Aesthetic Interlude

Now that the main panel framing is done, while we waiting for the glue to dry, started thinking about the doors, how to frame them up with the portholes, and make a lightweight reproductions of the wood part of the exterior like they were in mid-century Chris Craft boats.

Here's how they were framed on deck:

This thing is 21" wide and weighs a TON.

To save on weight, we are using the safety grate, but not the mahogany. We're using lighter fir instead. Here's the first try. We didn't have wide enough fir, so we just made a test frame:

Here's what it looks like after trimming it into a circle:

Funny thing: we had to test some stains t get the fir test to match the Sapele. When I opened our old can of Dalys Benite (the best wood pre-stain treatment out there), I got a strong sense memory of our fun and pride in our front door project. LOVE that smell.

I found the perfect combo of stains to match, but forgot to take a photo.

Our interior wall material arrived - I found floor mats made of bamboo in a "teak & holly" stripe pattern. So cool!!!

We also scored some old sails at the Center for Wooden Boat's rummage sale - we think it will be perfect for awning material: