The Remodel - Above Decks

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Sequel is finally starting to look like a cruising boat.  The stern now has two Siemen 100 solar panels and two wind generators.  That should help keep our batteries topped.  Underway, the navigation equipment really pulls the batteries down, but not any more.  If we're sailing, those wind generators will be spinning, keeping the batteries filled.

Stern Arch with solar panels and wind generators

The GPS antenna and comsat antenna found their way onto the arch.  It is nice to get the rails cleared of all the little antennas.   We even freed up our fish holder again.  It was used as the mounting bracket for the comsat antenna -- clever use, but we're glad to have it back.

Another view of the arch.  Shows the outboar up on the rail and our hailing port of San Jose is proundly displayed.

The top of the arch has some pullies we can use to haul the dingy out of the water.  There is also a removable arm with pullies we use to lift the outboard motor on to the rail..  It sure makes putting the outboard on the rail easier. with.  .  At anchor, we can hoist the dingy up out of the water, too.  an arch that we use to haul the dingy out of the water. 

We changed the lifelines (rails on the side of the boat), to stainless.  It looks sleek and is much safer under way.

We're really happy with the look of the arch.   It holds all the gear we needed to add for long-term cruising and keeps the decks and rails clean of all the junk that tends to accumulate.

The New Cockpit Floor

One of the projects we had Vijay do is to put a teak floor in the cockpit.  We had teak grates before.  They look pretty when they're all shiny and varnished, but we weren't happy with them.  The holes were just big enough you could get your toe stuck if the boat lurched when you were at the wheel.

New teak floor in cockpit.  New port holes to improve air flow in the galley.

The grates were hard to take out to clean the cockpit floor.   It is amazing how much stuff ends up on the floor below the grates.   The grates were hard to remove and somehow the cockpit always looked like it need to be cleaned.  Now a simple sweep with a broom keeps the cockpit looking nice.

All the portholes in the boat were changed to stainless steel ones that really look good.  We also put 3 new ones in to improve airflow in the galley and at the nav station.  Two were added into the cockpit as you can see in this picture.  To dress it up, Vijay made teak frames.  They look good and it sure is nice to have opening port holes while I'm working in the galley.

 

The New Dodger, Bimini, and Sun Awning

Sequel now has a new dodger, bimini and huge sun awning.  It has really opened up the cockpit.  We had a small dodger that sat on the lip of the cockpit rim.  It was enough to keep the water from splashing in if you were huddled under it, but that was about all. 

New Dodger was moved off the cockpit rim out to the side of the cabin housing.  One huge panel of eisen glass sure gives great visibility.

The new one is all the way out to the edge of the cabin housing and goes all the way to the bimini.  Now the water can just wash up over the top of the bimini.  Those times when we saw the water coming up the decks and washing into the cockpit are gone.  We sure won't mind giving up those salt water baths!!

To help keep us dry under way, we have removable eisen glass side panels that can totally seal us into the cockpit and still allow us to see.    You can tell we really don't like those waves of water hitting us when we're under way.  It is just not fun to be on watch at night and have the salt water find a way to splash you.  UGH!!  Those days are over.

Another view of the arch.  Shows the outboar up on the rail and our hailing port of San Jose is proundly displayed.

We also have textaline side panels for the bimini, which is fabric similar to what plant nursery's use to shade areas.  We can see through it, but it provides shade on those hot tropical afternoons.  We can put them up while at anchor or while underway if we need them.

We also had a full sun awning made that we can use at anchor.   It covers the whole boat from the stern to the inner forestay at the front of the boat.  It takes almost an hour to put up, so we won't use it unless we're staying awhile in a place that either gets a lot of hot sun or lots of rain.   It probably lowers the temperature of the boat 10 degrees when we put it up.  On the rainy days we can sit in the cockpit and enjoy the outdoors even if their is driving rain.  

Allen refers to our sun awning as the revival tent.  Sequel is a big boat and the awning is enormous.