hydrometer | Sailing Red

WEATHER STATION

Apr 1, 2016 | Flotsam

Our weather station, chart/nav cache mod.

This is a project we’ve been wanting to tackle for a while now and even though there has been no shortage of ‘additions’ for R.E.D. this winter requiring modifications, what’s one more?

We found a great piece of white oak at our local lumber yard. It’s really a very high end place and every time we visit we drool over the beautiful exotic woods…beautiful teak, wenge, tiger wood, mahogany. They also supply all the bells and whistles needed for any craftman’s hobby from fine carvings and beyond.

But back to our white oak. For last year’s wood trim project (link here and here) it was advised that if we didn’t want to mortgage our life away using teak that white oak was a great alternative as it is very resistant to moisture and was quite often used in ship building.

Wood Cost

Really! When you can walk away with a purchase for any boat and pay this little, it’s a good day. $10 for a piece that will serve this project and more than enough leftover for a couple more that Captain has rolling around in his head. The extra $10 charge was for plaining from 1″ to 5/8″ and cutting in two.

Our Go-To Wood Place

Now on to the making of…

We chose the piece that had the most attractive grain which will hopefully show up well when stained and finished.

White Oak

Onboard R.E.D. there is always enough cardboard for making design templates. We do love our beer and wine.

Template

Because we are cutting into an area which could have structural implications, a backing plate will be glued and riveted in place. A secondary benefit will be to soften the edging around the fibreglass so we won’t cut ourselves when accessing the hatch.

Backing Plate Design on Baltic Birch Plywood

Now we’re ready to go back to the boat to check that the template is accurate before cutting.

Door Front with Backing Plate

We had a little ‘discussion’ about the shape of the door – a conflict between Francois’ love of wood and my wanting to keep with the existing lines in the cabin. A compromise was reached (Francois’ interpretation: the Galley Kat won this one)