Our First Overnight on the Hook

With our lovely early spring weather and no big projects in the works, we decided to do our first overnight at anchor. We headed up to one of our favorite spots on the Bay, China Camp. Its about 2 hours north of our harbor (at our slow and steady pace), and has a nice wide open anchorage- perfect for testing our anchoring gear for the first time. Everything worked great. The Rocna bit hard as soon as it hit the bottom, and the hydraulic winch had no problem pulling everything up the next morning. The Rocna anchor is about 120lbs and we have 300 ft of 3/8 high strength chain to play with, so we should be able to sleep well on the hook under most circumstances. Here's some pics, and a video which illustrates why we like this anchorage so much (when the weather is right).

Finishing Wheelhouse Steps to Aft Deck

Here's some pics of the final assembly of the wheelhouse steps, using the same planking as the interior decks. These steps lead up to the aft deck. Each tread is hinged and lifts up to access storage underneath. I think this will be the last of the deck planking on the boat so I can pack up the left over wood flooring and put it in storage. Another little project checked off the list. The first pic is of some an early morning Herring run around our harbor and the birds that follow the fish for breakfast.

Wheelhouse steps to aft deck, and bench storage access hatches

Couple of carpentry projects this last weekend... First up was removing the temporary steps leading from the wheelhouse to the aft deck and starting construction of some proper stairs. These steps will have hinged treads that will lift up to access storage for shoes and boots- this will make Sue very happy. The other project was to finish the bench tops in the wheelhouse and dinette with some proper lift out access hatches. This will create access to the storage underneath and allow us to get more stuff properly stowed- this will make me very happy.

Wheelhouse roof drain/rain catchment

This was a little project I've been meaning to finish since it started raining this winter. We designed the drains for the wheelhouse roof to also serve as catchment for rainwater if needed by attaching a hose to the fittings in each corner of the roof. When they aren't being used for catching rainwater, a small section of hose connects these fittings to the vertical handrails on each side of the wheelhouse, which serve as downspouts to divert the water to the scuppers under the steps to the aft deck. The pictures probably make more sense than my description...

Aft Cabin Carpet Underlay

Here's some pics of last weekends project. We cut and installed all the underlay for the aft cabin carpet. We used the same high density recycled rubber mass layer that we used in the wheelhouse to dampen engine noise. In the aft cabin, I am hoping this helps to dampen the noise from the running gear and propeller that is directly underneath this space. It's about 1/2" thick, weighs 2 lbs per square foot, and glues directly to the plywood subfloor. It has already made a significant improvement in the reflected sound in the cabin and it is a noticeably more "dead" space now. Templates were again the key to getting a proper fit up the first time around. It would be very difficult to get a good fit-up of such an odd shaped space with standard roll carpet, so we are going to use commercial carpet tiles with a waterproof backing. These can be cut to shape easily (I hope) and glued down directly to the rubber underlayment. Another plus is that, with a little persuasion, we should be able to be pull up and replace individual tiles if needed. I've never worked with commercial carpet tile before, so another learning curve is on the immediate horizon. After lots of searching, we finally found an affordable area rug that we like for the forward sitting area. It looks a little green in these pictures, but it has some nice toines in it that compliment the woodwork. Like The Dude said in The Big Lebowski: "It really tied the room together".