1930 Schooner MISTRESS

 June 18, 2005 I shot the following pictures of the interior although Skip was on deck this day working on the caprail.  I am standing at the bottom of the companionway steps looking forward.  On the right, or starboard side you can see the chart table and the seat which will house two of our four AGM 8D batteries.  Just beyond it, Skip has started framing the starboard side galley area where the fridge and freezer will go.  He has also put in the partition that will separate my office and our V berth from the main cabin.  On the port side, the settee is beginning to come into focus.  The back of the settee is the start of the galley port side.  Skip has again used the core material with the Maranti ply on both sides.  This will save a lot of weight considering the extensive interior. The locker in the settee you see here is where the central heat and air will end up going.  Two years later, it is still with us, however, we consider removing it for lack of use and the desire for more food store area, at least when we are ready to do extensive cruising.

The locker with the small opening is where a new 20-gallon water tank will go which we will purchase instead of the ones Skip made housed under the cabin sole.  Outboard there are three, though you can only see two in this photo, lockers that will hold can good storage.  Not yet in place will be three additional lockers behind the seat cushions.  One locker is for Skip's stuff, one for food storage, and one is for the water maker.  At the bottom left hand side of the picture you can see the main mast step.  Between the settee and the head in the background Skip will build a locker.  It will hold his clothes, three shelves outboard for Marlin Spike stuff, extra blocks, and Skip's shorts.  Below and within the locker Skip will build a cedar lined vented laundry hamper.  Within, I am able to store as much as 5 loads of laundry.  I love this feature.  It is so nice not to have a bag or bags of laundry stuffed here and there about MISTRESS.  

In June 2005, Skip begins working on the refrigeration and freezer.  He is a Frigaboat dealer now therefore we are able to get the unit for a fair price.  When it comes to fridges, cruisers have plenty to say with the main topic being power for, and the art of keeping food stores cool.  I have learned that even the best marine fridge systems will not work without proper insulation.  Many times, I have talked with people who ordered a production boat and when looking at options, will order one of the best fridge systems available thinking that this alone will keep them worry free.  Unfortunately, although a good refrigeration system is ordered, the builder may not put the manufacturer’s recommended amount of insulation.  In general, four to five inches of insulation is required, top, bottom, and on all four sides.  Many times, the top is shortchanged subsequently causing the unit not to work efficiently.  Of course, it is true that the more insulation you use, the less space you get for your cold stores, but that’s boat building. 

This is what Skip did for MISTRESS.  This picture is showing 1 & ½” foam sitting on top of the frames thereby giving a 2” air gap between the refrigeration and the hull.  It also made the inside even with the top of the bilge stringer.  The plywood clamped up in place is the outside of the box.  After that, he built a fiberglass inner liner and covered that with 5” of foam, and 1” of heat shielding insulation.  He then wrapped the whole assembly in Mylar and then drew a vacuum on it to seal it.  I’ll let this go for now and we will return to it at a later date. 

Also in this picture, aft of the fridge there is space between the fridge and the chart table area.  Here, Skip will build a wet locker which the fridge compressor will vent through, and five drawers, which are beautiful. 

On June 25, 2005, I shot the following pictures of Skip as he was working on the cabin house sides.  When I showed Skip these pictures he says, “Yippee, the final layer of the cabin house sides are going on”.  For about two years, Skip had hoped to find one mahogany board, which would be 18” high, 21 feet long, and an inch thick so he could have it milled into two pieces for the cabin house sides.  This would make both book matched and neither side would have a seam.  This is not an easy thing to find.  He brought this to my attention and the next day I did some investigating.  Low and behold, right in St. Augustine I found a mahogany board that was almost perfect.  This one, however, would only be about ¾ of and inch thick.  Skip and good buddy Rick took the board across the state to a gentleman with a mill, within a few minutes; the board was halved, the hard way. 

With E Bond epoxy, Skip attached the boards to the cabin house sides.  The holes you see will be the location of the portholes, however, they were used this day, to put bolts through and then with temporary frames inside and out, he clamped the 3/8^th inch boards to those frames for a good fit. 

The Dynel deck he had lapped up onto the cabin sides before this last layer of mahogany, thereby stopping any water from getting in. 

The aft end of the cabin would come from another board, which was 26” wide.  It is nice to get these three pieces with continuous grain and no seams.  The forward ends of the cabin house sides, has some beautiful swirl in it. 

Originally, MISTRESS had four portholes on either side, two in the front.  Her new design would call for five on either side therefore, after Skip cleaned and restored the original portholes, we would order two more for the forward end of the house. While they are different from the originals, it is hard to tell, especially once the pin rail was made and installed.   The prisms are installed.  Next, Skip will move onto the combings. 

By June 20, 2005, Skip is ready to spend time on the combings.  This picture shows the core material being shaped to the new cockpit combings.  It has been fillet bonded with epoxy then glass taped with bi-axle fiberglass tape to the deck.  That glass in this picture had already been covered by the Dynel.

This picture and the following two pictures where taken in early July and show the combings coming together.  Here you can see the bulkheads forming partitians inside the combings.  It also shows the round solid mahogany block at the forward end. 

In this picture, the ¼” solid mahogany has been applied to all the core material.  You can see the cutout holes for the electronics and the access plates.  The lazarette hatch frame is in.

 This is the last of three photos taken in early July 2005.

It is July 23, 2005, three hundred and sixty-four days until launch day.   This picture shows the inside of the compartments being finished.  There is also solid blocking where winches will some day go and the engine room ventilation has seals inside the combings, which can be closed to make the engine room watertight.  The inside of the combings was painted with Awlgrip. 

Early August 2005 and this picture shows the cap on the combings.  It is one-inch solid, genuine mahogany.  Here, I am sanding with 220 grit getting ready to bleach, stain, and apply Bristol Finish.  You can see here all the plugholes for the fasteners holding the mahogany cap in place.  Plus, glue.

Skip's Baby Grand

I shot this picture on August 23, 2005.  You can see that Skip has already made the engine hatch and the forward hatch.  I’ll tell more about those later, but for now, I wish to talk about the housetop.  Skip built it just like the deck, the first layer, seen here, he varnished everything before it was laid down.  He added a tongue and groove and then laid it down to the sheer line.  He then glued it down with polyurethane adhesive to the beams.

The effect below was immediate and stunning.  Forward, in my office, you are able to see the curve in the wood.  It looks good.  It was nice not to have to varnish it after it was in place.  In this picture, you can see some of the posts Skip turned on a lathe out of butternut.  He really enjoyed doing this.  It had been a long time since he used a lathe. 

This second layer has no tongue and grove but instead each piece butts up to the other, glued down, and laid to the centerline.  The next step, which I do not have a picture of, would be the 3/16th” Maranti Ply.  That layer he laid on the diagonal.  Each layer laid differently would give MISTRESS the strength we were looking for.  This picture was taken on August 24^th. 

The next step, after the Maranti is the Dynel.  Once again, Dynel offers 10-times more abrasive resistance then fiberglass, has the look of traditional canvas, and is easy to work with.  This picture was taken on August 27^th. 

This final picture shows the housetop with the first coat of paint on the Dynel.  I do not seem to have a date for this picture, but Skip says he painted it before the epoxy kicked, therefore, it would have been no later than August 30^th.