Monthly Archives: August 2023

New Canvas: Inside and Out

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New canvas!  We replaced all of our interior and exterior cushions when we purchased Sugar Shack in 2010.  Do you remember the horrid teal pleather that was on the boat when we bought it?  The shop in Turkey did a really great job replacing the cushions and covering them.  We replaced the interior cushions with a beautiful, light tan micro suede called Alcantera and the exterior cushions had a sturdy, stainproof, water resistant beige sunbrella. 

Fast forward to today…if you were to look at our cushions from afar you might wonder why we were replacing the fabric…Even I think they look pretty darn good from this shot.

But, when you look closely, the fabric has started pulling away at the seams especially around the bolsters.  Unfortunately, this is not fixable.  I know, I tried and it doesn’t hold as the fabric is too thin and worn to hold the thread and glue.

And some of the cushions have actually worn through the fabric on the sides.

Exterior Cushions

The exterior cockpit cushions are holding up a little better but they are stained and looking a little tired.  They are also retaining water (when it rains the cockpit gets wet) which takes ages to dry out.

Shopping for a Dressmaker

One of the first things that we did when we arrived in New Zealand (Nov.2022) was to look for canvas makers.  We knew this would be a huge job and so we wanted to get on the books early on.  We met with several companies and decided on Masterpieces in Canvas.  The owner, Kim, is very professional, has amazing creative ideas, great suggestions, and a reputation for stellar work.

The Pending Canvas Projects:

  • Replace fabric on interior Cushions (7 backs, 8 bottoms, 1 nav seat, 2 bench seats, 1 round seat)
  • Recover exterior cushions (3 long cockpit cushions, 2 helm seats)
  • New back bolster covers at helm seats
  • Dinghy Chaps / cover
  • Cockpit enclosure
  • Sail Bag Cover (North Sails will provide this)

We selected a new, hardier interior fabric that is a macro-suede in Ash (left photo).  For the exterior, we selected two types of a new (to us) fabric called Sauleda.  The main cushions and helm seats will be in light silver gray called Tandem Piedra.  The new dinghy chaps, sail bag, helm bolsters and cockpit enclosure will be in a darker gray called Tandem Grafito.

The macro-suede is water and stain resistant and can be scrubbed and cleaned.  The Sauleda is waterproof, stain proof and much stronger than Sunbrella.  It has more threads making it a sturdier fabric.

The Big Reveal:

The new cushions came in and boy oh boy are we excited.  They turned out so beautifully that we did not want to sit on them!  The color is perfect, the material is soft and luxurious, and the design is perfect.

Kim has great attention to detail which can be found in all the seams, curves, and design.  Yours truly (Christine) made the beautiful, buttery soft blanket in the bottom photo.

The bottom side even turned out really nice.  She used a beautiful black phifertex, with sturdy zippers and wood on the bottom (so your bottom doesn’t sink into the holes below)

The seat at our navigation table even came out super cool.  We bought a new chair and had Kim recover it to match the cushions.  This new chair is on a swivel so it turns around and will lift up so we can still access the storage underneath it.

Outside Canvas work

The vendor in Turkey did a great job providing us with large, cushy cushions.  All we needed to do was add a little more water proofing and new canvas.  They came out beautiful as well.

Cockpit Enclosure

Matt and I had made our rain and sun shades and they were very tired and did not completely enclose the cockpit so when it rained everything got wet.  Kim and Matt designed our new enclosure that has windows and is completely enclosed.  We will most likely only use the large back panel and the two side panels (not the corners) on a daily basis.

From the inside…excuse the mess but we are still under construction…

A New Dinghy and Chaps

Our amazing Avon 3.4 lasted over 22 years!  She was a spectacular dinghy and lasted way beyond expectations.  She had a deep “V” bottom, a false floor so we had a flat surface to stand on inside dinghy, tall transom, locker with hawes pipe and 3 pontoons.  But she had several slow leaks and we just could not keep up with them.  We thought about just replacing the pontoons because we loved this dinghy so much, but the cost was equivalent to a new dinghy.

Avon no longer makes small dinghies (they just make gigantic dinghies) so we could not even replace her with another one just like her.  In fact, we had a lot of problems finding a dinghy we liked.  We wanted a 3.6M dinghy, with a deep “V”, false bottom, tall transom (for our long shaft outboard), and hypalon pontoons.  But, New Zealand does not sell dinghies with hypalon pontoons because they are too expensive and they don’t sell.  So, we had to go with a pvc version which just are not as strong or sturdy.  What can you do? Just means the life span of this dinghy will be maybe 5-7 years tops.

We sell our beloved Sweetie along with our old 8hp Mercury outboard.

The gorgeous new outfit for Sweetie 2.0

And we get new chaps made for the new dinghy to protect the pontoons.  Sweetie 2.0.  The far left photo has shadows from the trees – the bow is actually perfect.  Kim added two beautiful pockets and the craftsmanship around each cut out is simply amazing (lower left photo).

Here is a photo of Kim and Roger (our sailmaker)

Events from this blog occurred between April-May 2023.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual events. We replace all of our ceiling panels, ceiling lights and update the master bath in our last blog.

Ceiling Panels: A New Hat

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The original ceiling panels on Sugar Shack are made of corrugated PVC.  They are well over 23 years old and were in need of replacement.  We had replaced the salon ceiling panels in 2016 and it was beyond time to replace the panels in all of the cabins.

We took some of the panels down to fix the leaks a few months ago.  It is a very long, time consuming, and uncomfortable project.  Matt has to carefully remove the old ceiling panel without it cracking, tearing, or disintegrating.  I then come in and remove all the glue and sticky residue which requires me to work upside down.  Not a comfy position to be in for days on end.  

To remove the glue I use multiple tools to scrape it off (scraper, knife, pick, brillo pad, acetone, elbow grease).  Once I get the majority of the glue off I get to work on the sticky residue which is much harder to come off.  I use sand paper, brillo pads, and glue gone.  It has to be smooth and clean in order for the VHB tape to stick.

Complete Chaos onboard

Each cabin has been exposed.

Office and Guest Cabin

Office and Guest Cabin

The main guest cabin (port bow) had some serious issues.  Once Matt removed the panels, the frame sort of collapsed.  Evidently the 5200 (glue) that was applied 23 years ago lost its stick.  So, Matt had to create new supports and reglue the frame prior to beginning work.

Guest Cabin

Guest Cabin

Normally it takes two people to put each panel up.  One holds one end while the other peels the tape and secures the panel.  However, Matt was able to do the ceiling panels all by himself.  He used everything at his disposal to get these panels up.  The green is just a protective cover and will come off once we are done.  I was in the states and unable to help him so he set up the GoPro to take time lapse photos.

Office Ceiling

Office Ceiling

And the finished Office with nice beautiful ceiling panels and new lights.

Completed Office

Completed Office

And the completed Guest Cabin.  Keep in mind that when we have guests we actually put bedding, towels and a little lovely decor out to make it more welcoming and homey.  But since this is just a “hey we finished the ceiling panels” photo I did not do all of that.

Master Bath “Head”

He also worked on the master bath which has a combination of corrugated pvc and fiberglass.  Unfortunately, we cannot remove the fiberglass panels so we will have to sand them down and paint them but that will be a project for another year.

In the photo below you can see where Matt is installing the new pvc panel and replacing the gross light fixtures that turned green from the salt air. He also removed the old shower head.

The updated bathroom or “head” is looking good.  We replaced all of the ceiling lights, the shower head and trash can. I bought a new scale, rug, and full length mirror.

Master Bath (Head)

Master Bath (Head)

There are not many times I need a full length mirror, but I’ve wanted one for years.  It keeps me honest.

New Full Length Mirror and Shower head

New Full Length Mirror and Shower head

On to the Master Bedroom Ceiling Panels

Back to the ceiling panels.  It was a really long project with us living in chaos and mess for months!  We finished the port side office and guest cabin and the starboard master bath but we still needed to work on the master cabin.  Once we had the ceiling panels off we needed to address the leaks.  Yep, we have a few leaks.  Some were from joints that needed new glue, some from worn out fittings.

The elbow fitting and hose were just old and warn. We had to replace them in all four corners of the boat. All the water from the deck flows to the four corners of the boat and into these drains.  They all were replaced with new drains and new hoses.  But of course to get to them you had to remove years old thickened epoxy

Master cabin and leak above bed

Master cabin and leak above bed

We install the new drain and hose, replace the thickened epoxy and start working on leak under the bimini.  Lucky for us we can do this outside rather than inside.  So, we put our new ceiling panels and new lights in the master cabin.

New Lights

Since we had all of the ceiling panels off we decided to upgrade our lights.  The current lights stated that they were stainless but we found out later on that they were not as they turned green and speckled.  

We found a great lighting store that sold stainless steel framed lights and white ceiling lights that fit our holes perfectly.  We ended up buying 4 small and one large stainless steel lights for the salon and galley,  But for the cabins, master bath and hallways we bought 15 white ceiling lights.  They look super sharp!

I must say that it is glorious having the ceilings completed as it was a mess along with all of the other construction projects.  

Events from this blog post occurred from November 2022-May 2023.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind schedule.  In our last blog post I shared our brand new stainless steel counter tops – they are spectacular, did you see them?

It’s Been Long Enough: New Counter tops

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When we purchased Sugar Shack back in 2010 she came with “lovely” turquoise green counter tops and matching pleather interior cushions.  We could not fathom owning a boat with turquoise green pleather cushions so we had those changed immediately.  Matt promised me that we would replace the counter tops “soon” but since they were in decent shape we lived with them for 13 years!

Matt decided he did not want Corian or marble countertops, he wanted stainless.  We ask our friends at Absolute Stainless to do the work.

Prep Work on the Countertops

Absolute Stainless said that they did not want to touch the 23 year old wood fiddle around the counters.  I really could not blame them as the chance for them to break is high and they don’t have a wood shop.  The fiddle is the wood lip that surrounds the edges of the counters.  They are curved and nailed in to the cabinetry.

So, Matt tackles the project himself with the hopes of removing them without damaging them.  It is a super slow process which required a lot of patience and tools.  But he was successful!

Next, Matt has to remove the veneer.  What would seem like a fairly easy project ends up taking the major part of a two weeks.

He then removes the other side of the counter tops.

Creating a Template for the New Counters

Absolute Stainless sent over Damon to create the template for our new counter tops.

Then we wait for the magic to happen.

Installation Day

So excited for installation day!  Damon and Harry (apprentice) arrive with our new countertops!  Before we bring the new pieces in we have to do some trimming of the wood to ensure a nice snug fit.

In comes the new pieces.  Matt is holding the small side by the refrigerator (the large hole is for the refrigerator door).

It’s a little tricky getting the long countertop inside and fitted.  

We ended up grinding the larger piece to fit properly by the wall (near Matt’s side), had to remove our light switches and shave a little more wood from the sink area – but it fit!

Damon loads up the undersides with a ton of special stainless steel glue and they leave behind over 400 pounds of weight to hold the counters in place as the glue dries.

We end up having to wait a week for them to come back.  Mostly because there was a weekend, 2 holidays, and Matt and I had to go to Auckland for 2 days.  Sort of a pain as we had no kitchen sink and no refrigerator.  

The Final Touches

The big reveal and we are both anxious and excited.  Wow, they came out looking terrific – what do you think?

The larger, longer piece with the sink and stove top came out stunning as well.  We bought a new sink that was welded into the countertop and since we had a new sink and new countertops we bought a new stainless steel faucet too.

It took us another few weeks to reinstall the wood fiddle around the edges, but the final product exceeded our expectations!

Now I need to learn how to clean them 🙂

Events from this blog post occurred in late March thru end of May 2023.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  In our last blog we take my family to the northern most part of the north island during a massive thunderstorm.