Engine off...

I took the engine off of the boat and put it on the stand. It wasn't as heavy as I thought it was going to be. But there really is no good place to hold on to it where you have any kind of maneuverability. I must have looked like one of the Marx brothers trying to line up the clamps with the top of the stand.

I did make a mistake in the process. I should have taken off the cowl hood first. I caught a piece of the chrome on my jacket and bent it. It is held on by 3 plastic nuts on the inside that I can just pop off. I'll take off the piec of chrome, straighten it back out, and put it back. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm going to have to take several of the decorative pieces off in order to fix up the paint on the motor, anyway.

Today, I started on one of the windows. I scrped and sanded it down and put on the stain. Tomorrow, I'll be able to start varnishing it.

Election Day

Kids off from school. Kathy's school wasn't closed, so I had to stay home from work. The kids didn't want to get out of their jammies, leaving me time to work on the boat.

I took pictures of the sanded down aft seat back, that I worked on yesterday. There are a couple of dark spots in the wood, but they'll be hidden when the stain gets applied (pictured below).

Next, I finish sanded and put a coat of stain on the rear facing seat and seat back.

Then I unwrapped the window assemblies that have been wrapped in sheets since I bought the boat. The insides of the window frames, the glass, and the metal part that holds in the glass are all in perfect condition. The outside wood on the frames will need to be sanded and re-finished. There were a lot of spots with peeling varnish. I started scraping off the loose stuff, but I didn't want to sand them yet because there were still wet boards around from the staining.

Flu...

The flu went through our family. So, the boat had to wait for a while. But I finally got out there last night.

I finished dry-fitting the second rear facing seat, scribing and cutting the contour to match the side of the boat. After taking a picture, I brought the parts inside to start the sanding and finishing process.

Then I put a few more interior panels into the boat. The last one for this side is going to be a tough cut.

I also decided to sand and refinish the seat back for the aft bench seat. The color difference between the bench seat and seat back bothered me. I 've sanded it down. But I still have to stain and varnish it. I didn't take a picture.

Home from work today...

My daughter spent the day on the couch with a cold, so I had to stay home from work. It was in the 70's out today, so I figured I'd get some work done on the boat. And I got a lot done.

I started out by replacing the finish nails holding the interior panels with stainless steel screws with finish washers to dress them up. I painted the horizontal rails (I don't know the nautical term) a nice hunter green gloss.

Then I finished assembling the first of the 2 rear facing seats. There is one piece of blocking that I need to put in that will help support the seat back. Other than that, the seat is finished.

The I put the first coat of Hunter Green on the top lap on one side of the boat. I figure I'll need at least 3 coats.

Haven't updated in a while...

It's been a while. I haven't posted in a while, not because I haven't been working on the boat, but I consistently have forgotten to take pictures. I remembered to bring the camera today.

Over the last few days I have been working on the rear facing seats. I stained and varnished the base of the seats, and fitted them into place. I had to cut a 1/2 inch out of 3 of the floorboards so that the seat base would fit between them on the stringers.

I also finished joining all of the 1x10 boards, and I scribed and cut the seat and seat back for one of the seats. I sanded them smooth and applied a coat of stain. and the first coat of varnish (today).

Out in the boat, I finished painting the floorboards (4 coats) and placed them in position. I'll have to make one new section of floorboard where the center console used to be. Right now I just have a scrap piece covering the hole. The floorboards are not screwed in yet because I'll still need to get under them before I'm all done. I also did a little cleaning. It was getting pretty dusty in there.

Been busy...

I've been busy with some family obligations, so I haven't got too much done lately. I have been able to do a few things in between.

I got some 1x10 mahogany boards for the seats and seat backs, borrowed my brother's biscuit joiner, and got to joining. I only have 2 clamps long enough to clamp the pieces together, so I can only glue up one set of boards at a time. I've been varnishing more interior panels while I wait for the glue to dry.

Next, I dry-fitted the first set of boards with the bases that I built before, just to make sure everything fits. It does, so far. I'll have to scribe and cut the ends of the seat and back boards to fit the contours of the inside walls of the boat. I'll also remove the hinge, when I stain and varnish the wood.

After that, I took the base out to the boat, and dry-fitted it into the boat, trimmed it up a little and got it into place. I marked out the shape onto the floor and cut the floorboards to go around the base of the seat. The seat will be sitting direcly on the stringers. That way, if I need to get under the floorboards, I will not need to remove the seats.

Lastly I took the aft bench seat and seat back out to the boat and put them in. The are not attached yet. I just needed to get them out of the way. Putting a nice clean bench seat into a dusty boat reall shows off the dirt. I'm going to have to do some cleaning.

Been a while...

I got a lot done today.

I started off working on the rear facing seats. I measured up and cut some 1/2" oak plywood to the basic shape of the front and sides. I taked them together with finish nails. For final assembly, I'll use glue and bronze screws. The seat and back rest will be made out of joined pieces of mahogany. I'm picking that up tomorrow.

Next I mocked up the dashboard. Using some clamps, I set the dashboard in place and reattached all of the cables and wires. The mess of wires underneath the front deck will be tucked behind the interior panels.

After that I ran the steering cable back, just under the gunwale, and screwed in some clamps to hold it in. It reached the engine fine. But I still have to figure out a way to attach that end of the cable to the engine. I wonder if there is a way to reverse the action the steering wheel has on the cable.

After that I started tacking up the interior panels. They, too are temporarily held in by some finish nails, just so I can measure and cut them to fit. Once I get everything dry fit, I'll replace the nails with some fancy screws with matching lip washers. That way, If I ever need to get behind the boards, all I have to do is unscrew one board.

I temporarily put the floorboards back in, I was getting tired of losing skin on my shins. Plus, my wife had friends over, and I wanted the boat to look nice when they saw it.

Lastly, I mixed up some marine filler and put it on the stem where there was some old grounding damage, and used the excess to fill in a bunch of fastener countersink holes. I'll sand it smooth tomorrow.