Help from My Friends

The single main reason we pulled the boat in the first place was because of the much needed interior job. Almost every company we called and spoke to is adamant about not doing a headliner or walls while the boat was in the water. To say we got a lot of mixed advise would really be putting things lightly. But one thing that they all have had in common is they don't want to strip and clean the interior, I get that , it's a suck job but has to be done. We have noticed that of the companies who have bothered to give us a written bid , the amount of money allowed for the strip and prep was huge. I have spent a good portion of my life doing jobs that other people don't want to do, why should this be any different? Well there's a nice savings in me doing it anyway.
Just surveying this part of the project is a little intimidating so I called my good friend  Tommy who is retired from SM Wilson construction, Tommy was a project manager for them and always brings a fresh take on things when I ask him for help. The two of us got together and formulated a plan to strip the headliner and walls, it all starts with covering everything in that clear sticky plastic wrap like the dealers use in new cars.   

                                                   This is a  shot of Tommy getting started wrapping .

 This is kinda the done deal, The couch is coming out and then the carnage will commence .
The idea is take each piece down and mark it and store it away to use for patterns later. I'm not sure by who because we haven't settled on an upholstery company yet.

My pirate friend started work on the platform, he delivered to the shop a 5' x 10" sheet of aluminum which will ultimately be the top. Before I could shoot a picture of the cardboard platform I built,  John dissected it with a razor knife and started laying out the top pattern with a Sharpie. 

That's a boat trailer / work bench, that worked perfectly for  the primary layout and cutting.

I shot this picture as John was just getting started, then my cell phone rang and I was needed back at the main office. A few hours later when I returned this is what I found.

Wow this guy is quick and very focused, by the time I got back, John had the top plate cut , fit ,
 temp fastened to the boat and was welding under structure in place. I remarked to him how fast it was taking shape, he just smiled and said it's easy "I'm using your patterns". When John cut the cardboard template apart for the top he also decided to use the under structure patterns as well, which made the primary fabrication go like lightning. John spent the rest of the day cutting pieces and tacking it all together, by the time the day was over we pretty much knew extactly what the platform would look like. I could not be happier , this project needs more days like this. 


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