Recently painted the hull for the second time. The first time the painter used an everclear which started peeling off like snakedskin after about six years. Also removed and rebedded portlights so that they are absolutley leak free. Also replaced all lenses in top hatches.

View of boat from Port Bow

Made new handrails and side molding out of 1 x12x10 piece of teak. Used Smith Bros Polyurethane which I ahve used before. Best way i have ever seen to preserve exterior teak. www.fiveyearclear.com for info. Aslo replaced fixed portlights from Mark Plastics. Redoing the portlights and top hatches was one of the best exterior jobs I did. Now I can see out as if the portlights do not exist and the amount of light is wonderful.

Replaced handrail and side molding

This shows the somewhat new teak sole. I replaced this about ten years ago and sealed both side with West epoxy. The top has about five coats. It has held up like I would never have expected and still is glossy as the day I did it.

View from Companionway down into salon

I replaced the top engine cover with the same teak as sole so that it gives the boat the illusion of being longer. Used the fiveyearclear previously mentioned. This stuff is hard as nails. Please do not ask me if it is slippery as I always use rubber shoes or thongs and it is a nonissue.

New engine cover and step down

I made a new teak table out of 3/4 teak ply and finished edges with eadge molding. About ten years ago I replace the ugly plexiglass sliders with the teak. I hated everyone being able to see inside the cabinets. Also added 5/8 battons along area below portlights to place snaps for curtains and also to make the boat look longer. Cushions are about ten years old. We used charter type cloth which has held up extremely well.

New salon table and teak sliders in cabinets

I had another cushion made for the space above the table instead of trying to fit the backrest cushions and all the lumps they make. The existing backrest cushions are from the port setee.

Home Theater seating

Using the same cushion as the home theater above I had a piece of the memory foam made to fit the 5 cushions. It is as good as any bed I have ever slept on. Also great to watch the home theater from.

Best bed on the boat

I saw the plexiglass backsplash on the new H426 and made sort of a copy. I routed a 1/4 channel into the countertop so that the plexiglass is free standing sealed with silicone. You may also notice that I replaced the white headliner with 1/8 teak veneer. Also added a wine glass rack into the headliner. I completely removed the exising icebox even though I had a Norcold regrig in it. I used one of the Majic Chef refrig/freezer that they have at Home Depot. It uses less than 1amp and with inverter and genset it is fine out of the slip. I was able to use a full size 1000W microwave. I really like the new refrig/freezer since for the firt time I have ice whenever I need it. Aslo replaced alcohol stove with propane two burner Princess. Replaced countertop with new formica type. You can also see I added flip door over cabinet over top engine to coverup the contents. I have a close up of galley that I left out of this post and will include in a separate post.

From salon to newly designed galley

I completely removed the portside cabinets and built new one to hold VCR/DVD combo,Dolby Digital Receiver, and Samsung 17 TFT HDTV, books and speakers. You can see a good picture of how I replaced the top headliner and how much better it looks. Aslo teak batton along bottom of portlights. 100W bass speaker is installed under chart table. Plexiglass is installed infront of shelves to act as fiddles.

Portside Home Theater and Book cases

I replaced the countertop with same material as galley. Replaced plexiglass mirror and installed two tube flourescent light above.

New head galley sink

I installed 1/8 teak veneer along each side to cover the ugly gray liner. Maeks the boat look like wood from the inside. Also installedteak battens to make boat look longer. Added Oceanscreen to top hatch.

V berth

I added glass plexiglass to the rear to make aft berth appear larger and less like cave. Also completely redid starboard lazarette area by removing fuel tank and installing vertical 20g tank which is behind area left of rubber post. Also added speakers and brass reading lights to the area above the portside. The blue cushion is from the Home Theater seating and acts as backrest when not in use in salon. With the cut out into the starboard lazarette you sleep athwartship instead of bow to stern. Gives more headroom the anyone sleeping in th aft berth.

Redeigned aft berth

You can see that this is the largest bed on the boat, but I still prefer the salon setup.

More detail of aft berth cutout.

I made a folding leaf table that folds down in from of the binnacle when not in use. Except for the handrail and the side molding there is no longer any teak on the exterior of the boat. It is all maintenence free starboard. I even made starboard steps for the stern ladder so you didnt kill your feet on the SS steps.

Cockpit with new Gray Starboard table etc

I routed and copied the existing teak but repalced with starboard.

Detail of Gray Starboard replacement for teak

I replaced the teak companionway with white starboard. You can see the gray accent to match the other teak repalcements in the cockpit.

New WhiteStarbaord Companionway Boards

Not much to say here. The picture does the talking.

Aft view of Boat

This is the view from my boat and deck each evening of the burnt orange Texas sunset

What I plan to watch alot of now.