Day 373

As a continuation from day 371, I had the pleasure of returning to the under deck cupboards in the galley. The faces were of course getting ever wider towards the bow. I think this is a good option as trying to make each roll-up door larger than the one before it would have been a real challenge of perspective illusionism! The only "my bad" was that the larger face unfortunately ended up being less dark than the long one aft. The fact that lighter objects always appear larger, as well as long objects appear thinner than short ones, conspired to make the "apparent size" difference appear to be much larger than the 1 1/2" it is.

This may be a good lesson for anyone reading this that may be planning to do a similar thing. It's more noticeable in the photo than in real life for some reason. (excuses!) Each face has a nice little soft edged board along the ply ends overlapped to stay with the theme.
		The microwave is on it's little brackets now Gena has run the large power cables to it. We may add another bracket to further stabilize it by putting a screw or two in the case. Just need to be careful where! Once all of that stuff was finished I was kicked off of the floor, literally because the floor disappeared so Gena could access beneath it.
		I decided while marooned up front that I should mount the large drawer under my desk (as promised) with ball bearing drawer slides. Notice how the face is hinged? This is so I can play keyboards without actually opening the drawer (I don't need to see the keys anymore). Such a large drawer needs to have a locking mechanism on it though. At work a cut up 2 strips of thick Plexiglas and cut hooked teeth in every inch. This way it could be locked at varying open positions. After having finished the elaborate latching handle for it, I realized a standard hatch adjuster would work just as well and, frankly, looks much nicer!
		Into the junk pile it went along with all of the time it took.... *One of two hatch slides hold drawer well!* Next project was to route out the doors for the lockers over the forward berth. The photo (left) shows them in all their stain-coated glory. For some reason, this oak is being stubborn for stain. It may have been in oil or something before we bought it. Another coat will need to be applied.
One thing I have noticed is it's better to wipe the stain coat down with a "dry" brush to draw off any excess stain droplets that may accumulate around corners and edges. It's easier to do right away than with sand paper after. The urethane tends to be soft for a long time so sanding blobs makes a mess.


Because these doors flip down, a small catch cable will stop them from going down past 90º. This was a tip provided by a fellow builder we found somewhere on the internet: "Why commercially built boats have flip-up doors on the lockers still eludes me to this day! They are a constant head banging experience, as well as a 'flip down on fingers' experience while in rough seas. That is why we have installed them the other way around, away from the head and making a convenient little table to set things on while digging deep through the contents to find a flashlight or a pair of gloves." Something like that anyway, as we can't remember who said it where.

Day 373:
12 hours - Ran in cable for windlass, lights in sail locker etc. and more cables to main panel. Put together faces for under deck galley cupboards, routed 4 locker doors and mounted. Mounted my large desk drawer.


So much wiring is going up the mast there needs to be a junction box! Well, I suppose it isn't a lot: Mast light, Nav lights, possible spreader lights, and a "mast-cam". Coaxial cables for VHF/WeSat and Cam must also be present. Plugs must join in there so it's best to use a sealable box.