Lately most of our evenings consist of sitting around out little teak table, drinking hot tea, and dreaming up the design for Me Voy's galley. This area really got hit hard by the various leaks that were left unattended by the previous owner, and now that we have finished the replacement of the hull planking, the time has come to have some fun!
This is my favorite phase of any project; the design of the space and the picking out of the materials.
We are changing things up a bit from the original design, combining what was the aft stateroom with the galley, into a larger galley space and a small workshop. We figure with two berths and five possible sleeping places already, a workshop space will be more useful. After all we have to have some place to keep our collection of Epoxy resins!
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After nearly four years of boat restoration we have a West System epoxy for any occasion |
But it hasn't been all talk either. Travis, after years
of working on other peoples boats, has turned to working on our boats full time. We figure the most important thing right now is to get our boats into a state of "finishiness". We both realize that neither of these boats will actually ever be finished, as there is always something to make better. But a state of finishiness is totally within reach and even seems likely with Travis Ahsum on our side. I know I'm biased, but seeing T's work I am amazed with the quality and speed with which he makes things happen. Looking at the big picture, or the previously mentioned elephant, this project gets overwhelming, but when I see all these small things getting chewed at I can see this whole thing coming together soon.
However none of this was really the point of this post. What I really wanted to remember, was sitting here, with incense wafting, tea steaming, Chopper sleeping with his bone but alertly keeping an eye on everyone and Billy... dragging his soaking tail in the salon!? WTF? It seems Billy went for an evening swim in the frigid water. How this happened will remain his secret. We heard nothing and saw nothing except for the poor disgraced cat coming down into the salon with a walk that reminded me of a old man disgusted with the world around him. He seemed to take it in stride as I wrung him out in a towel, and Chopper licked his ears. The whole scene was a bit surreal, and if it wasn't for the wet towel, that now smells of cat, hanging over the stair railing, I swear the whole thing was a bizarre dream. Its a wonder these animals don't run away from home.