Slowly & Surely

So much has been done to the interior of the pilot house it's hard to know where to start. Tom has completely gutted it and begun to remodel and rebuild. The console was built and idea's have been roughed out for placement of all gauges and controls. The interior lighting, paneling and moldings are done. Since we experienced an early winter work had to end sooner than wanted. She's covered in her blue tarp again and gone into hibernation for a few months. During these winter months Tom will be pre-wiring the gauges and prepping for all his upgrades that he will be installing next spring.

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Transformation

Windows are done & open beautifully~


and how the Captain looks while at work~


Monday, July 26 2010

Nothing has changed since we've been out cruising the US in our motor home this past month, which I suppose is a good thing. The new windows are still there and looking great. Tom can not wait to get back to concentrating on finishing up the pilot house and remaining windows. There is a very sad abandoned house boat in the back of the yard which the owners have given us permission to remove the rails and ladders before they demolish her. Ah another task for Tom before winter hits. I believe the rails & ladders will look wonderful on our boat deck.


Friday, June 18 2010

Four years ago Toms wish was to alter this boat into a true pilothouse trawler and it’s coming to life right before my eyes. The stationary windows are in and now it’s on to the 3 hinged windows. Works in progress, we’ve yet to settle on which hinges or closures – but that’s half the fun, right – shopping. It’s shaping up to be one awesome pilothouse. Tom continues to amaze me; his attention to detail and patience are remarkable.

This is Eric, we believe he is the kindhearted soul that retied our tarp this winter when it tried to blow off. He was going to splash his houseboat today, so we’ll miss his tender neighborly care.

Happy motoring Eric.

We’ll be taking a little break next month, its road-trip time for July 4th. See you again in August when our vessel transformation continues.

June 6 2010

Tom just returned from installing two more stationary windows in the pilot house. He was able to park the motor home along side the boat and it's amusing to see both of our 'babies' side-by-side. The keel was also sanded down nice and smooth.

May 20 2010

Who knew we'd have to wait 2 months for a weather window - yes even with the boat being on the hard we had to wait to do our work. During these past few weeks Tom has been at home designing, planning and fabricating the windows for the pilot house in the garage. (Polyester resin has a very strong smell). We've had lots of discussions about the sizes, shapes, material, latches & hinges and came up with great custom windows. We decided NOT to put in a new door on the starboard, but rather utilize the small door at the rear of the pilot house. We will still need access from the boat deck to the aft deck, but that's on our future drawing board. With the motor home parked right in front of the boat Tom was able to work long days and get the 3 windows across the back of the pilot house done. I make it all sound so simple, but believe me working with the raw materials, actually having to form windows, frames, cut the plexiglas and secure them properly to the boat took many long hours of planning and doing. Tom hopes to get the other 4 fixed windows done within the next few weeks as well as the 3 hinged windows. We'll be installing two porthole windows and finishing the small door at the rear of the pilot house too. With these new windows now in place Refugio is taking on a new look and it's exciting to watch the redesign.

Springtime Inspection

We were so pleased to find Refugio still tucked in under her big blue tarp today. The tarp however did not fare as well, but it did survive to see another season. At some point over the past few months someone took the time to retie various corners as they must have torn and ripped from the winter storms. It’s comforting to know there are such good folks out there looking out for one another, but that’s usually the case with boat people. Thank you!

We’ve decided to leave Refugio on-the-hard for one more year mainly to finish the pilot house. It’s very convenient to have her only one hours drive from home and the boat yard will let us park the motor home there for a little while too. This will make it easier to concentrate on completing the work without driving back and forth daily.

First up will be a final sanding and application of 2-part epoxy primer on the keel. We’ve decided to put in a door on the starboard side of the pilot house so there will lots of sawing, sanding and measuring. After much research on windows over this winter we’ve decided to go with acrylic (plexiglas) which Tom can cut and install himself. By end of the summer the interior will be finished and the console refurbished. I’ll post pictures as we progress, should be exciting! (See On-the-Hard Work photo album)

As we were leaving the boat yard we noticed the flooded ramp where boats are launched. Apparently the Ohio River just peaked at 50 feet so they won’t be splashing any boats for a few weeks yet.

Right now she’s dry and secure, what more could we ask for!