i’d like to say i made great leaps and bounds on the boat today. Wouldn’t that be nice? Ended up having a pretty mellow day aboard. i rebuilt the Optimus kerosene stove, and boy, does it cook! A little exciting with all the pressurized jet-fuel leaking here and there… whenever i had a leak or flare-up, i just stopped, cooled, and took that part down to it’s bits, substituting new ones from the well-stocked spares box.
Also continued oiling woodwork. i think that the teak panels have been all pinted white at some point; there’s traces of white around the seams, etc. i had debated painting a few more surfaces, but the woody look appeals to me. The danger is, of course, that the interior gets to looking too dark, but the white deckhead (ceiling), cabinsides, and bilges seem to brighten things up enough.
The 5 small non-opening ports admit more than enough light, even if they are crazed and hazy. The main cabin has one small opening hatch fwd, plus the companionway hatch. The v-berth foredeck hatch is plenty large, and draws a great quantity of air into the boat even without the windscoop in place. The only real gloomy space inside is the head… there is a 4″ hole in the deck above the head, capped with a plastic lid; maybe it’s for a cowling of some sort. A dorade vent above the head would be ideal, but i’d almost prefer more light; even leaxan-topped dorades don’t admit enough light. However, James has a beautiful “juicer” deck prism somewhere… hmmm…