New cushions a hit at Progress Party

Starboard-side settee with pillow. 

We had a great time Saturday at the Progress Party. It was just the shot in the arm we needed to keep up our enthusiasm for rebuilding Oceanus.

A big thank you to all of you who came and made the appropriate "oohs and aahs" over the work done so far. Many others emailed with regrets that they couldn't come and we appreciate that too.

Port-side settee with pillows.

Without question the stars of the show were the cushions my wife and her friend Joi made. Second billing had to be the work-of-art pillows Joi made. The cushions and the pillows made a guest appearance for a limited time only so I don't mess them up with sawdust, dirt, winch grease, paint, epoxy or you-name-it while I continue to work on the boat.

The sink and faucet in place with other galley items. Notice the LED strip light with dimmer switch.

The Columbia 43 proved she could be a great party boat along with her other long list of attributes. At one time we had nine people in the main saloon and six or seven people in the cockpit and it didn't feel at all crowded. In fact, we could have easily added a half dozen more and still had some elbow room. And that with no one on the capacious dance-floor of a foredeck.

Getting ready for the party was rewarding for us as well. In addition to seeing the cushions in place and sitting on them (they are super comfy), we got to play house by putting galley utensils in place and trying out baskets and other items we've purchased for the boat.

The double bunk in the master stateroom made up with the bed spread and pillows from BB&B.

We even made up the master stateroom bunk with a bedspread and pillows Virginia found at Bed Bath & Beyond. The color and the coral motif matched the colors in the boat and our love of coral reefs perfectly.

The knitting chair in place with good things to eat.

The whole experience reinforced how eager we are to finish the boat so we can move aboard and go sailing. Sometimes we would stand with our arms around each other and sigh, thinking about how nice it will be.

Those of you who couldn't make the party missed out on a lot of good food!

I wanted to take photos of the party but once people started arriving I got busy running my mouth and forgot all about it. I think my friend, Doryman, too a few photos. Maybe he will share one for the blog. I did take a video that I had to cut short when the first guest arrived. I uploaded it to YouTube here.

A Pile of Cushions

I always felt  that I wasn't contributing as much to the boat project as Brandon, so I was excited to be able to start sewing the many canvas and upholstery jobs that need to be done. There are a total of twelve cushions in the boat. all but one are in the main salon.

I foolishly thought that amounted to only a few hours worth of sewing. Boy was I wrong!

My friend Joi C. Hess volunteered -- actually, she insisted -- she help me with covering the mountain of foam stacked in my guest bedroom. She claims to enjoy sewing cushions and making piping. She calls this  "Therapeutic Sewing Sessions."

When Brandon and I chose our fabric we were temped to get what was on sale, but in the end we decided to get our favorite Sunbrella upholstery fabric. We are very glad we did. The Sailrite site helped us select fabrics that looked good together. 

Dueling sewing machines.

I don't know if I could have done them so well without her help. She happily sewed on the pieces that had the piping then handed them to me for the next step. After four sewing sessions that lasted about eight hours each, they are all done!

The cushions arranged as they will be in the main salon.

Joi took home fabric about three weeks ago and is making pillows. Three of these are on actual pillow forms, the rest of them will have zippers and be stuffed with extra blankets and throws. Joi brought us the first three pillows (the ones on the pillow forms) and I have never seen such exotic pillows in my life! I question Joi's state of mental health after this.

Joi's pillow masterpieces.

While Joi may think these sessions were therapeutic, I didn't. Now I need some heavy-duty Therapeutic Knitting Sessions.