Much anticipation with our ceiling panels. All the prep work is done. Panels are arriving slowly. Very happy with the shape and colour so far. If they all fit like the ones we have fitted so far, they will look great. Really ‘finish’ the boat. We are using the Fastmount system to fix them. Means… Read More »
The list does go on and on, but we do feel like we are making progress … even experiencing our first (I’m sure not last) leak! We have added trims around all the cupboard door openings now, along with latch blocks & hinges & doors. Lots of sticky white fingers, and hair, and fingernails with… Read More »
How good is this??!!
Our first piece of flooring … port hull … teak and ash.
It has been “go” here since Christmas. With a few quiet weeks of work, our plan has been to get as much done as possible. Always tricky to juggle the Xmas social commitments with boat building, and the hot weather, but we are finally feeling like we are making progress. We have been filling and… Read More »
I suppose when you get to the stage of seriously writing ‘lists’ it’s a good sign. We have a very long list of jobs to do before other jobs and it can be quite overwhelming having sooo many things to do. So working out where to start … hmmm!! So, after we both realised we… Read More »
Cupboard doors being installed throughout boat as we speak and upholstery being installed tomorrow morning … these are the exciting parts!!
At last! The things you talk about for months, plan forever and research all night, finally come together! It’s when you see the finishing touches that you really see progress. With holidays upon us, we have a mad scramble to get things ordered, picked up and organised so we have work to go on with… Read More »
So exciting … benchtops installed today, finishing happening Wednesday. Upholstery started today and cupboard doors & catches being fitted this week too. Can’t wait for Friday’s pics!!
Wiring and ceiling panels have dominated the last month. Longer days have meant even more aching muscles but so much more getting done with daylight saving here now. Our ceiling panels are going to look great but wonky ply has caused some grief with panels changing shape almost daily depending on the weather conditions. They… Read More »
Our blog is usually followed by those interested in boats but we recently received an email from Joe who came across us while searching bossa nova music on the web. Thanks Joe for your email! … and we have added a link to you playing the ‘The Girl From Ipanema’! (See “You Tube – Girl… Read More »
Playing with my new toy on our big toy … now you can really see the mess … and how spacious the Fusion 40 really is!!
Sometimes you work on the boat for days and seem to see little progress. Fortunately the last 10 days or so have NOT been like that! We seem to have kicked lots of goals with a second motor dropped in and hooked up, the ceiling lining ply well under way, and the shiny stainless pullpits… Read More »
Our stainless steel rails have arrived. Trial fitting complete, ready to bolt on.
So much to wire up, so little time … I have just spent the weekend roughing in most (not all) of the wiring for the fourteen pumps, six tank senders, fifty odd light fittings and numerous other items such as the anchor winch that arrived this week. Even that included the need for heavy cable… Read More »
It’s full on now. Every spare hour of every spare day. If we want to make January our launch month, it’s full steam ahead. Our outside fairing is very close, our upholstery all confirmed and ordered, bench tops measured with templates completed ready for our cabinet man, galley carcasses in with doors being sprayed as… Read More »
There is a standard routine in our house when Multihull World arrives. Amanda leaves it on the kitchen bench and once I get my nose in it she gets no sense out of me for an hour or two. ( I always have to read the best bits twice!) This month was different. I tried… Read More »
I suppose the second toilet was never going to be quite so exciting and was a challenge to bolt down as we couldn’t reach the locking gadgets but in the end we fabricated some alternative fiberglass brackets which are out of sight and working well? The hardest part about fitting the main fridge was probably… Read More »
Perhaps it may be difficult to imagine anyone getting so excited about our first flushing toilet on Bossa Nova but it is also hard to imagine how much work went into getting it fitted and making it work, suffice to say the first working action of this Raritan unit was special and we are ‘flushed”… Read More »
The devil IS in the detail. Our fairer is working on the cockpit now, with the transom main sheet track ledge completed and the side alcoves on the way. Cockpit under-roof next week. It’s the inside that it’s all happening. The two electric windows are installed with two actuators on each now. Much stronger we… Read More »
Just got back from the Sydney Boat Show. The usual list of things to see, measure and price. This is (hopefully) the last of the big shows before we launch so we thought it was an opportunity to check some details and look for a few things we hadn’t made decisions on … and two… Read More »
Installed the freezer unit yesterday (not plumbed in yet) … a big shiney bit! We have a separate freezer in the starboard hull for long distance cruising with a fridge/freezer in the galley for everyday use.
Fitted the two electric windows yesterday. Designed these with the companion-way door frame. All aluminium with white powder-coated surface. Had them for ages so very exciting to finally start fitting them. And they are electric!
We reached a milestone today with all interior fiberglass work completed … Whew!! A big few days from our fairing man Mick with Amanda taping and masking ahead of him to keep him on track. This afternoon she finally put the green tape away, removed the last of the brown paper to the bin and… Read More »
What’s this got to do with boat building??? Heard today that we are celebrating 50 years of the Rolling Stones. So I thought I’d mark the occasion by mentioning a great album I bought a few months back called Bossa N’ Stones. A collection of great renditions of Stones classics in bossa nova style! Smooth and… Read More »
While the weather has been COLD we have kept at it … with the latest ETL (estimated time of launch) being January, the “heat is on!” Jumping out of bed early morning hasn’t been that easy but once inside the boat with the heater on it has been rather cosy. We’ve been having 2 degree nights… Read More »
It’s so bloody cold here in Melbourne. My football team is losing so I now have weekends “free” ??!! Why not speed things along on the boat building front. Neville and I have just finished 4 days straight and feel like we may have turned the corner. Acetone bottle and rag in one hand and… Read More »
I think I mentioned in a previous post that “finished” was a big word. Well, the wine rack is finished! 25 bottles of storage. See pics. Until all the spraying & polishing is finished, we fit, then put away so the brown paper hasn’t been peeled of the rack sections. It’s actually been made out… Read More »
We are still fairing inside. Keeping in mind our man Mick only works 2 or 3 days a week, the inside is nearly (there’s that word again) there. More importantly, Mick is doing a fantastic job. He gets such a shine and there’s no sign of the joins. This is a specialist job and he… Read More »
You may be wondering where we’ve gone but we’re still here! The devil, as they say is in the detail. The wine rack is finally cut out in black perspex and ready to fit just as soon as the dust stops (you’ll have to wait that pic). Our ‘glove box’ style cubby holes under the… Read More »
Action everywhere today. Cabinet-maker here to fine tune the measurements, Mick our ‘fairer’ here, and Wayne our window man here. Love it!! Windows are completely in (look great) with the black Simsons completed as well … shmick!! Gilbert our cabinet man, here as well. Bathroom benches made, trimmed and completed,and our ‘cubby-hole’ features trimmed &… Read More »
“Nearly” is a BIG word in boat building. “Finished” is a BIGGER word in boat building! Lots of jobs are “nearly” finished, including our windows. They are a bugger to fit. Placing them, wanting the same gaps between & deep, all rather tricky. As is applying the black Simsons with caulking between. All front windows… Read More »
Easter has arrived. The pictures tell the story, as they often do. We have finally fitted the link to the linear drive motor for the autopilot thanks to my brother John, who built a new one because the Lewmar part was too fat and wouldn’t fit. You can also see the rudder reference gadget which… Read More »
Sunny day, cold weather approaching, time for the windows to go in. We started last week preparing the fibreglass, with four ready, we started on the glass today.
It’s a beautiful day here … 25 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, no breeze, just sunshine. Some days the weather can reflect the mood. Today, we feel we are making progress and the sun is shining. Mick, our fabulous ‘fairer’, our fibreglass master, has added some shine to the bogged and gelcoated white. … Read More »
Jobs done … helm pilot hatch, bathroom ceiling, rudder reference control in port engine locker, gas bottle shelf/locker, galley furniture, rear beam join in back locker, dinghy davits, auto-pilot cabling, second engine bilge pump … Is he going crazzzzyyyy???? See pic number 8!!
Our internal door frames have arrived! Anodized aluminium complete with trim rings which we hope will look really classy! They should be a lot less work also but there will be a tedious bit of fibreglass adjustment required. Most of the bulkheads are now trimmed out but some of the adjoining furniture needs to be… Read More »
There’s so many confined spaces on a boat. Squeezing in to the cockpit stern seats to complete the fibreglass and then flow-coat, accessing the tall cupboards with only one arm fitting through the opening to flow-coat while trying not to paint the rubber hoses and then watching Neville build the gas bottle shelf in the… Read More »
February 24, 2012 Just noticed I saved this page way back in October last year and never posted it (see below). Easter completion date … I don’t think so! We are hoping for September/October now. No way we’ll be ready before winter and it will be too wet during winter to move our boat out… Read More »
Sunday is clean-up day, the cockpit the target. With acetone, a new yellow gunk (can’t remember its name) and even a toothbrush, Amanda washed, scrubbed, re-scrubbed and used her toothbrush to restore the whiteness to our very messy cockpit. I remember when we bought our Seawind noticing a toothbrush with the cleaning implements … I… Read More »
Still working on the fairing of the outside of our boat, inside will come next. While Mick, our fairer, continues to bog, sand & polish, Neville has been working on the conversion of the cockpit locker to an icebox. Mick will add the finishing fibreglass, then Neville will add some insulation. This is a ‘work… Read More »
Dry weather, mild temperatures, it’s fairing time. We’ve finally found someone to fair our boat. Mick is working on the outside while the weather is fine. Lots (and lots) of bogging and then sanding, with spraying starting today. We’ve also started adding the two underfloor ribs. One on today, prep done for the other. Not… Read More »
Cabinet-maker and upholsterer coming soon to measure up. Can’t wait!!
More fibreglassing of shelves and saloon couch, batons in the ceiling of the bathroom ready for the ceiling, fitting of a bilge pump to the port hull, pre-plumbing of two toilets, galley bench, laying up of small sections of our existing moulds to use as trim here and there …. the list goes on!
After MUCH research we decided on Raritan toilets. Our first one has arrived and fits perfectly in the two spaces we have. We visited the Sydney Boat Show with a paper template of the two spaces we had hoping to make a final decision. Number one, it had to fit both spaces (we did not… Read More »
Noticed our last post was dated 28/11/11, just on one month ago. It has been a slow month for boat building as real work has got in the way in December. Our work is always busy in December so totally expected AND we do have to pay for this boat! Still lots of conversations, planning… Read More »
The last few weeks have been all about getting all the inside ‘shiny-sheet’ bits and pieces completed, particularly around the doorways. We’ve cut out the internal doorways now and measured for our aluminium trims. We are using the same company who have made our external doorway and windows. The external door & windows are powder… Read More »
You would be forgiven for thinking I am in costume! Unfortunately this is a costume that every fibreglass boat builder wears from time to time. It’s also the one that doesn’t appear in the article telling you what a fabulous experience building your own boat is! Never mind, it was taken just after I trimmed… Read More »