So we picked an ultra-suede fabric for the bolsters – basically a good colour match to the leather in the boat (coffee colour) but introducing another fabric. This was one of the "trends" I saw at the boat show - a variety of fabrics used these days. Then I asked my dad to help me recover the bolsters. Dad is a retired upholsterer and the last of the real craftsmen who has worked of some real high end products for some pretty impressive customers over time. He agreed so I brought the bolsters and the fabric over. We agreed the best way to cover them was to cover over the fabric and padding that was in place. I managed to locate some stainless staples and we set to work. Well – dad set to work and I watched. He had to be one of the pickiest people around – he spent so much time working with the fabric to get the shape and the pleats just right. The finished product looks fantastic and is really going to update the cabin. Now Natalie has to go pick a bedspread set. Then we can take it into a tailors and get it altered to suit our mattress – using the factory one as a pattern.
Dad - Roy Simonds the consomate professional working on Plan B's bolsters. And yes, his workshop is as clean and organized as it seems in the background :-)Other updates: Needhams – the Sea Ray dealer called and said the replacement hatch struts are in - $165 for those little pieces!
Ray Marine called and said they had inspected the radio and found a few loose connections where the mic fitted. Cost was $100 – a great buy. They then called a few days later and apologized for sending my fixed radio to California. Hopefully it is on its way back as I write.
March 23rd - Weather. Ah yes the weather. To avoid a long rant about my feeling on winters in SW Ontario, let’s just say it warmed up a bit and rained – but at least most of the snow was gone. Then last night we got another 6” of heavy wet snow. To say this is depressing is an understatement. Forecast is for -9 tonight. So much for thinking spring had arrived. It has been doing this since the end of November – snow and more snow.
March 28th Got up to the boat on Saturday – without the camera or I would have included a couple of pictures. William and I headed up in the morning – arrived at 9:30am and it was -11ºC. Damn that is cold and there was a decent north wind to make it feel even worse. En route we stopped at Needhams – the Sea Ray dealer in Sarnia and picked up the hatch struts - $165 PLUS brokerage fees - $220 out the door. Go figure. In my next life I am going to be a customs broker.
In spite of the cold we made some progress. I got the wood trim in the master cabin stripped and stained. The stain seemed to be OK in the cold but it will have to be warmer to varnish. We also got the push knobs in the draws under the master berth changed over to the new nickel ones. We re-installed the doors on the starboard side of the salon – these are the ones I took home to change the push knobs over. We changed the push knobs in the drawers in the galley. The reason I did the drawers on board is that it is a real pain to empty all those drawers to bring home to change the knobs and trim rings. We then removed all the galley doors to bring home. I brought the new master cabin bolster pads up but with the staining I did not attempt to install them – for sure I would end up with stain on them – I certainly ended up with it on my good winter coat!
I did have some other items on my list but by this time neither Will or I could feel our toes so enough is enough. However, I did check one more item. In the fall when I winterized the water system I noticed that as I hand tightened the fitting back onto the water tank that the ‘O’ ring was missing. I had made a note in my little book of notes and lists (yes, I have one of those to keep track of things) to double check this in the spring. Well, technically it is now spring (frozen toes aside) so I decided to check this. I crawled back head first into the port locker in the mid cabin with a small flash light in my mouth to take a look. Low and behold, sitting way down there on a small ledge was the missing ‘O’ ring. I reached down to grab it and as my finger reached it slipped off and disappeared down between the stringer and water tank. Crap - there is no way I can even get a finger down that gap. I guess I can try a small rod with double sided tape on the end or take another fitting apart and get the ‘O’ ring as a sample. Isn’t that boats for you – it looked to good to be true that the missing part was sitting there to be picked up and sure enough……………
Lastly, my radio is now back at our sales office in Detroit after its vacation in California. Last item is the swivel fitting for the Perko steaming / anchor light that I was assured last week was on order.
