Adam F

Another vote for Malcolm Elvey... Although he is a busy man. Pretty good at calling you back.

Just spend a rather enjoyable few hours wriggling around under the deck giving it all a new coat of flow coat. Firstly to freshen up the old stuff and secondly to match the rest of the boat. Looks ace. The saving grace that enabled me to work on into dark has been this little puppy: http://www.myfloodit.com/pro6/4582193517 I picked one up from work this afternoon as they are new in... Awesome bit of kit and I would recommend them to any diy or tradesmen amount us. So an LED flood light but powered by a lithium battery which holds a 4 hour charge. Can be charged by 240v or 12v ciggie socker. Fully adjustable, magnetic feet etc, and being led it's pretty bomb proof! Got some help tomorrow from Pete, so expect the interior trim and stainless to take a leap forward.....

I've taught rob, so let him have a whirl. I'm sure you understand Tony, but this isn't a priority job at the moment, I'm just pushing flat out to get her launched again.

Cut out the apertures for the hatches that will go in the wheelhouse bunk tonight. This needs to be done before the lining trim goes in. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After all the good progress this past few weeks, have had to take a few steps back this weekend. What started as a quick job, touching up the flowcoat in the battery locker, ended up in a full blown project and a weekends work. The Mikuni heating system had been installed dangerously wrong... Cable ties holding it to the wrongly drilled brackets, a cable tie holding the diesel feed in place, duct tape sealing the hot air ducts..... So the whole lot has come out for an overhaul and proper refit. Next the locker was reglassed to provide extra strength for the battery shelf. Finally it was all flow coated to give it a new uniform finish. Finally I tackled one of the dog jobs I've been putting off. Since we got her the engine room has leaked. This is a major PITA, and not good to have £20k of engine sat in a damp saline environment. The original engine box had wide flanges that had been bonded and screed to the deck. Problem was that over time the bond had let go causing any deck water to enter the engine room. Today I ground off the flanges, and reglassed using 3 layers of 600gsm mat followed by flow coating over the top. It looks 100% better and with a 300mm upstand we could take a ton or so of water in the cockpit without issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another small step forward tonight. Got the dash console trimmed in grey vinyl tonight. Really pleased with the result. Thanks Hooky for the tip to go to Gerry at Southern Sails... Didn't work out with cut n cover[emoji22] but he was great today and now doing the upholstery. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seat porn.... A very, expensive seat... But very comfy! The new Kab 554 with integrated 12v air suspension. Plush.

It was like boys in a toy shop today! Gone are the days of dust, resin and grp.... We are now into fitting electronics and the mechanics. So basically got all this measured and cut in today ready for the wiring and connections to run into it all. I've placed the last few big orders, so a huge box of wiring bits will be here in a few days, I'm picking up the uber luxurious Kab air suspension seat from Kent tomorrow. Also got the deck mounted touch screen in today, really pleased with how that looks.

Amazing that some seemingly small jobs take a huge amount of time. Today I fitted the main navigation console, took ages fiddling around getting it flush, then templating the Garmin unit and making sure they both sat square. The multi tools was invaluable in cutting the apertures, it avoids scratching the laminate that you would get with a jigsaw and enables you to cut a square hole.... Anyway, this is now done and just needs trimming in vinyl before it can be bonded and screwed down. Another step forward!

Thanks Mark, not bad for a pen pusher!

Wow! What a treat today to spend a day working on the boat but not be covered in resin and grp! I've got the kids this weekend as Rach is away so spending too much time on the boat is tricky but today I've been running the first few hydraulic lines and electric cables. I've also been fabricating a bracket to rear mount the front mount hydraulic steering pump. With a new purpose made rear mount pump at circa £300, it was worth a few hours fabricating a timber template that will later be made from stainless. It works great and means much more space behind the wheel. I've also started to work out the positioning of the multitude of controls. The main switch panel has 30 switches and that doesn't include the wipers, heating etc....

Indebted to Rob once again for his hard work on JV again today. I was on daddy day care, and working from home duties as Rach is away, but rob worked like a Trojan again. Jv is now fully flow coated, i fitted the toilet door frame, and whilst I was out this afternoon, rob ground out the old roof, cleaned down and re flow coated it in grey. So that's it, a move tomorrow onto fitting electronics and running wiring, fitting the new fuel system, heating system to be installed, hob, oven and water system to go in, new stainless to be fitted, headlining panels to be made, side lining to be fitted, wiper system to go in, and a hundred other jobs. Getting there but a long way to go!

MILESTONE! Tonight saw the last piece of grp completed, so now all the fibreglassing in the wheelhouse is done. I'm really pleased with the current progress. It feels rock solid - all the work has 3 forms of fitting, bonded with sika flex, screwed or bolted and then glassed into place. This lovely warm weather has been glorious but has caused two issues. The first is that the resin now 'kicks' so much fast so working times are limited, the plus side is that the pace of work is quicker as I'm not waiting for pieces to dry. The second issue is that working on the boat on a still, warm sunny day makes me yearn to launch her again and get out fishing!

Many of you will have been looking at the recent updates and thinking 'he's nearly there...) well whilst it looks that way, all of the internal works have only been tacked into place whilst I finish the veneers and structural work. This week I've taken the whole lot apart and started to glass the whole lot back into the boat. It's not a job I've been relishing as it involves working in awkward confined spaces with grp, but it's the last hump before it gets flow coated and then the electrical install can begin. Rob came over Thurs, and after a few demos and a bit of teaching as he hadn't worked with grp before, we cracked on as a pair. Wow, what a difference it makes having 2. One was cutting, mixing and wetting out the mat, the other was rolling and consolidating. We managed the get the port side bunk / locker fully done, the forward bunk and the dash. We then ran out (again of resin) so moved on and got the toilet flow coated. On Sat, I fabricated the plinth for the toilet. This was made from foam with a ply top to take the screws and then glassed into place. I then started the final leg of glassing and have moved onto glassing the starboard side in. Another few hours today and that will be done, ready for flow coating next week. Next weekend should see the end of smelly grp and the start of cables! The end is in sight.....

Do we have anyone in the club, or does anyone have a contact for a fitter locally to fit contract safety flooring? Thanks

Lots of work today, but photos don't show much, so there aren't any. Have progressed the heads nicely. This morning I got the sections bonded and screwed into place, this afternoon, I got it all glassed in, ready for Rob to flow coat it on Thurs. I can then fit the toilet, and the frame and door and that is that done.

No update for the last week. A weeks holiday, and well deserved! However back today and found time for an hour or so to remove the pig ugly roof rails from the wheelhouse roof. This however came with a last minute bonus as I've managed to adjust these to become the new engine box rails. Amazing how ugly these looks in their original format and how a poor designed bit of kit can make a boat look so bad. The new rails being made by Pete, are low profile and will follow the wheelhouse contours. Original rails

He will be welcome at mine in a few weeks once the D4 has got power back to it again. Trim still needs sorting, and it needs a service and a general overhaul. I'm stacked out with other jobs as you know.....

Cut N Cover are doing the cushions and upholstery. Last time I did it all myself and it was another huge amount of work, this time it will be nice to hand the whole job over and get tem back professionally done. Wayne is coming over a week thurs to template up. Another job ticked off the list.

Already considered that Dave. I have a roll of frosting film here ready to go, but it will be one of the last jobs as it needs to go on a 100% clean surface. The boat is somewhat dusty at the moment! Off on holiday now for a week. I think I've earnt it! And very much looking forward to it....

Chris, I'll take the speakers. I think they should fit the holes I have. Any chance of giving me the aperture sizes?

Thanks all!

I finished all of the veneers today, constructed the fillets and additional supports for the wheelhouse bench seat, bonded in the deck hatch frames and bonded and screwed down the starboard carcassing. One of those days where lots of work doesn't show much, but it's now all ready for glassing in, and flow coating... Then it's done! Looking ahead I think another 2 full days work and I'll be finished and ready to start the electrical install. Aiming for end of May..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk