So much to wire up, so little time … I have just spent the weekend roughing in most (not all) of the wiring for the fourteen pumps, six tank senders, fifty odd light fittings and numerous other items such as the anchor winch that arrived this week. Even that included the need for heavy cable… Read More »

It’s full on now.  Every spare hour of every spare day.  If we want to make January our launch month, it’s full steam ahead. Our outside fairing is very close, our upholstery all confirmed and ordered, bench tops measured with templates completed ready for our cabinet man, galley carcasses in with doors being sprayed as… Read More »

I suppose the second toilet was never going to be quite so exciting and was a challenge to bolt down as we couldn’t reach the locking gadgets but in the end we fabricated some alternative fiberglass brackets which are out of sight and working well? The hardest part about fitting the main fridge was probably… Read More »

Perhaps it may be difficult to imagine anyone getting so excited about our first flushing toilet on Bossa Nova but it is also hard to imagine how much work went into getting it fitted and making it work, suffice to say the first working action of this Raritan unit was special and we are ‘flushed”… Read More »

The devil IS in the detail.  Our fairer is working on the cockpit now, with the transom main sheet track ledge completed and the side alcoves on the way.  Cockpit under-roof next week.  It’s the inside that it’s all happening.  The two electric windows are installed with two actuators on each now.  Much stronger we… Read More »

Just got back from the Sydney Boat Show.  The usual list of things to see, measure and price.  This is (hopefully) the last of the big shows before we launch so we thought it was an opportunity to check some details and look for a few things we hadn’t made decisions on … and two… Read More »

Installed the freezer unit yesterday (not plumbed in yet) … a big shiney bit!  We have a separate freezer in the starboard hull for long distance cruising with a fridge/freezer in the galley for everyday use.

Fitted the two electric windows yesterday. Designed these with the companion-way door frame.  All aluminium with white powder-coated surface.  Had them for ages so very exciting to finally start fitting them.  And they are electric!

We reached a milestone today with all interior fiberglass work completed … Whew!!  A big few days from our fairing man Mick with Amanda taping and masking ahead of him to keep him on track. This afternoon she finally put the green tape away, removed the last of the brown paper to the bin and… Read More »

While the weather has been COLD we have kept at it … with the latest ETL (estimated time of launch) being January, the “heat is on!”   Jumping out of bed early morning hasn’t been that easy but once inside the boat with the heater on it has been rather cosy.  We’ve been having 2 degree nights… Read More »

It’s so bloody cold here in Melbourne.  My football team is losing so I now have weekends “free” ??!!  Why not speed things along on the boat building front.  Neville and I have just finished 4 days straight and feel like we may have turned the corner.   Acetone bottle and rag in one hand and… Read More »

I think I mentioned in a previous post that “finished” was a big word.  Well, the wine rack is finished!  25 bottles of storage.  See pics.  Until all the spraying & polishing is finished, we fit, then put away so the brown paper hasn’t been peeled of the rack sections.  It’s actually been made out… Read More »

We are still fairing inside.  Keeping in mind our man Mick only works 2 or 3 days a week, the inside is nearly (there’s that word again) there.  More importantly, Mick is doing a fantastic job.  He gets such a shine and there’s no sign of the joins.  This is a specialist job and he… Read More »

You may be wondering where we’ve gone but we’re still here! The devil, as they say is in the detail. The wine rack is finally cut out in black perspex and ready to fit just as soon as the dust stops (you’ll have to wait that pic). Our ‘glove box’ style cubby holes under the… Read More »

Action everywhere today.  Cabinet-maker here to fine tune the measurements, Mick our ‘fairer’ here, and Wayne our window man here.  Love it!! Windows are completely in (look great) with the black Simsons completed as well … shmick!! Gilbert our cabinet man, here as well.  Bathroom benches made, trimmed and completed,and our ‘cubby-hole’ features trimmed &… Read More »

“Nearly” is a BIG word in boat building.  “Finished” is a BIGGER word in boat building! Lots of jobs are “nearly” finished, including our windows.  They are a bugger to fit.  Placing them, wanting the same gaps between & deep, all rather tricky.  As is applying the black Simsons with caulking between.  All front windows… Read More »

Easter has arrived.  The pictures tell the story, as they often do. We have finally fitted the link to the linear drive motor for the autopilot thanks to my brother John, who built a new one because the Lewmar part was too fat and wouldn’t fit. You can also see the rudder reference gadget which… Read More »

Sunny day, cold weather approaching, time for the windows to go in. We started last week preparing the fibreglass, with four ready, we started on the glass today.  

It’s a beautiful day here … 25 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, no breeze, just sunshine.  Some days the weather can reflect the mood.  Today, we feel we are making progress and the sun is shining.  Mick, our fabulous ‘fairer’, our fibreglass master, has added some shine to the bogged and gelcoated white. … Read More »

Jobs done … helm pilot hatch, bathroom ceiling, rudder reference control in port engine locker, gas bottle shelf/locker, galley furniture, rear beam join in back locker, dinghy davits, auto-pilot cabling, second engine bilge pump … Is he going crazzzzyyyy????  See pic number 8!!

Our internal door frames have arrived!  Anodized aluminium complete with trim rings which we hope will look really classy! They should be a lot less work also but there will be a tedious bit of fibreglass adjustment required. Most of the bulkheads are now trimmed out but some of the adjoining furniture needs to be… Read More »

There’s so many confined spaces on a boat.  Squeezing in to the cockpit stern seats to complete the fibreglass and then flow-coat, accessing the tall cupboards with only one arm fitting through the opening to flow-coat while trying not to paint the rubber hoses and then watching Neville build the gas bottle shelf in the… Read More »

Sunday is clean-up day, the cockpit the target.  With acetone, a new yellow gunk (can’t remember its name) and even a toothbrush, Amanda washed, scrubbed, re-scrubbed and used her toothbrush to restore the whiteness to our very messy cockpit.  I remember when we bought our Seawind noticing a toothbrush with the cleaning implements … I… Read More »

After MUCH research we decided on Raritan toilets.  Our first one has arrived and fits perfectly in the two spaces we have.  We visited the Sydney Boat Show with a paper template of the two spaces we had hoping to make a final decision.  Number one, it had to fit both spaces (we did not… Read More »

It all started because the motors were here, due to a price agreement 12 months ago. Then a good friend, Tony Borrell, offered to help fit one. How could we refuse? After all, we can always wrap it in gladwrap, and it does help to organize mountings for filters, strainers, exhausts, hot water and so… Read More »

We have purchased an Isotherm 40 litre hot water service with dual heating coils as we intend to heat the water by engine, but also by means of a small Webasto diesel heater which will also power heaters in the main saloon as well as both forward cabins. This will avoid the need to run… Read More »

Sunday is clean-up day, well, it’s supposed to be.  Neville is good at the mess, so I suppose I compliment him by being better at the cleaning up.  We can now see the saloon and the ‘couch’ furniture as I’ve ‘cleaned up’ this area this afternoon.  I can’t really help ‘hands on’ with many jobs… Read More »

Very exciting …. motors have arrived! 29hp Yanmars, saildrive legs and Gori three bladed props. Now I just have to work out how to fit them! You can go to bigger motors but considering weight, fuel economy and cost I couldn’t really see the point. These should push it near to hull speed anyway and… Read More »

All the big bits of furniture are largely in place now except for the two sections inside each side of the doorway.  I am waiting for the doorway to arrive before glassing those two in so I get them in the correct place in relation to opening the doors, as these doors will be opening… Read More »

Really looking forward to the saloon coming together.  We have put a lot of thought in to this area.  Our initial thoughts were to have a galley down (like our Seawind 1000) – more entertaining room up and utilise the hull space down. After much discussion, measuring and researching designs on other cats, we decided… Read More »

A few jobs conquered.  Know we’ve been a bit slack on our blog … thankyou for reminding us blog readers!  Not intentionally slow with the updates, just not as much to report as the early building stages.  But, I do know how interested and excited people get who follow these boat building projects … Neville… Read More »

Recent fine weather has been ideal for further engine bay work.  A floor surround around the engine beds now provides a flat floor and directs any water to the sump under the engine sump where a bilge pump will soon be fitted.  We have opted for cable steering and have fitted both rudder quadrants and… Read More »

Thankyou Andrei for the reminder  … “No more updates on the blog everything is OK ?!” Loads of work happening, but it’s slow now.  No more big pieces being put together.  Lots of bogging and fairing, and sanding and gelcoat spraying.  Most of the joins have been prepared for fairing now, just weather dependent (you… Read More »

And you thought … nothing was happening.  Lots happening, including lots of thinking.  While we have purchased many interior furniture components from Fusion Mackay, we didn’t purchase the galley and saloon components.  So we are designing and building these ourselves.  Neville is busy learning ‘how to’ work with fibreglass and I just find the glossy… Read More »