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