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I got the big veneer panel to the left of the aft stateroom door installed and put a small panel across the top. So there was pretty mahogany all around the door. But there was still part of an ugly beam that runs across the top of the bulkhead and supports the aft deck above that I had to do something about. I had some mahogany veneer scraps that were just the right size. The grain's not the same as the rest of the aft cabin (quartersawn ribbon stripe vs flat cut), and picky people will note that the grain isn't oriented properly for a structural piece, but I think it's just fine. Once the whole thing's done, if anybody comes onboard and points that out, I'll kick 'em off the boat! I don't need nitpickers in my life! lol

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Entryway Mahogany Panels II

Cheers,
Q

The beam before


The beam after


Ready for varnish!

I've got a lot of finished mahogany that's awaiting ICA base coat varnish. The last bit I needed to finish was the bottom edge on the sliding door box in the aft stateroom. That's the part that covers the sliding door track and roller at the ceiling. I thought about just shaving off a bit of mahogany solid stock to cover the ugly plywood edge but instead went with veneer.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping up the Aft Stateroom Sliding Door Box

Cheers,
Q

Before


After

I got wrapped up with some stuff going into the Independence Day holiday and forgot to hit the Publish button on my last blog article until the weekend! I got ICA polyurethane varnish laid down on that aft stateroom bulkhead and a bunch of mahogany pieces. It didn't turn out too bad!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Varnishing the Aft Stateroom Entryway

Cheers,
Q

Don't forget...this was the "before" not too long ago


And the midway shot


This is the "after" shot, but remember--this is just the ICA base coat, which will be sanded flat before two coats of matte top coat get sprayed on.

We got most of the aft stateroom Whisper Wall headliner installed. I have to say, this stuff is much, much nicer than the thin, perforated headliner that's commonly used on boats. Once the headliner installer was out of the way, I went and installed some more Kai LEDs and one of the OEM light fixtures. But instead of using the 12v 40w incandescent heaters they used back in the day, I went with 12v 10w corn LED bulbs from ebay. They put out ~75w equivalent light but at a fraction of the amp consumption.

Progress.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Headliner Installation II

Cheers,
Q

Looking aft


Looking forward

Drumroll please....

The aft stateroom headliner is a wrap. Turned out sweet, too. I had a bit of a hiccup with the OEM sliding screen, but the solution worked out well and looks nice, too.

Progress. Booya.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the Aft Stateroom Headliner Installation

Cheers,
Q

The last headliner panel


Done


The hatch sliding screen

It's been a while since we started the V-berth headliner installation. With the aft stateroom done, the installer headed forward and wrapped up the front end of the boat. Once he was done, I installed the Kai LEDs. It turned out great!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the V-berth Headliner Installation

Cheers,
Q

Keep up the good work, it's looking great!

Do you have an estimate on when you might be done?

Thanks!
It's a boat, so it's technically never "done." lol
I dunno. I'd like to see it floating in a year or two.

Unfortunately, next I had to take a couple steps back to fix a problem that popped up way back in December 2013, about a week after we finished the exterior paint. Long cracks showed up on the inside of the window openings in the galley. I'd asked the paint crew to fix cracks that were there before we painted, but they didn't do a very good job and the cracks came back. Before we can put the salon headliner tracks in, I have to pull the windows and have the painter fix the cracks. We decided a layer of fiberglass would help the filler stay together, so this turned out to be a messy job.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Galley Crack Repair

Cheers,
Q

"Veeing" out the cracks


Fiberglass over new filler

It's been a hot week. In the tent, it's beyond Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of heat. So I stayed home and worked on turning a spare bedroom into a sewing room for the missus. Such a tiny, tiny little project...

But before it got scorching, the Boatamalan painter came in and sprayed the galley window openings where he did the crack repair. He also fixed a crack that appeared at the salon entryway to the aft deck. That crack was holding up me installing the facia boards at the entryway, which was holding up the headliner installer putting in the Whisper Wall tracks. So getting that painted will finally let us move forward on the salon headliner installation.

Progress.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Painting the Galley Window Openings

Cheers,
Q

No more crack at the salon entryway!


No more cracks in the galley window openings!