Our time at the marina has flown by! Since moving aboard we immediately jumped into our long list of project to-dos. Starting with organizing, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. It’s been non-stop updates to the boat interior – decor, painting, wood staining, installing, repairing, and replacing a lot of different parts of the boat. We’ve had a lot of fun, and some long days making it all happen – beers included. I have to give a huge shout out to Brent, the brains behind all things engine, systems, and exterior related – interior too, he’s pretty crafty 🙂 He knows WAY more than he lets on and often times a lot more than some of those experienced boat owners. Yet, he’s always so willing and eager to learn from others and soak up all the knowledge he can. I’ve taken on more of the interior, anxiously ready to make this boat feel like home (aka chick friendly)! However life aboard has been a little more like organized chaos…sometimes just a total shit show, lol. The entire boat has basically been our work bench. I love this pic from move in day. ^^

Unfortunately, the previous owners weren’t so great to our gal over the past 30+ years. I can’t even begin to explain the wonky and awful ideas that were done prior (wwhyyyyyy!) So before we set sail, our plan was to dedicate a few months, shine up the old gal and give her some much needed TLC to make it as functional and comfortable as possible. We are as ready as we’re going to be. Excited to share what we’ve been up to this month. Enjoy!

Port light Window Covers + Hatch Screens 

This project comes to you courtesy of Joann Fabric. Heavy duty brass snaps and plier. These will come in handy so that the boat doesn’t get too hot inside. Easy to remove when you need a little more light and keep the bugs from getting inside.

Vinyl headliner + lighting (Salon, Nav Station, and cabins) 

JoAnn Fabric project #2. White Marine vinyl to recover the existing (old and crusty) headliner located in the Salon, Nav Station, and our V-berth/Aft cabins. We started with 8 yards, bought an electric staple gun at home depot ($20), stainless steel staples, then added in seven 12v energy-efficient LED lights.

The V-berth cabin was most difficult since the walls are slanted. We had to remove the trim and formica walls, stripping it down to the fiberglass in order to fit the new vinyl, staples and then put the walls and trim back in. In one corner we had to use hidem gimp in order to hide the staples. Sail Rite has a great tutorial. The white vinyl has really freshened up the interior. {Pictured below is the Nav Station}

Cabin + Head flooring

Yuck, yuck, yuck! The floor of the aft head was basically rotted out and held together by two different pieces of wood *eye roll*. So we gutted the floor, and replaced with new wood grain laminate flooring from Home depot. The color matched perfectly with the original trim color of the boat (Dark Cherry) It was a more complex project since each board was custom. We created paper templates of the space to ensure accurate cutting. We purchased one box (23.91 sq ft) which included 9 pieces, and then bought about 10 ft of trim that we stained over two days. The one box covered both our aft head + cabin floor. Under $50 to complete.

Settee’s (Couches) 

We spend majority of our time in the Salon (living room) so making this area comfy/cozy was a priority. We rebuilt the backing to make our sitting area more comfortable and also keep everything in place. Port side, the previous owner(s) tried to expand the settee frame for more leg room- we guess. Which was causing everything to sink in, not to mention the original bottom trim was taken out so they could do this – jerks. Starboard side, we also added in backing and ALL the cushions needed a goooooood cleaning. Re-organized the shelving, updated the lighting/headliner, wood polished and re-painted. New decor too! 🙂

Starboard Settee

Re-painted the Galley and Salon

Fresh coats of paint was MUCH needed in the Galley and Salon areas. In addition to staining a few pieces behind the stairs. The bright white has helped open up the room and removed all the wear and tear from years past. Inexpensive, easy and quick day project.

Step down Galley

Salon table

The Gulfstar44 originally came with a fold down leaf table. However, when the boat was purchased in 2016 that table no longer existed. So we built a custom table, made of oak and popple with a pine unlay. Seats 4 comfortably.

Port side salon table

Cockpit table

This has been our work bench for the past month, so I’m super happy to finally have this cleaned and set up for cruising! We’ve added in a Seateak cockpit table 4-drink holders (who’s coming over for happppyyyy hour?) and removable so we can stow it away easily. We’ll be able to dine al fresco! You can also see our brand new blue captains chair 🙂 Not pictured are our cockpit cushions, since we have some deck cleaning to do last.

Additional projects:

Engine service + maintenance
Fixed water leaks
Rebuilt heads (bathrooms)
Replace water pump
Solar Shower
Re-stain + polish wood
Fix Wind Speed
Re-organize walk through lockers
Install iKonnect and wap
Install mesh for dorads
Install Windlass
Spares : oil filter, racor, oil, belts.
Fix port side hand rails
Fix electric winch
Dinghy maintenance + sell dinghy
Provisioning (Food storage)
Store ditch bag
Testing all electrical, fresh water, batteries, sails and motor
Install Vhf antenna splitter for AIS
Install Battery isolator
Install autopilot head unit
Build Sail bag

Cheers from the marina!