Day 359

Over these days off, it feels like we're getting nothing done (the way it always seems !) but the pictures tell the story in their own subtle way. Gena has made very good progress in the galley, with the stove/oven area fitted and shelving planned. The counter seems to be out far enough to be usable without pushing ones head into the cabin side. It could stick out more but hey, we could have a larger boat!

The vertical dividers were battened in to the hull and cut, then screwed and glued in place. It's a good idea to glue everything (we use PL400) so that wood can't creak from weight shift, which is very annoying. -Unless you like that creaking sound.

Some of the hard to reach areas must be used as everyone who is out there cruising already seems to mention lack of space for foodstuffs and/or cooking related items. Gena split the deep aft edge with a shelf to perhaps facilitate our actually using these areas on a regular basis.
Any shelving must be faced by about an inch to prevent things from sliding off onto the floor when the door is opened. This is pretty important as we experienced the problem in out little 21' sailboat. Healing in the wind creates all sorts of considerations, some that can be downright dangerous if ignored!

	Before I went on with my little projects, Gena requested I make the cuts on the little wall we have decided on in the forward end of the galley. (left) Made from 3/4" plywood, it will be rigid enough to attach a hand-hold, plus will be a safe place to momentarily place large items on the counter, such as pots of hot soup, or anything else we don't want on the floor. Being the cook more often at home, I can see the advantages of this. I have penciled in a sloppy projection of how the shape will be capped with solid oak. Better get the drum cymbal out again ha ha!
	Carefully positioning the 12 volt deep freezer inside the island counter was accomplished as well today. The original hinges were removed as they won't work at all here, as was the latch. It needed to be oriented so the compressor is in an open and ventilated area, and risen to the height of the counter top.
My big idea ( hopefully it stays in the plans ) is to complete the top height by gluing the thickness of the countertop (3/4") to the lid, then attaching a breadboard that will overlap the counter all around. This way there are no seams to worry about.

Seat top enclosure

Below is a view if the side seat forward and a stick marking the close edge of the mast. Notice my "pretty" vent installed at the bottom.

Mast center next to forward seat

I began the seat enclosure at a height of 30" above the seat base. This is the equivalent of a high back lounge chair, and should be comfortable. The cushions will be encased well. but need to be angled out on the bottom. The "search for foam" continued this week as it has become a very difficult thing to find. We can order some in that is 1.5 lb or 2 lb. but we don't even know what those numbers mean, or any way of finding a point of reference.
We need to feel the stuff, and it seems nobody knows of anything beyond mattress "toppers" which are very light and thin. After all the confusion, we may have found a source, a local mattress store that has encased foam mattresses that are about 5" thick. We went down and checked it out, seems firm enough. Expensive though.

We will, of course need to butcher the thing to get the foam out, but desperate times lead to desperate measures!

Below, I managed to get a tidbit more done on the bookshelf over the forward berth. The back must be moved up as it is far too deep for any books to live in. Love those spindles!

Day 359:
9+ hours: put on galley verticals, and some more shelving, bookshelf, and seat tops.