Finished the portside tunnel Saturday, with a wonderful band playing somewhere on Bayou Chico for most of the day -- we could hear them and they were very talented, but we haven't found out who they were! Appreciated the music, anyway. (UPDATE 4/29/11: Ken says these were Frank Patti and a bunch of his friends who play music, and they were playing at Patti's boat yard because they were launching a new Joe Patti fishing vessel. Seems they do this only when a new Patti vessel is launched, but wow, if they were playing regular gigs in this area, I'd be seeking them out to go dancing!) Also got help from Big Mike and his son Justin from Big Mike's Fiberglass in selecting a bottom paint color -- two parts blue to one part black, for a deeper blue.

Today was Sunday, and we went to work on the boat at 9 am. Derek was sanding up on the deck, and I was playing Karate Kid, "Wax on. Wax off," in the starboard tunnel. Got the far starboard wall finished and the part of the aft underdeck that I had spot-painted as a touchup a few days earlier. We will (finally) mount the starboard rubrails tomorrow, a permanent (well, semi-permanent) mounting with 3M 4200. Here's Derek demonstrating for me what I was about to spend the next week doing (just calling my buffer "Buffy" and enjoying the tingling sensation that stays with ya for hours after a buffing session):


Later, Derek finished the circular hatch to the forward compartment where the compressor for the fridge will be, forward of the starboard forward cabin and he also started to build the locker that will hold the refrigerator. Once he's roughed out the insulation, he'll build the refrigerator itself with foam, a ply mounting board to hold the freezer compartment's screws, and fiberglass. He's pretty good at fiberglass! He's also managed to find a new space to use for storage, make a door for it, and paint the interior -- thank you, Derek!