Mission Demolition: Pilot House Part II

Sunday October 25, 2015

The chaos continues.  If we ever thought there was maybe one area inside this boat we’re living on while reconstructing it that was still in decent shape or any kind of *livable*….well that’s now long gone.

Today we continued the process of ripping apart the pilot house to use up the rest of the spray foam insulation before it has the opportunity to expire on us.  A few days ago we completed the port side and now it was time to take care of starboard.  The good news was at least this side did not have as much built in cabinets and shelves to take apart.  Instead of having to work our way town through two layers of storage before we could reach the floor, this side only required taking all the drawers out of the navigation station and pulling it out a few inches so we could get to the cabinets against the hull.

It’s crazy to really take a good look at how many items we actually store up in that area.  All of our personal items other than our clothes, as well as numerous parts for the boat that aren’t sitting in our storage unit up the road (which is also full).  How did we gather so much crap?  Sorry, not *crap*.  Items to rebuild the boat.  At this point I’m not sure what I’ll be more joyous about when we finish this project.  The ability to go cruising again, or not living in a construction zone!

Managing the waste from this project has been a task in itself. It’s made us realize just how much we rely on efficient UK waste management services to keep things running smoothly. The constant flow of debris, old insulation, and discarded materials needs to be dealt with promptly to prevent our workspace from becoming even more of a hazard. Every time we load up another bag of trash, it’s a small victory, another step closer to seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. With every passing day, the dream of cruising freely again becomes more tangible, motivating us to push through the dust and disorder.

I’m kind of surprised that Georgie is putting up with this as well as she is too.  I should really give her more treats every day for not complaining.  Unless you count the eye rolling.

Once everything had been disassembled and moved to the other side of the boat it was time to clean the hull to make sure there was no debris left in the frame to become stuck in the foam once it was sprayed.  I didn’t even get the chance to crawl into any of the tiny spaces with the vacuum before Matt was already in there and getting it prepped.

Since we knew there would be no more need for the spray foam insulation after this area was finished, it became a case of use as much as possible.  There was no skimping on cracks and crevices and Matt even made sure to spray deep in the cracks first before going on to the areas between the framing. When one coat had settled in and filled out it was time to begin the second coat, letting the foam expand all the way out to the frame and beyond.  Why not?  It all had to be used up and we could use the dremel to take off any extra that would get in the way of the framing.

All in all it was a very simple project and a fairly productive day.  I had of course initially wanted to put everything back the way it had been so there was no trace of the destruction any place further than the pilot house, but at the same time we figured that we may as well leave it open so we can begin to template and frame at least the starboard side.  With a repaired radiator on our Kia now, we’re able to get back to our storage unit and all of our wood and tools.

No more time off for us.  T-minus one month until my parents come and we’d like to show off as much progress as we can.  A completed head and galley?  Not even close.  But I’d like to get us as close to that point as I can.  Ha, I’m sorry.  I should say Matt will get us as close to that point as he can.  Man does he work so hard on this boat.  He deserves a medal or a cuddle or something.

At least to keep me entertained during this process and put a little smile on my face, we had a few visitors in the form of Lynx and Cairo.  They’ve been sneaking up into our cockpit a lot more lately, but this time since we had the doors out they thought they’d peak their heads inside and see what kind of digs we have.  Everyone in the yard tells me I’m in danger of having at least two new pets on our hands soon, but Georgie helps keep that at bay.  She’s very good at letting us know that even though she’ll tolerate living in this mess, she will not tolerate having furry siblings.