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.

Co-conspirators in The Escape

Without a doubt the most fun part of rebuilding Oceanus is working with my wife. She is smart and hard working with skills that complement my own. She is constantly coming up with ideas that will make the boat more livable and beautiful  -- and then helping me bring them to life.

Jobs that I hate, or I'm not good at, she tackles with aplomb. It was such a relief to be able to turn over all of the painting to her. She is fast and good at it. She kept me racing along with the filling, sanding and other prep work so she would have things to paint during our weekends together working on the boat.

Popping plugs: The Plug Queen at work. More than 800 plugs so far and counting.

When I grumbled about all the screw holes that needed to be plugged after installing the ceiling, she volunteered to do it. She soon became the Plug Queen, spending hours gluing more than 800 (so far) plugs in place. Then, she learned to use a chisel to pare the plugs off flush. Now, she claims to love plugging screw holes. Another tedious job I don't have to worry about.

All 78 pounds of Virginia's new sewing machine.

A huge job she shouldered is the many sewing projects on the boat. Since the boat has an entirely new layout, it will need all new cushions. She picked out fabric (Sumbrella) and foam to make the new cushions and bought a heavy-duty sewing machine to sew them.

She is experienced with sewing, having made many of her own clothes over the years and even sewing covers for our other sailboats. But sewing a new dodger, bimini, cockpit enclosure and other boat-canvas projects will stretch her abilities. She is also learning to do sail repair and even make new sails.

She also thinks of ways to incorporate our favorite things into the boat to make it ours. For instance, she pasted old park passes, Fast Passes and other memorabilia from trips with our kids and grandkids to Disneyland onto the insulation before we covered it up with the ceiling. We won't (I hope) ever see it again, but it's fun just knowing they are there. We did the same kind of thing by incorporating an old paperweight of mine into the wood trim.

Mementos soon to be buried behind the ceiling. 

More than anything, Virginia is my inspiration on this project. Whenever the thought creeps into my mind to take a shortcut in the work I'm doing I think, "No. I want this to be the best work I can do because it will be Virginia's home." I would hate myself if, for instance, I failed to round over a sharp edge and she banged into it and hurt herself.

While she has always been supportive of my sailing obsession -- including three years when I disappeared into the garage to build a faering -- this time is different. This time she is fully engaged. She usually works with me two days a week on the boat. When I work alone, she always asks for a full report on "our escape-pod project." She spends hours watching how-to videos on making all the canvas work needed for our sailboat and carefully selecting fabric and just the right fasteners.

The result is that we are closer and more in tune as a couple than ever before in our 37 years of marriage. Working together on the boat and planning for our New Life is about the most fun we've had with our clothes on. I tell people that we are doing this project because I can't stand to be more than 40 feet away from my wife. And that's no joke.

Now, if I could just talk her into doing the plumbing....