In the beginning of this great adventure I decided to start this blog so that my family and friends could follow along. I had no idea of how often I would do it and if anyone would actually look at it. One of my (supposed) friends thought that I might get to maybe 4 posts and then give up. Jason was wrong.

It wasn’t long before I started getting followers that I didn’t know. I put a link to my blog on a website for Sea Ray owners and immediately started getting feedback. All of it was positive and very much appreciated (FYI I am happy to report that I am still speaking to all of my brothers this far into the renovation). It is interesting to see how many visitors I have from different countries as well. It’s not like I am going to become some world famous blogger but I think it’s fun when I see that someone from Sweden or China or Australia has taken the time to read a post.

I have had several comments from boat owners in the US and always like to hear from them. I have been very aware during this process that I do have some American followers and have often wondered if they thought that I was constantly misspelling the words colour, neighbour, favourite, and centre.

I’m not!

I know the whole world is facing something that we haven’t experienced in a long time but, since I have always lived in close proximity to the States, I am so much more aware of what is happening there right now. My sister in law (Erin) is a nurse and works in an ICU in Mississauga (near Toronto) so we know what heath care workers are facing. I can’t even imagine the stress on people on the front lines in New York and California (anywhere for that matter). Let’s hope that everyone will do what they are supposed to do in order to protect themselves and others so that we can actually have a summer to enjoy out doors on the water.

My business partner and I made the decision on Friday to close our business for 3 weeks so that the people we work with can stay with their families and feel safer. Personally I think it will be a lot longer but I hope I am wrong.

I will of course be taking this time to work on the boat and Donald will still be there as well. We are making sure that we aren’t working in the same area (he will be in the shop a lot and I won’t be).

It’s all about keeping a safe distance. Even though we are both feeling healthy we don’t want to take a chance.

We are making sure we keep our distance and are always washing our hands.

This is our newest favourite tool…

Now back to the reason for this blog…

A couple of weeks ago we started working on the centre rail (see our “centre” is different from your “center”) for the stairs to the lower salon. We want to have open stairs and so are getting a local metal fabricator (Weber’s Fabricating) to make them.

Here Donny is fitting the shape of the centre rail. This will ultimately have steps welded to it that we will then cover with Ipe. The plan is to have it polished.

After taking it back to his shop he welded on the sides and a temporary top plate. This weekend we fitted it again and I added cardboard to show how I wanted the bottom to be finished off. The issue with curving a square tube is that it starts to twist as it gets to the bottom.

Another trip back to Weber’s now for the next phase.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the glass for the windshields and brought them to get tinted.

I should be able to pick up the frames tomorrow. We are really hoping that we will be able to have the windshields installed within the next 3 weeks. Once that is done we can get the old bimini put on and start more of the exterior work. We are waiting for 3 of the hatches to come in.

Donald did more work in the mid-berth this weekend. He cut out an access panel above the air conditioner and I installed the 2 reading lights.

Donald continued working on the helm and got it to the final shape that we wanted.

Once he is done and has given it the final sanding I will put on the first coat of resin to start the glassing process. Hopefully the 30+ videos I watched on Youtube will come in handy.

The fixed frame for the sliding door came in on Friday and we installed it. It has been anodized now but that will ultimately be covered with mirrored stainless trim. The door will be here tomorrow so, hopefully by next weekend, we will have a lockable door.

The glass that will be in these frames will have a slight frosting to allow light through. The original ones were tinted and too dark.

This is what it used to look like.

That seemed like it was so long ago.

Since this is basically a journal of the progress of this renovation I figured I would include photos of different angles taken today. Sort of summing up the work done so far.

Starting in the v-berth.

And the vestibule entrance to the v-berth. Nothing much as changed in here for a while.

You’ve already seen the mid-berth in this post so here is the main salon and galley.

As much as we are still hoping to get this boat done by the time we deliver it to the marina we will also just be very happy to be able to use it this summer. It really is amazing how easily your priorities can change.

Our electrician is almost done now but he will need to spend a few days hooking up the panel and wiring the back of the helm after we are done in these areas. This is the reason why we hired a professional to take care of it. The wiring to the outlets have to be done a lot differently than they are in a house. Heat shrink wrap on the wires and, because of the wire strands, we just can’t wrap them around the screw terminals. There are more ways to ensure boat safety than just the way you operate it.

The next 3 weeks will see a lot of finishing up of the interior so we can move on the exterior.

I hope everybody is well and continues to stay this way.