Moorage! Yahooo!

Splashed Saturday June 2 and and secured moorage the same day! Sweet!
We immediately set sail for Camp and had to turn right around due to the engine overheating.
Found the water was not able to get through the transmission.  Next morning I connected the garden hose to the transmission fitting and purged the blockage.  We went for a two hour sail in the afternoon. Great to get back on the water again.

It's a tight squeeze to get in and out, but location, location, location
The red boat Seventh Heaven directly in front of Blackheart is owned by a previous owner or Blackheart. Freaky!

'That's a wrap' time to go sailing

I've working like a busy little beaver since March and now that Junuary is almost over and summer is just around the corner, it's time to go sailing!

Cockpit lazerettes complete - teak will be added to seat tops next fall

Plenty of stowage under seats - drains into cockpit next to scuppers

Locker before bulkhead installed

Port Side Bulkhead

New Location for Head

Head Interior - vanity & cabinet to be installed next fall/spring

Head walled in - Electrical Panels
Walls to be painted white and door will be replaced with Mahogany paneled door.

Starboard side bulkhead - counter to be extended to bulkhead next fall

Battery Relocation

I've had to take a break from the incredibly frustrating fitting and shaping of the cockpit combing/lazerette backs so I've started building the battery box.

Here's only space I have available to mount enough batteries to power the new fridge.

Area under cockpit between engine and helm

I've added 2 ribs to the existing stand for the exhaust muffler and one more further aft where the bulkhead is

Here's what the final fitting

Plenty of room for 4 standard size batteries

Cabin Filler Panel

Here's the starboard side getting the filler panel fitter for the back of the cabin.

Seat back

I've installed the port side cockpit seat back and I think it looks pretty good!  I still need to decide how I want to shape the top edge, but I've penciled in the basic shape I am considering.

Seat Back

We're back from our 2 weeks in Maui. Hmmm.
Anyway I've been working on the cockpit seat backs which I'm making out of unfinished 1" x 10" mahogany.  To make the transition from the cabin to the aft part of the cockpit look nice, I've decided to bend the seat backs.
I built a steam box out of plywood and hooked it up to an old paint pot with some 3/8" copper tubing and placed the pot on the side burner of the old natural gas BBQ.  Unfortunately this did not produce enough steam to properly heat the wood.
Hmmm.  After some serious mental anguish, I remembered that I had picked up a small steam cleaner from Popeye's consignment store for $5.  I hooked it up to the center of the steam box and I was off to the races.

I made a plywood pattern of the shape I cut out of the deck and traced this on to two 2x10 planks and then connected the planks with 2 x 3 forming a curved ladder.  I then placed scraps of wood on top of the mahogany and clamped it to the ladder.

Honduras Mahogany

I've managed to fit a new piece of mahogany into the back of the cabin where the deck section was removed.  It turned out better than I expected however the new mahogany is nowhere close to the same colour as the existing.  I'll have to find a medium brown stain to get it a little closer.