Enclosure pictures; additional projects begin

I went to Charleston yesterday and picked up Ms Bettencourt at the canvas shop. I am very happy with the new enclosure. The pilot house area seems more like a room and much less like a tent.

This outside shot (below) shows how little canvas was involved in this "canvas job." I chose black screen material because I think it provides more privacy. The vertical fabric strips at the aft corners cover the panel zippers. The leading edges of these vertical strips are sewn and the trailing edges fasten with velcro. The blue material is heavy duty Sunbrella fabic. The fasteners are turn buttons on the forward edges and across the top of the aft cabin and snaps along the bottom edges.

The top edges of the three panels ride in aluminum tracks, which makes panel removal just a quick zip process.

If you look at the first picture again, you will see that the U-zippers for the clear vinyl are unusually long. The clear on each side  rolls up leaving the panel screen only. Alternatively, the whole panel will roll up and snap providing unobstructed access to and from the pilot house cabin.

Since I don't plan to be climbing in and out the back, I had the rear panel clear zipper installed so the clear rolls down. It is hard to see, but the clear is rolled down in the picture below.

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The boat is now back under the shed at the Augusta Ports Authority. I gave her a good exterior scrub down this morning and installed a heavier duty trailer winch, which my friend Major provided. I also double-checked the the propeller nuts for tightness and installed a new cotter pin in the end of the shaft. All the running gear seems OK.

I have started building a mount and doing some re-wiring in the pilot house so I can move the VHF radio from under the dash to an overhead location above the steering wheel. Other jobs I hope to finish in the next week include:

• Install and connect the VHF antenna
• Three coats of sealer on the teak swim and anchor platforms
• New teak grab rails inside the pilot house
• Re-install the windshield wiper motor
• Paint touch up and
• Interior cleaning

It is my hope that Ms. Bettencourt will be back in the river at my dock very soon.