Deckhead and saloon

Another week with something to show.  There are some - rare - occasions when I think that this boat may even be finished.  But I confess that I was a little stymied when David T asked me at the AGM, if I still thought the boat would be finished this decade.  Although, apparently, the century commenced in the year 01, a decade begins in the year 0.  So let's not bet on it, boys and girls!  I may be making progress, but I still have to fit out the saloon, the galley and the cockpit, lay the decks (including the teak- sorry Mr Tyler), put on the rubbing strakes, make the rudders and bilgeboards, make tillers, build a mast, make a sail, wire the boat, make cushions, paint the hull and around the cockpit and no doubt dozens of smaller jobs that presently escape my mind.  There is every chance that I'll be drawing my pension before the boat is launched (assuming that the Government doesn't change its mind about giving me one!).

 Anyway, having decided, finally, exactly what the seating layout in the saloon is to be, I started marking and cutting out material.  The front and sides of the seating will be of 6mm ply, with kauri panelling laid over them.

 A certain amount of cutting and shaping was required to fit the panels around the bearers for the cabin sole, which, because I wasn't sufficiently clever to plan everything in advance, did little to aid framing up the structure. 

 In the meantime, I was painting the deckhead. As anyone who uses them knows, the trouble with commercial two-part polyurethane paints is that they are designed to be sprayed.  I tried several techniques to get an acceptable - and that's all it is - finish, so sanding between coats was required to get rid of the lumps.  I could have used International 'Perfection' or one of the three shades of white that Altex use for application by brush and/or roller, but not only are they eye-wateringly expensive, they come in a very high gloss, which isn't what I want. (I tried Perfection undercoat, just to see, but apart from the expense, it was an almost blue white, which was a bit bleak to my eye.)  So I've come to the conclusion that I'll just have to pretend I like the textured finish.

 However, the good news is that the paint is fantastically hard, so even though I had to use props to ensure contact with the deckhead, they didn't do any damage.  It was, to say the least of it, a mission putting up the sheet of ply, which is, of course, exactly the same length as the cabin.  I had to apply the glue to the ply rather than the deckhead (a) to avoid it dripping off before I got the sheet on and (b) to ensure that I didn't wipe off half of it with my hair while I was preparing everything.  But up it went and with very little glue ending up in the wrong place.

 The camera, as we all know, frequently lies and the finish is nowhere near as good as it looks in the photos.

 But the overall effect is pleasing, I think.  I'm going to run quadrant along the edges. I think it will soften the joint between bulkhead and deckhead.

Back in the saloon, I've broken down the kit of parts for coating and panelling.  I also need to paint out under and around the settee, before building in the structure.  And I need to finish off the deckhead in the forecabin.

This should keep me busy for a while!