Installing a wood ceiling

The new African mahogany ceiling in the forepeak of Oceanus.

There is nothing that improves the looks and comfort of an old fiberglass sailboat than a properly insulated wood ceiling.

Wood frames fiberglassed to the inside of the hull.

Pink foam insulation.

Jason, the previous owner, did the nasty work of fiberglassing the frames to the inside of the hull. My wife and I insulated between the frames with 3/4-inch thick pink foam board. Then we covered the entire section with Refletex, which is bubblewrap covered on both sides with foil. Then we covered that with a 1/16-inch thick white plastic sheet and sealed the edges with white duck tape. Then we could install the wood slats that make up the ceiling.

Stripping the the forepeak.

We were able to get some African mahogany at $3.50 a board foot. The boards were cupped and had a lot of checks in them, but once I milled it down to strips that were 1 1/2-inches wide by about 3/8-inch thick it looked great. It is just thick enough that I could countersink the screws deep enough that my wife could plug the screw holes. Since I made the plugs from the scraps of the left over wood, they matched perfectly. I also milled the trim from the same wood.

The burn marks from the saw blade sanded out easily.

It turned out better than we hoped. Each finished section has at least a couple of coats of my home-made varnish oil mixture. Eventually it will also have a couple coats of thinned spar varnish as well.

The ceiling in the main saloon.

A celestial talisman

I've been working on wood trim lately. Trimming out the shelf above the foot of the double birth was the most fun. Three fabric boxes from Ikea fit snugly behind the fiddles with room left over for a couple of plastic boxes in the corner.

Fabric boxes from Ikea fit perfectly behind the mahogany fiddles.

While considering how to trim it out I thought I would incorporate this little guy. It is replica capstone from the Navoo Temple called the Sunstone. It symbolizes heaven and and many other things and is heavy with history. A good talisman at the heart of the boat.

The Sunstone

Getting our ship together

While in Southern California in mid December we took a break from grandkids and Disneyland to pay a visit to Minney's Yacht Surplus. What a great store! Wish it was closer.

It was fun to met Ernie Minney, who is an institution all by himself. When I told him I had a Columbia 43 I was restoring he said, "That's a great boat." Then he gave me an old Columbia rudder plate from a box he had stashed away. My guess is it was used on one of the smaller boats like the C 26. Anyway, it's pretty cool and will find its way onto the boat, but perhaps in a cut-down version.

A gift from Mr. Minney.

We bought some stuff, of course, but no more than we could take back on the plane. I may have to drive down in my truck when we get a little further on our restoration. One thing we couldn't pass up was Minney's t-shirt. Someday....

Matching t-shirts from Minney's say, "Schooner or later we'll get our ship together."