More mid-winter projects below

Bill Robbins applies a good looking build coat to the paint work in the forward stateroom.

In late January and early February, the forward stateroom and the aft cabin, as well as the passageway between cabins, are largely built and the painters can take over from the carpenters to build a good base of Simple White paint in preparation for the final coats of several hues of white for the trim, framed panels, and beaded paneling. This process requires lots of sanding, good brushes, good light, good concentration--and good tunes.

The major construction work has moved to the pilot house. Here David Fresh, the Composites Manager, sheaths plywood panels with fiberglass in epoxy for partitions in the pilot house.


These partitions are then installed around the air conditioner/heater and air handling hoses at the aft end of the pilot house, including large hoses for piping fresh air to the the machinery room. The partions also form a pocket for the sliding companionway door between the cockpit to the left and the pilot house itself on the right.



Another project below is trimming out the door ways between various cabins. Here Doug Haldane is sanding a wenge threshold that matches the wenge sole throughout the interior of the boat.



After installling the threshold in each doorway, Doug trims and installls the door jambs that are built up of several pieces of molding machined out of spanish cedar that will then be primed and painted to match the rest of the woodwork throughout the boat, except for the captain's cabin which is trimmed out in teak.



The major project in the captain's cabin is finishing out the head. Here Claus Batley glues up the curved frame for the basin cabinet front, a tricky clamping job.

Mid winter work on the Interior

Chris Muise, one of the drawer guys, caught in the act of installing a drawer front.

One thing that is prized during a Maine winter is a job indoors. In the old days that likely meant a building that was only a few degrees above the outside temperature, but at least you were out of the biting wind. These days, with modern adhesives, it means being able to wear a tee shirt all year long, as Chris is elegantly modeling here.

Here's interior wood work that we did in the main salon area through the end of January.

There are two ways to get below, one through a sliding hatch on the aft end of the aft cabin, into the owner's cabin, and the main one here, through the pilot house into the salon. The pilot house will be mainly finished out in varnished teak. The white panel is the bottom of the chart table that also forms the left side of curved stair well.



At the base of the main stairs you can turn left to go into the galley and captain's cabin. This is a partition between the galley and salon that has a core of plywood that will be sheathed over with beaded board paneling. Here the curved corner is being coopered with strips the same width as the beaded boards. The sharp corners will be planed and sanded off until a smooth radius is formed, then the strips will be removed and a bead routed along the edge of each one. The partition butts into the aluminium cage that surrounds the main mast, on the right.



In the galley the masons from Fresh Water Stone fitted and installed the marble counter tops.



In the main salon the last of the trim over the joint between the cabin sides and the deck carlins has been installed and is ready for paint.



Al Strong puts a coat of sealer/primer on the panels that were built to house the hydraulic motor for one of the two halliard winches. The winches are mounted on the cabin top on either side of the main mast (note the mast cage to Al's right) and the motors stick down into the salon.



Here stiles and rails are glued on the panels that are to go on the main mast cage.



The first panels, with molding installed around the inside edges of the stiles and rails, is fitted and fastened onto the mast cage.



Trent Glisson (who also made the mast cage panels) installing the first pieces of molding that will go around the edges of the large curved opening in the main bulkhead (located just aft of the main mast). Trent is also going for the modern boat builder tee look.