Getting it together -- ever so slowly

I am loathe to bore any more holes than necessary in Ms. Bettencourt's now pristine refinished dashboard, but the time has come to re-install the piloting instruments. After a lot of thought, I decided to mount most of the instruments on a leftover mahogany scrap, then screw the wooden mounting board to the dash.

The brackets for the VHF radio, the depth sounder and the Chartplotter have a total of eleven mounting holes. These were drilled in the mahogany billet, then the wood, which is about a half-inch thick, was affixed to the fiberglass dashboard with only three screws through trim washers.

The mahogany used for the base, left over from making a new mast last winter, turned out to have about the right shape to fit the curvature of the flat space under the windshield.

While it's beautiful wood, my wife the design consultant convinced me the plaque would look better painted.

She was right. Here's a photo shot from the inboard end of the now-painted mounting showing the VHF radio in the foreground.












The photo below shows the whole mounted array, shot from the steering position. Everything is visible and reachable.

All the power wires and data cables will feed down to the electrical panel below through a single, neatly grommeted, one inch hole a little forward of the instrument panel.

Notice the compass on the far left. I plan to raise it about an inch on a separate painted mounting block.


A decision remains to be made on where to place the microphone hanger for the VHF radio. I'm wary of the microphone's magnetic properties effecting the accuracy of the compass.

Perhaps I'll just leave it adrift until a better idea surfaces.

Little things

Ms. Bettencourt's mid-cabin rehab project may be in the home stretch. The final coat of paint has been applied and the deck boards have been in the shop this week for scrubbing, patching, sanding and repainting.

And, a few little details have received some attention. For example, the Albin "commissioning plaque," found on the dash behind the steering wheel.

This little bronze plate had become tarnished and coated with diesel vapor over the years.

Soaking it in white vinegar for two or three days, then a vigorous rubbing with a fine Scotchbrite pad, brought it back to a like-new luster.

The engine access manhole cover from the top of the engine box also came back from paint-spattered decrepitude after some buffing with a drill-driven wire brush.

I am told the hole in the casting at the 9 O'clock position is to receive a screwdriver to lift up the top.

These things came from the factory with a sky-blue paint job around the Albin letters. I found a few blue paint vestiges, but decided not to try and repaint it.

I have sprayed both the plaque and the manhole cover with high-temperature engine clearcoat. I am hoping the clear top coat will help keep these parts bright.




The metal pieces will go back on Ms. Bettencourt tomorrow, along with the freshly re-painted deck panels (below).

I have also rebuilt the tri-fold plywood companionway hatch (far left in this photo).

When the decks are in and the hatch is installed, I expect to be nearing the end of this project.



There is still a fair amount of electrical re-installation to do and decisions remain to be made about instrument placements. But, this should go fairly fast.

Unfortunately, all this interior work is making Ms. Bettencourt's exterior paintwork look even more shabby.

Boat work never stops.