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.

StumppyJ, a Columbia 43, finishes 2013 Transpac

A photo of the StumppyJ from the Transpac web site.

A Columbia 43 Mark III, the StumppyJ, finished the 2013 Transpac race on July 22 with an elapsed time of 14 days, 11 hours, 33 minutes and 35 seconds according to the Transpac web site. The skipper and owner is Ed Stumpp.

The StumppyJ raced in Division 8, the same division as another, more-famous old timer, the 52-foot Sparkman & Stevens yawl Dorade. Built in 1930, Dorade won the Transpac in 1936.

Matt Brooks, the current owner and skipper, bought Dorade in 2010 for $880,000 and poured more money into her to update her and make her competitive. It paid off with a Transpac win on corrected time.

My guess is that Ed Stumpp paid less than that for StumppyJ. Although he most likely spent some serious money for new sails and other updates, it was modest in comparison to Brooks.

Here are more stats from the Transpac web site.
Average speed: 6.6 knots
Official finish time: 22.07.2013 21:33 PDT.
Elapsed time: 14:11:33:35
Corrected time: 7:10:33:50
Class standing: 6
Fleet standing: 49
Sail number: 57083

I hope to interview Ed Stumpp and post more later. Stay tuned.

Progress Party: AKA Halfway There Party

Progress Party

Brandon and Virginia have had Oceanus for a year. Come see the progress we've made.

(It could be your only chance for several months to see the new cushions in their rightful place.)

Drop by any time 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 27.

Slip number 46, A Dock, South Beach Marina, Newport, Ore.

We will have snacks and soft drinks. Oceanus is a dry boat, so no beer or wine please.

Comments on shoddy workmanship or how much work we have left to do are grounds for walking the plank!

For those blog readers who can't make it, I plan to post some pictures. Stay tuned!

Updating a Columbia 43 Galley: Some Projects

By Brandon

I finished several projects in the galley: I insulated and covered with thin plywood the hull behind the stove and counter top, put drawers in the peninsula, made a knife rack and installed the counter top.

I dread anything where I have to mix up epoxy so this is one project I'm glad to have over. I also wasn't sure if I could make the thin plywood work in this application because plywood will only bend one way. After checking the hull in this part of the boat it seemed to me that plywood would work.

I braced the wood frame against the hull while the epoxy set. The bend in the hull was only slight. I also epoxied 6-ounce glass over all the wooden framing. It's not going anywhere.

Virginia wanted something behind the stove and sink that would be easy to keep clean and repaint when the time came. That ruled out the wood ceiling like we put in the rest of the boat. We thought about Formica or some kind of plastic and decided that 1/4-inch plywood painted with white enamel would be the best solution.

I epoxied 3/4-inch thick mahogany strips to the hull and covered them with 6-ounce fiberglass cloth set in epoxy. The strips will give me enough clearance for 3/4-inch thick closed-cell foam insulation and will provide a place to secure the plywood.

I cut the foam to fit each of the cells. I then measured and cut the plywood. I was a little nervous because this looked like it could be tricky. Bless Jason's (the previous owner) heart, everything was square and I cut a perfect fit on the first try. I screwed the piece on using finish washers.The screws and washers will show, unfortunately, but once painted, they didn't look too bad.

I painted over the screws and finish washers and they are hardly noticeable.

I found a set of three drawers in Ikea that looked like they would fit in the peninsula of the galley. Sure enough, with a little shimming and a little trimming they fit great. I thought Jason was familiar with the Ikea drawers and built the peninsula so they would fit, but he swears he wasn't. 

The door will be the prototype for all the other doors in the boat. 

I made the door from African mahogany and used 1 1/2-inch honched tenons that I then pinned with a maple dowel. This door will stay together forever.

Virginia found the cool containers at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Another project was a knife rack cut into the trim piece against the hull behind the counter top. This was an idea that Virginia liked from Lin and Larry Pardey. We saw it on one of their videos and they had more information in a book and on their web site. Called Taleisin's simple, in-counter knife rack, it's simply a slot made by a saw kerf long enough to accommodate all you knives with short pieces of dowel glued into the kerf to separate the knives. It was simple to do and looks to be very handy.

The knife rack before I put the pieces of dowel between them.

But the most dramatic change to the galley came when we installed the counter top. I cut the plywood to size an then my good friend, Bob, glued the laminate on the top. Bob is one of the best craftsman I know and has done this hundreds of times when he worked as a cabinetmaker. I was really glad to have the help: Contact cement and one-shot chances gives me hives.

Bob had me use the J-roller one more time before he let me take it from his shop.

In place.

I still need to put in three, rounded mahogany corners, wood trim and fiddles, but it sure makes a difference. The pattern and colors of the laminate are beautiful. They pick up the colors in our upholstery fabric perfectly.

Oil and varnish mix

by Brandon

A couple of coats of the oil-varnish mixture reveals the grain and figure on the African mahogany.

A friend of mine was reading this blog and asked me how I made my oil-varnish mix. The oil-varnish mixture I use is one part linseed oil, one part spar varnish and one part mineral spirits. You can substitute turpentine for the mineral spirits, but it has a stronger smell. You can also substitute tung oil for linseed oil. The advantage to tung oil is that it doesn't darken the wood as much as linseed oil. Most of the time I'm trying for a dark look to the wood so I usually don't use tung oil. Boiled linseed oil is not as expensive as tung oil. Cheap spar varnish seems to work as well as the expensive stuff.

I put the oil on thick with a rag or a small chunk of synthetic steel wool (the gray color is my favorite) and let it soak into the wood for 20 minutes to an hour and then I buff off any that hasn't soaked in with a lint-free rag, usually an old towel or t-shirt. It takes five to seven coats to get a good sheen on the wood. You should let it dry 24 hours between coats.
 
The advantages are:

• it's easy to apply;
• you can do it in a dusty shop or boat;
• it feeds the wood;
• it makes the grain and wood figure pop;
• when you touch it you feel smooth wood, not plastic finish,
• and it very easy to repair.

I often do a few coats of the oil-varnish mixture and then a couple coats of spar varnish. It makes a great base coat for varnish (shellac too). I think it seals the wood so water doesn't get under the varnish as easy.

When the finish gets a little dull or looks worn or scratched I just get out my little bottle of oil-varnish mix and a small hunk of gray synthetic steel wool and in no time it looks great again. This even works well when I've put a couple of coats of spar varnish over the oil-varnish mixture.

One more variation that I've heard about is adding about 10 percent of pine tar or Stockholm tar to the mixture. I'd never use this inside, but I sure would outside on a boat where you want a workboat finish. I'd do it just because Stockholm tar smells so good. My guess is that adding the tar would greatly slow down the drying time. It may stay tacky for a long time.

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.

Fiddles, cushions and other updates

A cushion for the forward bunk, fiddles and wood trim make the forepeak look nearly finished.

Virginia and I have advanced on two fronts this month. I continue to work on wood trim and fiddles while my wife and her friend sew new cushions.

Virginia and I made paper patterns for the bunks and settees and rough cut the foam for the cushions. We then took the rough-cut foam to the boat for the final fitting. For that we used our trusty electric carving knife. I heard an electric carving knife was The Tool for cutting foam but I was skeptical until I actually tried it out. It works pretty slick; much better than I thought.

I really like the color of the cushion cover. The pillow was a find at Ikea. I had to buy it because in the top left corner it says "Oceanus."

Once we knew the foam fit, Virginia and her friend, Joy, went to work cutting out fabric and sewing the covers. The original plan was to sew zippers in one side of the cover. After the first one, Virginia decided it would be easier and less expensive to whip stitch them closed instead. They look very professional.

Joy took the left-over fabric home to make pillows. Some of them will have zippers and nothing inside them so we can use them to store our bedding.

Most of the wood for the teak fiddles in the main cabin came from an old door.

With the cushions nearly finished, I got busy on the fiddles that will help hold them in place. In the main cabin I used teak because I had three pre-made rounded corners that I wanted to use and they were made of teak. Teak costs about $27 a board foot. The African mahogany I've been using in the rest of the boat I can buy for $3.50 a board foot. Needless to say I only use teak when I must.

I was able to get most of the fiddles made from pieces of an old teak door from the old interior. Two longer pieces I had in the shop. They were gifts from my old carving teacher when I helped her move about 10 years ago. Teak was her favorite carving wood. It is amazing wood to work with hand tools.

I'm finishing up some other projects as well, like hanging the gimbled oven and making more storage spaces. During the dry weather earlier this month we put a couple of coats of varnish on the outside teak.

Sometimes I look at my to-do list and have to lie down. Now I have a nice cushion, I'm much more comfortable.