From Latitude 38
March 2003

Seayanika Update

The countdown continues.  Erik’s favorite phrase now is “I’m 90% done with the boat -- but it’s the last 10% that takes 90% of the time.”  I hope he’s just joking!

As we go through Seayanika, the 49-foot custom sailboat we are building from a bare hull, there are many things started but not finished.  This sad state of affairs is due to various reasons; running out of material, parts being on backorder, lack of enthusiasm, and sometimes just plain utter confusion.  We started working on Seayanika in October 2000, and originally had hoped to launch in June 2002, a year and eight months later.  Okay, with a workforce of one maybe that was a little ambitious.  We are now expecting to launch this June, which would put our total construction time at two years and eight months.  All things considered, still not too bad.

One of the instant gratification jobs we’ve completed recently is the installation of the ceiling, the varnished mahogany slats that go along the insides of the hull.  For those of you who have been following our project, these are the self-same slats to which I painstakingly applied six coats of varnish a year ago.  They look great!  In fact, we liked the look so much that we decided to add them to other areas, so we are busily preparing more ceiling pieces -- milling the wood, cutting, sanding, varnishing, sanding, varnishing, etc.

The mahogany veneer has been applied throughout Seayanika, with the exception of a few small locations.  We are using a veneer called ‘Sapele’, which is darker than the mahogany trim pieces we’re using, but proving to be a nice contrast.  We’ve trimmed out most of the doorways with custom pieces Erik fabricated in his shop on past rainy days.  Also, some (but not all) of the fiddles are installed -- fiddles that Erik laminated himself with 10 to 12 layers of 1/16-inch thick pieces of wood.  Is there no end to his talents? 

My entertaining husband just flew through the house, stopped to show me his superhero pose, and informed me that today I should refer to him only as ‘Formica Man'.  (I'm glad he's not expecting me to stencil a big ‘F’ on his chest and provide him with a cape, since the doubting thomases in the neighborhood would no doubt think it stood ‘fool’.)  The formica, by the way, will be installed in the passageway between the main salon and aft stateroom, and on some of the horizontal surfaces. 

Aside from being amusing, Erik is very obsessive . . . I mean, patient.  He has decided that my varnishing skills are not quite up to his standards, so he will be giving me ‘technical instruction' this afternoon. 

Although professional varnishing is not a skill I thought I'd ever aspire to, I’d rather be doing this time-consuming work so he can concentrate on the big picture -- and the little details.

"Steady now. . ." Katriana gets varnishing instructions

         from Erik.  Photo at left, the interior of           

           'Seayanika' takes shape.           

Speaking of new skills I never aspired to, I’m going to be undertaking an entirely new one soon.  I have signed up for an upholstery class at the local community college.  When I saw the class being offered, I decided that doing the upholstery myself would be a good way to cut our costs, and might be useful to know in the future.  So, for the next 16 weeks, I will be dedicating eight hours a week attempting to create magnificent and luxurious seating and cushions for Seayanika’s interior.  And, as always, wondering what I've gotten myself into.

 How does one get ideas for boat upholstery?  Boat shows, of course.  After touring many new boats, we decided we liked the look and feel of the upholstery on the Hunter 46s best.  Although the ‘Ultra Leather’ featured at the show is beyond our budget (and probably not very practical for extended cruising), I located a marine grade vinyl made by Enduratex in Fullerton, California, that is both economical and similar to Ultra Leather.  So, last month, while attending the San Diego Boat Show, I jumped aboard a Hunter, whipped out my spy camera, photographed the upholstery from every angle, poked and prodded the cushions, and snooped inside the zippers to see what mysterious material it contained.  The salesman kept eyeing me suspiciously, so I finally just told him I was a spy and he laughed and left me alone.  Little did he know I was telling the truth! 

We’ll also be attending Pacific Sail Expo in Oakland this April.  This will be our last hurrah and an opportunity to check out and buy all our final purchases.  I’m starting to feel like a boat show groupie.  Many vendors know us by name, ask about our progress and wish us well.  Others are probably sick of all of our questions.

Last week, out of the blue, the local Kiwanis Club called us to ask if we would be the keynote speakers for their March membership meeting.  Channel 8 continues to do periodic progress updates; our web site (www.seayanika.com) has received over 20,000 hits; and visitors are always stopping by for a tour, be they relatives, friends (with beer), inquisitive neighbors, other boat owners or boat builders, or even local Boy Scout troops.  This boatbuilding business sure is interesting stuff.  Who knows, maybe next the Mayor of Vista will stop by to present us with a key to the city?