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."

Progress on other projects

Finishing the frame and panel, the fairing, sanding and painting inside was a huge milestone for us, but we've completed other projects along the way.

One end of our $320-a-pair 0000 battery cables.

Wiring
One of the biggest projects on the boat is replacing all the wiring. Columbias of this era were known for the quality and strength of their hulls. The wiring and plumbing... not so much. Jason, the previous owner, stripped out all of the old plumbing and wiring. Luckily, we have a son-in-law who is not only an electrician, but his day-time job is wiring multi-million-dollar yachts for a boat builder in Washington. He recently came down for the third time to work on the boat. He pulled new tinned, marine-grade wires throughout the boat. He followed the American Boat & Yacht Council Standards on wring type, size and installation, which he gleefully quotes to me as we work together.

All of the 110-volt wiring is new and the outlets installed. He ran the battery cables ($320 for a black and a red) and pulled wires for the 12-volt lights. Still a lot to do, but real progress. Having all the new outlets within easy reach is sure handy as well.

On Deck
While the weather was nice I borrowed a friend's pressure washer and washed the deck and topsides of the boat. It made a big difference in her appearance and I like to think it helped forestall some cosmetic problems as well.

My wife and I then worked hard restoring and refinishing the teak. I replaced several missing teak plugs and sanded, and sanded, and sanded some more. We used Cetol as the finish and it looks pretty good. We got on the minimum number of recommended coats a day or two before the rains descended.

Hatches
I rebuilt the main hatch replacing the soggy plywood panel with a poly-acrylic one to let more light in. It makes a difference and is lighter in weight too. I also refinished the storm hood the hatch slides into.

Below decks I finished installing hatch covers for storage lockers and put finger holes in the ones Jason made.

Tanks

Jason's remodel features excellent engine access.
One fuel tank in the background

Jason removed the original fuel and water tanks. He made two 50-gallon water tanks in place, which is the best and most space-efficient option. He also bought two 55-gallon fuel tanks, but hadn't gotten around to installing them. I'm part of the way through that process. It is tricky work in very tight quarters but in the end it will be a good installation.

Lights
My wife and I spent several evenings watching Netflix and polishing seven very-corroded brass cabin lights. It looked like they hadn't been polished for 41 years. After trying every commercial preparation we could get our hands on, we found that white vinegar, salt and lots of elbow grease worked the best. We plan on retrofitting them with LED lights and new switches.

Stove
The stove was in a sorry state. It looked so bad we didn't know whether to keep it or look for a replacement. We decided to clean it before making the final decision. It cleaned up pretty good. I think we'll keep it -- so long as it cooks as good as it looks.

Microwave

Our $49 microwave.

OK, so "installing" the microwave entailed nothing more than screwing it under the cabinet in the galley using plastic pipe-hanging straps. Oh, ya, I also had to plug it in and set the clock. The thing is, it looks good, is out of the way, and we now can eat hot meals on the boat and stay out of fast-food joints on the days we work on the boat.

There are a lot of little jobs that I can't even remember, like installing a door or cleaning and painting the chain locker, but what do you expect from a couple of kids with no adult supervision.

Very white indeed

Virginia finishes painting the stateroom.

A few weeks ago my wife and I reached a major milestone: the inside of the boat is painted. (Well, mostly: we still need to do the head and a few other odds and ends.) Seems like it shouldn't be such a big deal, I mean, it's only a 43-foot boat. As anyone knows who does any kind of painting, it's all in the preparation. In Oceanus's case, lots of preparation.

Before we could paint we had to finish the faux frame and panel (I guess that's what you would call it). All of the bulkheads needed the treatment and it looks terrific, even if I say so myself. Jason, the previous owner, did a great job on some of the bulkheads. We tried our best to match his high standards.

Before...

...after. This is the hanging locker in the master stateroom.

After applying the frame and panel, I had to sand and fill and sand and fill ad nauseum. I thought I would never get done. I used marine epoxy with a sanding filler. It was the best stuff for the job, but the mixing and application was tedious at best, down right frustrating on some days. The overhead was the toughest to get right. There were places where bulkheads were removed and fairing that was a chore. There were also a lot of holes that needed patching. Fairing in the new bulkheads was the toughest part by far.

Then I had to sand. Sand until my arms felt like they would fall off. Sand until it was all I could see when I closed my eyes at night. The good news is I have a tool-triggered vacuum attached to my random-orbit sander so I didn't have to eat my own dust. I would never do a job like this without that vacuum. Never!

As I would finish preping one section, my wife would paint it. First with an undercoat and then with two, three or sometimes as many as four coats of enamel. The high-gloss enamel showed every defect, which meant more filling and sanding, but, oh, does it look good! The shine tricks your eyes into thinking the space is larger than it is. And the bright white paint makes the inside cheery, even on overcast days. (We get a lot of those in the Northwet.) I've never heard someone complain that the inside of a boat was too bright. Have you?

Now the painting is done, we are on to more fun things, like woodworking. Stay tuned.

Columbia 43 stands-in for Hinckley 48 in Revenge TV show

A Tripp-designed Hinckley 48 was used as the sailboat Amanda on ABC's Revenge TV show.

My wife and I are hooked on the ABC TV show "Revenge." (Netflix has the full first season and Hulu has the second season.) I know, it's a prime-time soap, but the boat in it is really beautiful. In the first season the sailboat, "Amanda," was a Hinckley 48 designed by Bill Tripp. A beautiful boat, no question about it. It's a big sister to my Columbia 43.

I noticed that the boat changed slightly in the second season. OK, it changed a lot. To give credit to the ABC producers, at least they tried to make them look similar. So they chose another Tripp design, a Columbia 43. Here's a post from the Cruising World's Forum:

Re: ABC Revenge tv show...sailboat "Amanda"
There have been two very beautiful boats used in this series. The first was in fact a Hinckley.
The other boat used is a 43' Columbia moored at the 1700 finger in Marina Del Rey. It is called the Blue Norther and can be seen most Saturdays on the water of Santa Monica Bay. I sail as part of her crew almost every Saturday. The cast and crew of this series are great. The art department is amazing. They have matched the color of both the hull and the gold leaf lettering exactly. Occasionally we will sail with the Amanda decal on the starboard bow and Blue Norther lettering on the port bow.
(end quote)

Using a Hinckley, any Hinckley, as a boat that Jack Porter, a poor barkeep, could afford was really a stretch. The explanation was he "fixed it up." The Hinckley 48 was a gigantic leap. They are rare and expensive; there were only eight of them made. When you find them for sale they are usually somewhere north of $300k. The Columbia 43, on the other hand, is neither expensive nor rare. But, as the owners of Blue Norther proved, they can be a very beautiful boat; even something that billionaire Nolan Ryan would want to buy.

The hailing port on Oceanus is Marina Del Rey. I wonder if the two boats raced together? Did the owners know each other? Do the current owners wonder what happened to Blue Norther's sistership?

Some assembly required; batteries not included

Virginia poses on the deck of Oceanus before another marathon painting session.

It was a few weeks between the time I told Keith I wanted Oceanus before he was able to contact the owner. Jason had a rare form of cancer, literally a one-in-a-million case, and went to Spokane, Wash., to receive treatment. The primary treatment was a 22-hour operation where the cancerous parts of gut were removed and the adjacent areas treated with chemo. Understandably, Keith didn't want to bother him until he felt better. I was content to wait.

While I waited, I took my vacuum to the boat and cleaned her from stem to stern. It needed to be done and was a good way to get to know the boat. I thought Jason would appreciate it whether I bought the boat or not. I also strapped on my scuba tank and dove on the boat with a scrub brush in hand. I came to know Oceanus' shapely bottom intimately as I knocked off barnacles, mussels and scrubbed away a thick coat of algae. Below the waterline the hull was smooth and looked good to me, especially considering it hadn't been hauled out in at least five years.

After an exchange of phone calls, the day finally came when my wife and I could meet Jason and buy Oceanus. I came with a check in my pocket and trepidation: After such a life-altering event with a prognosis that was uncertain at best, would Jason be sullen or clinically depressed? Would selling the boat he worked so hard on be a relief or a tragedy for him?

Oceanus with the Yaquina Bay Bridge in the background.

But the old adage was true for both of us; it was a happy day for the buyer and the seller. Jason seemed pleased to have one less thing to worry about. He also had a great attitude about his illness and future -- realistic, but confident. He answered all my questions about the boat and, best of all, assured me he would answer any questions in the future. A lifetime consultancy -- I couldn't have asked for better.

We then went to his home where four pickup loads of parts, pieces and wood awaited us. Some of the parts were things Jason removed from Oceanus, some were new and some he picked up on Craig's list. It was a treasure trove of fasteners and marine hardware. He also had copies of the original owner's manuals and boat documentation.

A few weeks later as my wife and I looked at the boxes and boxes of stuff, I said, "Columbia 43 -- some assembly required, batteries not included." We both laughed. This will be a lot of work.