1971 Newport 30 Sailboat
As I’m without a car this weekend, I stocked up on groceries and ended up cooking more than I usually do. But it was fun and turned out great, despite somewhat cramped quarters.
Pasta with Alfredo sauce and shiitake mushrooms:
Steak with asparagus
Avocado toast with boiled egg and sriracha (don’t have room for a proper toaster so used the pan).
Started working on the headliner for v-birth. My original plan was to use template material to create proper shape with all the cutouts required and then transfer it to the headliner material. That proved to be almost impossible. The template kept shifting around and the holes and edges ultimately didn’t match that well.
So I changed the approach and cut out the rough shape directly in the headliner material, then glued the part that didn’t need much adjustment (e.g. the center), and then slowly worked around the edges: drawing the lines, trimming in place, gluing. That worked much better but was a bitch to do upside down in a cramped space. Boat yoga to the max.
The final challenge was to figure out what to do with the visible edge, especially around the hatch. The foam backing, even though it’s thin, is yellow and visible on the edge and that looked kinda ugly. I tried sewing a strip of nylon on but after an hour of experimenting couldn’t get consistent results that looked good. Then I tried to glue that nylon; also without success. The final approach I settled on was to remove about 1/2″ of foam at the edge and glue that edge flash. Turned out OK.
Knocking off another item from the 2026 TODO list: companionway panels. I had them cut out awhile back but the fit was not good. Today I finalized the fit, removed the protective film, made teak trim for the top panel.
I also created a nifty storage place so the panels are out of the way while I’m on the boat. I sized the panels so the first two are smaller than the top one and they all fit together. Super happy with the result!
Turning my attention to the companionway, I went on to install a basic clothes hook. Wanted it for a long time but couldn’t figure out the right placement. Seems like this spot is perfect and has the lowest risk of causing any kind of injury underway.
Started the new year with a bang – marking off one TODO from the 2026 plan: finish cushions. First, I made the remaining v-birth cushion and small trapezoidal insert:
Then went on to make the giant quarter birth cushion:
It was kinda awesome that I ran out of material just there and then. I bought precisely as much as I needed.
Cushions – DONE!
Well, 2025 is a wrap. That was a mixed year for me – making great progress in some areas and dealing with setbacks and blockers in others.
2 of the 3 big projects I wanted to get done in 2025 – upgrade of the propulsion system and electronics – still have some loose ends at the end of the year and will spill over into 2026. The dehumidifier is now in place so at least that undertaking is at 100%. As a cherry on top, I even managed to get started on cushions.
For 2026, the goal is to get the boat to fully sailable and livable state. The ultimate test would be to spend a few days at anchor in Sausalito.
First, I’d love to wrap-up carry overs from 2025:
Beyond the wrap-up above, here is the new stuff I’d love to get done in the next 12 months:
If all of the above gets done then my original project that started 10 years ago as a “3 months remodel” would be finished. Hard to believe 🙂
Made one of the cushions for the v-birth today. Ended up being a bit more complex with curve+bevel in one side but turned out OK. Man, the boat doesn’t have much space for this type of work – cushion + roll of material + measuring tools and so for. Spent a lot of time crunched up in tight places.
Marina was without power today but thankfully, I have put in an inverter as part of my propulsion power system upgrade. That made it possible to complete this weekend’s project.
Upholstered the final saloon seat and paused to take in the new look. Love how cosy this. material looks, especially in the warm evening light.
Don’t want to run my usual electric heater off the inverter so got the fireplace going. This is definitely turning into a super cozy happy place!
With all 3 back support cushions done, it was time to get the seats upholstered. These ones are a bit more complicated because ever single one of the 3 has a small notch on one of the corners.
That makes them not really reversible and to save on the cost of material and make them more likely to stay in place I ended up using special nonskid backing. The zipper goes into the backing panel.
Then I make the top part using “simple box cushion”, except of course it has a notch that takes the “simple” part out of the name 🙂
Turned out pretty nice.
