Interior

The interior is coming together nicely and its been very rewarding to move off of sanding and sanding, and more sanding .........and move on to installing things. Over the last three years I have been purchasing items for the the boat and putting them in storage so I would have them on hand when it came time to install them.

Its been like Christmas morning every day as we open a box and pull some treasure out of storage and turn it over in hand, admiring it before carrying it up the ladder and into the boat to be installed. The electrical distribution panel was carried aboard, as was several plumbing parts and fixtures. The solar panel and wind generator was placed gently to one side, its not your time yet. The light fixtures and deck cowls were placed in line, soon to be carried aboard. The box containing the shortwave radio receiver and plotting tools, binoculars, etc. were carried up the ladder and placed about the area for the chart table to see how they'd fit.

The top for the chart table was then templated and cut out of half inch plywood. A five inch shelf was left along the bulkhead aft and outboard under the distribution panel to accommodate the shortwave, binoculars,etc.

A thin sheet of cork with self adhesive backing was laid down over the area. I went to the local sportsman outfitters looking for some cork sealer that is used by fishing rod builders but none carried it in stock. I remembered reading on-line that some of the rod builders also used "Tru-oil", the brand name of a product that is used to finish gun stocks. I found a bottle and purchased it but was very skeptical......I didn't care for oil finishes in the boat as they tend to pick up dust and dirt and our shop is on one very dusty road. I applied several coats to a scrap piece of cork and was impressed with the results. It hardened up to a tough shiny surface like an old fashioned shellac. I used it on the cork and it turned out just right, a hard shiny surface that still had some flexible properties to it that other users promised  would not crack or shrink over time.