I’m baaaa~~~~ck.
The trip to Japan was great. The kids’ wedding was perfect. I got to see friends from university that I hadn’t seen in 20 years. The food was awesome. Hot springs were awesome. Jet lag was brutal going and coming back, but that’s to be expected.
The Shiba Toshogu Shrine in Tokyo
The wedding happened at the historic Shiba Toshogu shrine, the family shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shogun of Japan and the great unifier who ushered in the relatively peaceful Eido Period. Let’s hope the kids’ marriage works out as well!
Anyway…back to the Roamer refit.
I’ve been working my way toward the stern, first by stalling the back wall and ceiling of the laundry closet. Now I’m working on the storage/AC closet aft of that. The back panel is fitted and the backside of it is insulated. So the next step was to dry-fit the back panel and cut the shelf panels that will enclose the Flagship Marine air conditioning unit.
Framing out the AC shelf
The last piece of 3/4″ okume plywood
Okume isn’t as pretty as mahogany, but it’s marine grade and waterproof. Ideally, there will never be any water in unexpected places inside this AC closet, but if there is the okume will stand up to it better than the cabinet-grade mahogany panels would.
Nice fit!
Next, fit the upper panel support cleats
With the cleats and panels fitted, I removed everything and coated the back panel face.
Coat the back panel face with brown-tinted epoxy
A heavy coat of epoxy levels out pretty well
Next day, wet out the contact areas on the back panel with epoxy
Wet out the backing cleats and apply wood flour-thickened epoxy
Press the panel into position, and wipe up the epoxy that squeezes out
I like working in these smaller spaces. Individual projects wrap up faster when the overall job is smaller. 🙂
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Ducting for the Aft Stateroom Air Conditioner
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Thanks for the link, and Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Yes, she looks like she’s in great shape. Must have really been sad to sell her.
Hopefully the new owner is maintaining the boat better than he did your website.
So glad you are back! I am amazed by the scope and scale of this project and have really enjoyed reading this blog.
Did you also do a complete refit of your 52’ Connie? I would love to see a picture of that boat if you have any handy.
My parents bought a 1967 30’ Connie new. (I was 12 years old in 1967) I really loved that boat. We lived in Los Angeles at the time and spent all of our weekends and vacations exploring every port within 100 miles. The old wooden Chris Crafts are still the most stylish boats on the water!
Thanks, Bill! Happy Thanksgiving!
I didn’t do a complete refit of my 52′ Connie, but she did look and run good by the time I sold her. It looks like the new owner didn’t maintain the site where I documented the boat. But you can see some of the videos of the boat out on the water. https://sites.google.com/site/1967chriscraftconstellation52/home/out-on-the-water/2009
Cheers,
Q