More painting

Another early trip to B&Q to pick up more undercoat.


I then spent about two and a half hours completing the ceiling and giving the port side tongue and groove panels a second coat. While I was doing this, Mick completed the wiring that goes behind the panels.


Then, much to my surprise, Graham Reeves turned up with a missing part so I chatted to him for a while and asked him to pose for a photo next to Skylark and Mick - something he is asked to do with every boat he makes I guess. He's the one holding the official looking folder with loads of signed cheques - no wonder he's smiling. Mick is the one looking at the old dog trying to get its head into the photo. They could be brothers.

A few snaps of the wiring follows, just to prove its there. Each wire has been labeled so that Mick, I and anyone who follows is able to identify which wire serves what piece of equipment. Without this simple approach, I think it would cause even the most expert Sparky to pull his hair out. By the way, some nice close ups of the insulation, eh? Bugs in rugs spring to mind.

The photo below shows the stage we reached today with most of the T&G in place, waiting for the ply panels to be glued and nailed to the remaining battons. The port side (to the right of this photo) will take the corridor running pretty much the whole lenghth of the boat and the darker panels on the starboard side are where the kitchen, dining room, bathroom and main bedroom will be. Once the rooms are laid out, the walls will be panelled.

The side hatch (on the left) will be just inside the cabin with a breakfast bar under it extended from the sink, drainer and worktops. The plan is to have this projecting from the worktops without a corner post or cupboards underneath so that a couple of bar stools can be slid underneath when they are not needed. It should be good to have this fairly informal seating area in the cabin directly next to the hatch, which can be left open or closed depending on the weather. The more formal dining area is between the kitchen and bathroom. The plan here is to use this space flexibly for eating, drinking, study, play and even sleeping if guests want to stay. By not having a fixed dinnette, we aim to create a more flexible space but if a future owner feels the need to have a dinette that converts into a bedroom, that option will still be avaiable to them.

The dark green exterior paint has arrived along with the yellow for the coach lines. We now have to decide on the colour for the name panel at the back (dark red I think) and the roof (maybe grey or red oxide).

The April launch date is looking like a real possibility.

More painting next week once I get the feeling back in my arms.