When we first got Sonas in 2016 she had white fine mesh covers for the pilot house windows, which allowed in a significant amount of sun. Over time the sun had bleached the finish on a lot of the interior wood. We knew sooner or later we would have to have the wood refinished. At the start of 2018 we asked our yard for some recommendations for people who could do this. One declined the project over the phone, the other came over and looked at the job. She later called and said that it was not something that she was interested in doing. It seems that people would prefer to work on more straightforward pieces of wood – like rails etc.
After the season’s cruising we finally contacted the guy who did all of the interior and exterior of our home when we bought it in 2014. We were very satisfied with his workmanship so decided to see what he thought of this project. Mike came over and checked out the pilot house. He then told us that he would be honored to be trusted to do this work. He told us that his dad used to build wooden boats and they would both finish them. In fact, that is how he got started on his career!
He laid out his plan. Hand sanding to make sure the sanding went with the grain. Then staining with a matching stain, in our case Pecan. Then a first coat of poly, followed by a fine rub with wire wool to take the first coat into the stain. Finally another coat of poly, and a third where necessary. The floors would be last. He would use a horse hair brush for the stain and apply the poly with rags. The estimated time was three to four weeks, it ended up as around five weeks elapsed. Below are the before, during and after photos.
Plus we had our canvas guy make us a new set of lined Sunbrella covers for the pilot house windows!
Before
During
After
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