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