with the Prodex insulation mentioned in an earlier post, stained and varnished a thin sheet of wood for the area where the radio and auto pilot connect, and then installed new headliner fabric.  With the addition of new curtains (insulating fabric), all that's left is to trim out the side and back and paint the walls.

We did decide the deep cabinet to the left of the wheel was just an "accumulator" of things to the back of the cabinet, so we cut out an opening in the top of the counter, installed hinges, and now we can lift open the top of the counter to reach into this cabinet.  It's easier to get to what you're looking for.  While we were doing this project, Nancy decided to install vinyl tiles to improve the looks of the counter.  This photo shows the project in mid-stream.  











On a nice day in February, we started sanding the brow of the pilothouse and found the layer of paint that was on the housing of the pilothouse was falling off in sheets when touched by a sander. Whoever had painted this part of the boat last, had not prepped the area properly and we were forced to have to chip away all of the paint around the entire brow.  Luckily, it came off quite easily and after two days, we had the area ready for priming.

We are currently hauled out on the hard in Port Townsend.  Some minor repair work on her bottom, bottom paint, painting the hull, and some other minor work will keep us here until May 2nd.  Then .....   stand by!