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First, I added a step to the bow pulpit.  I hadn’t planned on it initially but a friend of mine, Ingmar, said it was the best place to watch dolphins from.  I think it’s probably also the best place to fall off and get run over by your own boat from.

Second I added the vent for the composting head.  I had gone around and around thinking about this.  Thought about venting it inside through a charcoal canister but the Airhead guy said it would put tons of moisture into the boat.  Thought about venting it into the chain locker, but the way mine is built it’ll fill with water if you’re taking green water over the bow, and I didn’t want that running down into the head.  I found this ventilator online called AirOnly and it has these floating valves inside.  Reviews are good so I’m giving it a shot.

Air-Only Low Profile

I had purchased some swanky Harken deck organizers from Alex but my cabin top isn’t wide enough to get the right angle out of them so I just went with Harken big bullet blocks.

Finally, I installed the instrument display and compass.  I also flipped the rope clutches around as I had initially installed them backward.  When you’re a beautiful Finn sailor you don’t need to be smart.  (That’s not a crack in the screen, it’s a reflection of the edge of the cockpit).

And cockpit floor painted. I used a lot of grit, the grip is really good.

Lots done today.  Got the port side rub rail installed.  It’s teak, 2 coats of epoxy and 2 of varnish.  I know everyone says to let teak weather but I like the way it looks like this, even though it’s more work.  My joints between sections … were not very good.  One of them is okay, one is horrible.  I had made 5 out of 6 of the sections before I ran out of teak and had to buy more so I had to set the saw up again and when I did it came out slightly different.  :\  It’s not super noticeable unless you’re looking for things to gig me on.

On the bow I got the bow roller installed and both of the chocks.  Since I shortened the bow roller assembly it’s far enough out of the way that I can run lines out of the chocks from the center cleat so I don’t need to add extra cleats.  I am thinking of adding a chain stop just forward of the chain locker door there.

The original bow cap for this boat was manky, beat to hell and it didn’t fit.  I wanted to make a new one and was going to have my awesome welder Stan at Advanced Alloys make it but he’s retiring for health reasons!  So I did it myself.  I made a template out of poster board, cut it out with the nibbler and finished shaping with a grinder.  Tig welded it together (poorly), cleaned up my welds and installed it today.  Fits perfectly.  Those gaps on the side are supposed to be there, not sure why, but that’s how the boat is designed so I didn’t deviate.  I also reinstalled the bow guard that protects the bow from minor dings.  This was a big step today because now that that is on I can fit the anchor roller and other hardware that goes around it.

We got another piece of headliner installed that had been keeping me up at night. Contact cement only gives you one shot so it always makes me nervous. Lorena makes it work though. We’ll cover the gaps between panels with some nice trim.