Pilothouse Progress 2024

We also worked extensively on the pilot house of Wildthing during the winter of 2023/2024. The pilot house had a few areas that needed to be finished up. Brad had built the desk top to go into the area where the old navigation station used to be. It was fabricated out of plywood, maple and Formica.

More tambour had to be cut, varnished and fitted to the aft port side bulkhead before desk could go in. The desk would go over the top of the tambour. 

The desk is more of a workstation than a chart table. Not many people use charts anymore so we made it more of a place to work and recharge laptops, iPads, phones and other mobile devices. 

We pulled out the old curtain rods and used them to hold the tambour in place while the glue dried. We don't like to use any fasteners because they are prone to rusting or cracking the tambour. 

The tambour is glued on with a Roberts water based floor adhesive. We have found this to be very workable and it remains flexible even after many years. 

We on occasion do use an air powered trim nailer with stainless steel nails to hold smaller pieces in place.  

The frame of the desk was built out of poplar wood which was primed and painted white. The Formica desk pieces were then screwed to the frame from the bottom. 

The bottom of the desk was screwed on once the top was attached. This was another installation that took place in steps to make it all happen.

AC and DC electrical outlets were installed above the desk and wired into the breaker panel of the boat. 

The AC system is powered from the Victron Multiplus 3000 watt inverter which runs off of 400 amp hours of Battle Born lithium batteries which are under the pilothouse dining area. 

Maple trim was fabricated and varnished to trim out the edges of the desk. 

Below the desk area we applied the last few pieces of maple tambour to finish up the bulkheads. 

Two hatches were cut into the tambour to allow access to a storage area under the desk and to the inverter located below the navigation station. 

One more face frame has to be fabricated for the area above the desk on the port side. This area has several cubbies for storage, VHF, AIS and other electronics as needed. 

More Maple tambour was added above the navigation station and instrument panel.  

Teak trim was fabricated to go across the entire top of this to complete the console. 

Nearly completed Navigation Station

Teak trim was also fabricated, varnished and installed in the opening of the companionway that goes down to the galley.  These pieces were glued up and installed using many clamps to get them tied into the existing opening.

Finished companionway teak trim

Starboard Side Pilot House console

A large Teak fiddle was added across the whole pilot house navigation console which tied into the opening down into the galley and salon.

Port side Console trim fabricated

The teak trim was fabricated to go across the port side of the pilot house control console.

The console has a slight curve so it was scribed onto a solid teak board and cut out with a jig saw. 

After a lot of shaping and sanding the edges were routed with a round over bit and it was finally ready for varnish.

More trim pieces were added to the port and starboard sides in the aft of the pilothouse. These fiddles were made tall enough to keep items from rolling off these little shelves. 

These were fabricated out of maple, routed, varnished and epoxied on.

Port Side pilot house console

Port side pilot house console

A large fiddle was added above the hanging locker in the pilothouse to keep things from rolling off this large shelf. 

These were fabricated out of solid maple, sanded, mitered, routed, varnished and epoxied on.

Completed Starboard Side Console

The last of the major fabrication on the boat took place on the starboard side settee in the pilothouse. 

The headliner pieces were cut and painted. Teak trim was rough cut and will need to be varnished to complete this area. 

Two white boxes in the corners were built to cover up wiring, plumbing and the scupper hoses. We used the same plastic material that was used for the headliner.  

Teak trim was then cut to trim out these scupper boxes. These covers and trim all need to be painted and varnished to complete this area. 

This ends the updates for this season on Wildthing. We accomplished a lot and completed a couple of cabins. The v-berth and midship head are now complete. There are just a few doors and some trim pieces to finish up the pilot house and main salon. The aft head and berth needs some plumbing and a few more trim pieces.  

It is great to know we are nearing the end of the refit of the interior. Once the interior is done some big project remain on the outside of the boat.

Bottom Paint Job: The boat needs to be hauled out and the bottom needs to be sanded, barrier coated and painted.  It has been several years since the bottom was done. 

Propeller, Shaft and Cutlass bearing: The shaft, cutlass bearing and engine were all done at the same time years ago. We have not had many hours on these so they should all be ok. The propeller is showing some signs of electrolysis so it needs to be reconditioned or replaced.

Rudder: All the steering components above the water have been gone through. The rudder needs to be dropped and bearings checked. We have never dropped the rudder. It would be good to drop the rudder and check the integrity of stainless and fiberglass. 

Topside Paint: The boat was painted back in 2006 but after 18 years in the Florida sun it is in need of a new paint job. The boat had some hurricane damage to the rub rails and cap rail from Ian in 2022. These areas need some final fairing and priming along with paint.

Thanks so much for your comments and questions. We will be back in Florida for another season starting November 1, 2024. We hope to finish the interior and do some sailing. 

~~~Sail On~~~ /)

Mark

Mid Ship Head Completed April, 2024

Midship Head Completed!

The midship head was one of the last cabins to be completed. This had been sitting in a state of total disrepair for several years. Cabinetry, face frames, headliner and doors were done but it was all being held up by fairing and painting of the bulkheads.

I finally dove into this mess and finished up the fairing and sanding of the bulkheads. This was a hot and sweaty job but after a few days of work it was ready for primer. 

We used Total Boat primer and Wet Edge topcoat to achieve a nice glossy finish in the head and shower. 

Once the painting was done the face frame and cabinetry could go back in. The upper cabinet has access to the chain plates, Y-valve and vented loops for the waste and fresh water.

Sliding doors give access to areas to store toiletries.

The headliner quickly followed the installation of the cabinetry. 

The panels went in nicely and the teak trim was added like the rest of the boat. An LED light with day and night/red mode was added.

An AC electric outlet was added to the aft/right side of the portlight opening. 

The midship head is a dry head with a separate shower stall. In the shower the drain pan had rotted out in a few areas so it was rebuilt. The pan was faired and re-glassed with some fiberglass matt and epoxy. I can guarantee it will never leak again.

A hose was glassed in the aft corner of the shower for a drain. This leads into the engine room where it will be connected to a sump where the gray water will be pumped overboard. 

Shower sump fiber glassed water tight!

Shower stall fairing

The shower seat and cabinet were installed. Fairing was used to create a cove in all the corners. This allows water to easily run off and not create any areas where dirt could accumulate or mold could grow. 

Large pop sickle sticks were used to smear on the fairing compound and then it was sanded, primed and painted.

Shower stall completed

Large hatches were installed in the shower to allow access to plumbing and toiletries. 

The controls and shower head were mounted on a sliding rail to allow use while standing or sitting down. 

The heads on the Pan Oceanic 46 used to both run into a large holding tank under the pilothouse settee area.  There was a huge tank that took up too much space and smelled so a change was needed. We decided to go with smaller holding tanks located in the cabinets of each head.

The new holding tank and plumbing had been previously installed by my brother a few years ago. I did have to fabricate a new toilet base to attach the new LaVac toilet and connect the waste and fresh water lines. The LaVac head works off of vacuum.

We installed an electric pump in this head, which creates a vacuum to pull the waste out of the toilet and up into the holding tank. The holding tank is about 12 gallons so it is not designed to hold much waste.

 A wye valve was installed to direct the waste into the holding tank or to pump it overboard when the boat is out at sea. 

A new base was built for the the LaVac toilet.  We used the same solid surface material used throughout the boat. This material will not rot and cleans up easily. 

The toilet was mounted and plumbed. Fresh water comes into the back of the toilet and waste leaves out the side. 

In this head we mounted the electric pump for the toilet up inside the cabinet. We tested it with water and it worked like a champ!

The button to activate the pump was mounted just inside the cabinet door on the top left.

Water lines to the shower and the drain for the sink have been completed.

The flooring in the head was completed with the same product used throughout the rest of the boat. We had just enough to finish the floor. 

We covered over the other sump in the floor in front of the cabinet. We saw no reason to have another area that could collect dirt and moisture.  We filled this in with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood and applied the flooring over that. It turned out to be a nice clean look. 

It feels great to check another cabin off the list as done! This one went pretty fast because all the pieces were completed and we were just waiting on priming and paint.  Onto the next cabin, lets finish this boat!

~~~Sail On~~~ /)

 Mark!

Finished head

Sink and Cabinetry

Cabinets and Headliner

Toilet

Teak Shower grate

Sink in the head

Midship Head

V-Berth Completed January, 2024

V-Berth Finished!

After a nice long summer in the Midwest we made our way back to Florida for the winter season.

Work on Wildthing started where we left off in the spring. The v-berth was where we spent most of our time the prior season. 

The bulkheads were all covered in maple tambour. Each piece was varnished to perfection and glued on. We worked our way around the cabin finishing all the bulkheads. 

The side walls of the cabin were covered in 1/4 plywood which was sealed with fiberglass then painted white and trimmed with the same teak strips that were used on the headliner. 

The headliner was completed last fall and the last few pieces of trim were added after the forward and aft bulkheads were finished.

The cabinet doors were built out of solid maple which was cut and planed to 3/4 inch thickness. 

Maple plywood was used for the door panels for a shaker style look.  We had a little more varnishing to do on the cabinet face frame before the doors could go on. We used two coats of Epifanes gloss followed by two coats of Epifanes Rubbed effect to give it a flat satin finish. 

Once this was completed the face frame was attached from behind with stainless steel screws.  

Doors were hung next. The hinges were chiseled into the sides of the doors and face frame to achieve the correct reveals and spacing. 

Nothing is square on a boat but we were able to get the doors hung and looking great. 

The left side has a set of shelves for clothes and right side is a nice big hanging locker.

The cubby cabinet up above was added to make use of some of that space. 

The last door was installed in the cabinet on the port side above the set of drawers. 

Hinges, a door pull and magnetic latches were added to finish it off. 

.

Once the face frame went in the remaining pieces of  tambour were added around the step next to the berth. It was all a puzzle that had to be put together in the right sequence to make it fit.  

The step was hinged in the middle with a stainless steel piano hinge to allow it to open up for storage below. 

Step with Treadmaster, trim and pull

Treadmaster, non skid was glued down on the two pieces of the step. Teak trim was added to the front and a brass finger pull was added to the forward piece to access the storage below. 

Teak trim was added to the storage locker on the starboard side of the berth. This triangular hatch opens up to a large storage area below.

The last piece of teak trim was added to the solid surface counter top on the port side above the drawers. 

This pretty much ends the work in the v-berth. It took most of the 2023 season and it felt great to finally see it come together. 

Re-fitting a boat is full of choices and compromises. Adding so much wood to the boats interior was a choice we made. It is a huge improvement over the old dark teak that was there before. We could have done it quicker by painting many of the surfaces but it would not look half as cool. It think it was the right choice and that it is indeed a one-of- a-kind custom look that no other Pan Oceanic has. 

We still need to come up with a mattress for the berth, but that about does it for the v-berth. 

I would love to hear your comments and will answer any questions you might have. 

~~~~  Sail On~~~ /)

Mark

V-Berth Refit

One of the last major cabins to refit on Wildthing was the v-berth at the front of the boat. The v-berth on the Pan Oceanic 46 has a nice queen size bed to port along with a cabinet and a set of drawers. On the starboard side there was a locker and some drawers. The v-berth is probably the largest cabin after the main salon. It required a lot of work to cover the huge headliner, bulkheads, floor and hull.  

V-Berth Maple Tambour

The 40 year old teak plywood and veneer that was used to build the cabinetry in the v-berth had literally disintegrated. The two port lights had both leaked and added to the damage. 

We ended up tearing out most of the starboard side and building a new cabinet with shelves and a hanging locker. This was discussed in a previous post.

The old teak veneer was stripped off down to the bulkheads to allow us to attach the new maple tambour. It came off easily, in sheets, with a little scraping. 

We continued the use of maple tambour in the v-berth, like we had in the rest of the boat. Each piece of tambour was first cut to fit each area of the bulkheads. 

It was then removed and varnished for final assembly. We glued the panels to the bulkheads using a Roberts 2001 floor adhesive. We had to get creative in a few spots to hold the panels in place while the glue dried.

All the tambour pieces were cut and rough fitted last season. This year we did alot of sanding and varnishing to get the panels ready for final installation.

Brad fired up the sprayer and let the Epifanes varnish fly. Three coats of clear and one coat of matte finish were applied with copious amounts of glorious, glorious sanding in between coats.

Adding the sheets of tambour quickly changed the look of the old rustic v-berth into a classic designed yacht interior.

Port side bulkhead glued and braced

Cabinet face frame and outlets installed

Port side bulkhead and cabinet

Each piece in the v-berth went together like a puzzle. Once the face frame was secured, the other pieces of tambour could then be glued onto the bulkhead. We tried not to use any fasteners with the panels. They were glued and braced to hold them in place until they dried for about 24 hours. 

We found that if we glued more than one panel we would sometimes get buckling of the panels due to expansion. 

 A solid surface countertop was glued on top of the cabinet with silicone before the tambour went on. The cabinet door will be installed once it is varnished to complete the port side.

Starboard side cabinetry

Tambour was glued onto the starboard side cabinet, aft bulkhead and the small cabinet on top. Solid maple face frames for both the hanging locker and cabinet above will be varnished to complete the starboard side cabinetry. 

Starboard side cabinets

Cabinet face frame test fit

Tambour installed on the side of the berth with light switch

Top cabinet face frame, teak trim and solid surface on top of cabinet

Forward bulkhead in the v-berth & anchor locker

Tambour glued onto the forward bulkhead

Anchor locker door installed with  latches

Hinge detail of the anchor locker door

New Headliner

All the old vinyl headliner was removed and new slats were screwed into the ceiling to allow us to attach the new headliner.

This headliner is the same Sintra plastic product we used in the rest of the boat. The panels were kept small to allow easy installation and access if needed. 

We had a groove cut in the panels with a CNC machine to give it a wainscoting look. We took special care to make sure the grooves in the headliner, lined up forward to aft on the ceiling. The panels were initially rough cut for size then removed for sanding, priming and painting.

V-berth headliner panels looking aft

We added insulation between all the slats on the ceiling. We used an aviation product called Armaflex, which has an adhesive backing. It provides excellent insulation with sound dampening properties. The Armaflex is the black foam material between the slats.

V-berth headliner

Each panel was then sanded and primed, sanded again and given a final coat of white Interlux Bright Sides gloss paint.

We added 4 new LED lights and a fan to give the space a bright and well ventilated feel. 

Port side headliner

The new headliner is shown with the teak strips covering the seams of the panels. Each piece was rough cut then taken down for sanding and multiple coats of varnish. The teak strips edges were routed with a round over bit and were mitered where they met. 

The teak strips were cut to 2 1/4 wide by 3/8 inch thick. The teak was given two coats of Epifanes gloss varnish to fill the grain. A final coat of matte Epifanes varnish was sprayed on to give it a deep rich look. The teak strips were screwed into the headliner frames using 3/4 inch stainless steel screws. All screws were countersunk.

The contrast between the white headliner and the dark teak made for a nice contrast. This headliner took the most work of all the projects on the entire boat. Thousands of man hours were spent cutting, fitting, painting, sanding, routing and installing. 

If we had to do it again we would go with something prefinished and easier to install. This headliner is truly unique and a work of art.

 New Flooring

The floor in the v-berth is tiny and odd shaped because it comes up next to the hull on the starboard side. One floor hatch is located in the center of the floor. The floor was not quite high enough, so some plywood subfloor was added. The flooring was the same vinyl material used in the rest of the boat. The lines of the flooring were continued throughout the boat. The flooring was also used on the toe kick up the from side of the cabinet to improve durability.

Flooring and a latch were added, edges trimmed out in teak

New hatch with flooring trimmed in teak

The hatch in the floor was trimmed with teak strips cut to 7/8 inch high by 1/4 inch wide. Flooring, trim and latch were added to the hatch to complete the floor.

Brad has become a master at spraying paint and varnish over the many years working on Wildthing. 

Learning new skills is important if you want to refit a large yacht like this. After a lot of trial and error, he has the formula down for mixing paints and varnishes. He uses a small HPLV spray gun to apply the finishes.

Here he is applying one of the many coats of varnish to the maple tambour panels. 

Many man hours of cutting, sanding and varnishing went into each panel. The results have been worth all the effort. 

The old teak was very dark and made the cabins feel claustrophobic. The new lighter maple tambour was added to give the space an airy and open feel. 

We had purposely removed all the teak on the outside of the boat to reduce the maintenance but added a lot of wood on the inside to give it a rich look. We tried to recreate the look of the Dutch built boats. They are examples of some of the best joinery and craftmanship. We did not quite reach that level of work but we came close. 

One AC outlet was wired into the port side cabinet. The AC outlet has a two USB charging ports.

 A dual DC USB outlet was wired below the AC outlet to provide charging of mobile devices when the inverter AC power is not on. 

The DC USB outlets were purchased on Amazon. These have an on and off switch and an LED indication of the voltage of the DC house batteries. 

The LED lights in the cabins are controlled at the main DC switch panel. Dimmer switches were added in each cabin to control the lights. I thought of using some WiFi controlled switches in the cabins but kept it simple to decrease setup and maintenance.

Hull Side Covering

Port Side

The sides of the hull in the v-berth were stripped down to bare fiberglass. We glassed on strips of plywood to the hull to have something for the panels to attach to. 

The same ArmaFlex insulation was used to insulate the hull. We used sheets of 1/4 plywood to cover the side hulls. The panels were covered with epoxy resin and painted to seal them from moisture and give a nice white background. Teak slats were added every 6 inches to break up the white side hull. 

Starboard side finished

Port Side finished and trimmed into the headliner

New Cabinet and Hanging Locker

The whole right side of the v-berth was rebuilt using 1/2 inch marine plywood to create two bulkheads. Templates were made of the bulkhead and then transferred to plywood. One section will be shelves and the other a hanging locker. The bulkheads were epoxied to the hull.

3/4 inch poplar was used to build the framework of the shelves and hanging locker.

We insulated the hull in the back of the lockers with the same Armaflex insulation.

New face frames and doors were built for the shelves and hanging locker on the starboard side and the cabinet on the port side.

Solid maple was milled down with a power planer and table saw to 3/4 inch thick stock.

We created a step to get into the berth. We made a hinged door to allow access to storage below. 

Another storage locker was created ahead of the cabinet shelves and hanging locker. 

This triangular hatch opens up to allow access to storage below.  We covered the triangular hatch with the same flooring material and hinged it on the outboard side.

Solid Surface Countertops

Pieces of solid surface or Corian like material was used to cover the top of the shelve and hanging locker unit. The material is 1/4 inch thick and is easily cut with a table or skill saw. 

The material has a shiny surface on one side and matte surface on the other. We chose the matte surface which is easy to clean and any scratches can be easily sanded out.

The pieces were glued down with silicone adhesive.

 

Solid surface counter top was cut for port side cabinet and glued down with silicone.

Cabinet Face Frames and Doors

Now that we had cabinets we wanted to dress them up by adding some solid maple face frames and doors similar to the other shaker style cabinets in the boat.

We dusted off the table saw, power planer, Kreg Jeg, router and the random orbital sander and got to work.

Brad had purchased some nice hardwood maple boards but they had to be milled down to the 3/4 thickness. A couple passes through the power planer made quick work of that. 

We ripped the boards to 2 1/4 inch widths for the stiles and rails. We used the Kreg Jeg to create pocket holes on the back of the face frame and connected them together with glue and screws.

We set the table saw blade and cut a 1/4 inch deep by 3/16 inch wide recessed groove in all the pieces to allow the center panels to slip in. 

We used 3/16 inch maple plywood for the inset panels in the cabinet doors. We created these doors similar to the shaker style doors in the rest of the boat. We made sure everything was square and glued them.

The stiles and rails of the doors were connected with biscuits at the joints and glued with the center panels in place.

The face frame and doors were rough fit and glued.  Hinges were hand chiseled into the doors and frames to allow the proper reveal.

Holes were drilled into the cabinet doors to allow the finger pulls and latch mechanism to be attached.

This is the face frame for the little cabinet on top of the hanging locker. Instead of building a door for this we just made a cut out to allow access the cabinet and keep items from rolling out. A similar face frame cut out was used in the aft head cabinets.

This is the rough fit of the face frame on the starboard cabinet and shelves. On a boat nothing seems to be square, plumb or level. Every piece has to be custom fit. Once this face frame is installed the last of the tambour can be attached to the lower cabinet.

The rough fit of the face frame and door. 

Assembled face frame and door

V-berth starboard side locker

V-berth forward bulkhead, anchor locker, side panels and headliner

Anchor locker latch

Starboard side top cabinet face frame and tambour

Port side cabinet and aft bulkhead

V-berth starboard side cabinet doors

V-berth aft bulkhead tambour, fan, dorade covers 

This season was very productive. Summer is fast approaching and I am heading back to South Dakota for the summer. Work on Wildthing will pause during the brutal summer in Florida. 

We were able to install the two electric Lewmar primary winches and two manual secondary winches. We then moved onto the v-berth and nearly completed this cabin after two years of work. Side hulls coverings, headliner bulkheads, flooring and cabinetry were completed. The pilothouse was painted and the headliner was completed. More pictures on the pilothouse reveal will follow later.  Some repairs were made to the outside hull and caprail damage that occurred during hurricane Ian. 

I will return in November to hopefully finish up the v-berth. Stay tuned for more posts. Work is slow but we are coming to the end of the project. It is so exciting and gratifying to see 20 years of work come to completion. 

~~~Sail On~~~/)

Mark