Monday, May 6, 2013

Cushions, tables and WIND...Oh, MY!

A gorgeous day on the lake!
Well, after a rainy weekend mostly spent working indoors on a few odds and ends, we finally put Firefly back in the water...and on a moderately windy day! 13-15 mph winds. I never used to take my 1982 Catalina 25 out in more than 10 mph wind, but the 25 was a much more tender vessel than this stout build by Seaward/Hake Yachts!

The little Seaward Fox, at only 19 ft., 1300 lbs., held up much better under higher winds. With a reef in the main, I can imagine she can handle 20 knots easily!

Of those projects, Stacey continued working on the interior cushion slip covers. She finished the two small upper pillows and the cushion for the "Lounge Chair", plus one of the quarter berth cushions! They look great!

I worked on recreating the table that originally came with the boat, but with some modifications. Since we decided not to redo the v-berth at all and use that area only for storage, that meant that the table no longer had to function as a filler board for the berth cushions. So I made it a little thicker, smaller and added two cup holders! It's currently covered in WilsonArt brand laminate. I've yet to finish routing it out but that will be very soon!

The other "thing" I worked on did not fair very well under usage: a propane canister rack for the Lehr Propane Outboard motor we use on this boat. There's not enough room for them to stand upright in the storage lazarette, so I thought a "wine" style rack would work, but I have to modify the design slightly to get them to all stay put :( Oh well, back to the drawing board!



So, then, Sunday's weather cleared to a beautiful clear sky, a little chilly at mid 50s to 60s with 13-15 mph winds. We used the gin pole to hoist the mast, attached everything, taking longer due to trying to figure it all out again, this will get better with time! It took us about an hour to set up. SPLASH! and away we went!

Check out the pics, we had fun!

Before: the old cushion was a bit dingy and lumpy!
Stacey is simply brilliant at creating custom pieces!

After: now it's nice and pretty! And according to Tupelo the Cat, very comfy!
The new "Lounge Chair" cushion

Once again, Tupelo had to be involved!
The newly recreated table ready for paint and laminate!

It will be nice to heel over and not worry about losing our sodas!
The unfortunately designed propane rack. :(
All hitched up and ready to go!
Our beloved Ford Flex makes easy work of it all! You can barely tell it's back there!
SO CUTE!
Rachel stopping for a quick bite after all the hard work raising the mast!

Corey likes the "Lounge Chair" in the cabin!
I think I just said "Whew!" and took a lunch break too!
We are NOT sinking...or taking on any water THIS time!!
Thank you rubber stopper! See earlier post Maiden Voyage.
Motoring out. "Captain on the Bridge (and at the helm)!"
The Main is raised and I'm trimming sail.

The Admiral doing a great job at the helm.

Ah, sailing!
One BIG Sail!

Rachel enjoyed sailing with us in the cockpit.
Corey... not so much, she enjoyed the cabin a little more.
A gorgeous day on the lake!
All our hard work on the brightwork paid off, it looks GREAT!
Thanks to the Shurhold Dual-Action Polisher and Buff Magic:
"EVERYTHING'S SHINY CAPTAIN!"
Our nifty Propane powered outboard motor by Lehr!
Clean running and low maintenance!
Hard work pays off: smiles of the happy owners!

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