My friend and fellow Massachusetts sailor Mike Ide was laid off last year from his newspaper computer position and with the bleak job market, he has chosen to turn his hobby into a career doing custom boat wood projects. In the last year he has made for me a mahogany/maple table, teak veneer sliders to replace the forever breaking black plastic ones, a teak floor grating for the head and a perfect storage rack for the hatchboards that fits in the aft locker behind the steering quadrant cover. I am very pleased with the craftsmanship having absolutely no talent in this area myself, and I feel the additions have really improved the feel of the cabin. I just thought I would share my upgrades (I'm trying to attach photos for the first time so I hope it works) and if anyone is interested in contacting Mike now that he has the C34 templates, I can get you his email.
Brian McPhillips
Thanks for sharing, Brian. Real good woodwork. Approximately how much did you pay? Just curious...
This Winter I spent $1000 for port and starboard sliders, the floor grate and a custom teak stereo mount and sliders above the Nav Station (I didn't post this picture). It was $25/hr labor + materials-I went for top quality wood. The table was last year and I forget exactly what I paid-it was his first project and he redid the varnish twice to get it right without charging me.
Brian
Hopefully you were on a starboard tack when the third picture was taken... :rolling :rolling :rolling
Brian, how about some pictures of the hatchboard storage rack?
Mark Mueller
I don't have any photos of the hatchboard storage rack since it was done last year but I'll try to get one this weekend. It is a narrow rack with the two boards fitting snugly out of the way of everything else-a great improvement over the traditional placing of them on a settee and hearing them crash eventually!
Brian
I too would love to see the storage rack. I've failed to come up with anything I like...I'm intrigued by the location...
Brian, that is some nice work going on in there man...that floor grating is spectacular! And the table? Dang!! :thumb: :thumb:
Maybe we could setup a group purchase of floor grate? I sure like the look of it and never seem to find the time to build one myself.
Cheers,
Rick
I was abe to get these pictures today of the hatchboard rack. As you can see, it takes up very little space in the aft locker. I spoke to Mike Ide today and he said he definitely could provide favorable pricing to C34 members since he already has done the time consuming design/templating work. If anyone would like to contact him he can be reached at 1-617-899-5099 or mide@comcast.net
Brian
Thanks for the pics Brian. I think it's a great space to stash the hatchboards. The mental image of my lazarette isn't serving me well...hopefully I'll revisit it this weekend. What is the purpose of the big grey box?
The gray box is covering the top and back of the steering quadrant. I assumed it is part of all C34s but maybe not. It is easily removed with 4 long wood screws and we found the vertical back wall the perfect place to mount the rack.
Brian
Ah hah...now I've got it...I"ve got a platform covering all that stuff. My propane locker sits on it...