Before...
The interior of our boat had suffered some water damage over the years hence we always planned to 'do her up'. Renovating a boat whilst living aboard and travelling (as we have been), is not necessarily that easy. We started off slowly, fixing exterior problems first. There's little point in correcting cosmetic issues below when the source of the problem is still there. We rebedded deck fittings and made some temporary hatch covers; doing constant detective work to determine where the water is coming in.
Our first interior project was the forward head (toilet to the landlubbers!), which we gutted and rebuilt, using original timbers where possible. No sooner was this finished than we had another job on our hands - making the v-berth (forward cabin) habitable for the baby we are now expecting.
The v-berth was previously our storage 'shed', housing Julian's tools, our sail wardrobe, canvas awnings and a fabulous front-opening 12volt Waeco fridge! The decor surrounding this paraphernalia was grotty to say the least. The forward bulkhead at the chain locker was sporting delaminated teak veneer. The vinyl headlining was more than 30 years old and definitely showing its age. The portlights were leaking and the surrounding woodwork was damaged. The upholstery was past its use-by date and given its final death-knell by our cats. With the clock ticking down to my due-date we started work.
First on the list was demolition. We ripped out the headlining, removed the timbers and veneers and dismantled the portlights. We rebedded the stanchions, pulpit and babystay fittings above deck and gave the anchor locker a clean up and fresh coat of white epoxy paint. Below is a snapshot of how the cabin looked at this point.
It was good to reach the stage where something new was ready to be fixed on. Painted plywood had previously surrounded the portlights. This was now replaced with more durable laminex as demonstrated below.
Julian re-sealed the portlight areas using epoxy and silicon.
Meanwhile the original bronze portlight frames were polished, taking them from green to gold as shown here.
Original teak timbers were stripped back and restored.
New vinyl headlining was glued in place and the full re-assembly began.
Three coats of Goldspar interior satin varnish was applied to all timbers.
Here Carlos our cat is seen 'lending a hand'.
And here is the finished result.
All we need now is the baby....
It was good to reach the stage where something new was ready to be fixed on. Painted plywood had previously surrounded the portlights. This was now replaced with more durable laminex as demonstrated below.
Julian re-sealed the portlight areas using epoxy and silicon.
Meanwhile the original bronze portlight frames were polished, taking them from green to gold as shown here.
Original teak timbers were stripped back and restored.
New vinyl headlining was glued in place and the full re-assembly began.
Three coats of Goldspar interior satin varnish was applied to all timbers.
Here Carlos our cat is seen 'lending a hand'.
And here is the finished result.
All we need now is the baby....
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