Moira's Story of the Interior So Far

Colin and I drove to the beach at Williamstown, straining to see if the Royals race tender was visible anywhere on the horizon. Our excitement was reminiscent of times past, important events, impending birth. When we caught sight of the boat in the distance I think I squealed! There she was, gliding along behind, attached to a tow rope. A blue hull with no mast, Mystique had arrived.

The realization of what we had committed to didn’t dampen the enthusiasm, we had just been delivered the boat we had been searching for. Months of trawling the net, talking to experts, and gathering information was suddenly over. The fact that we had purchased her, sight unseen, was a departure from our usual careful purchase ethic.

We both love a bargain, and since the modifications we were planning included a new mast and rigging, and cutting out the deck to accommodate Colin’s wheelchair, this 27 year old Holland 25 was just perfect. The previous owners had lost her mast during a fishing trip, and had decided to cut their losses. Their loss was our gain.

THE INTERIOR

It took two days before Mystique was hoisted from the water onto a hardstand. I couldn’t wait to climb that ladder to see inside, the photos we had just didn’t give perspective. The first thing that struck me was the overwhelming smell of diesel, okay, all the cushions were tossed over the side, and mental note to get the engine looked at. The interior was impressive, but terribly neglected, the veneer had split over every surface (photos look much better than the reality). Some “half assed” attempts had been made to cover the neglect, but a complete strip back is what she deserves.

The next day, armed with my old heat gun and several different size scrapers I started to remove the veneer. I have renovated houses, and I was lucky to have a father who was a marine engineer who taught me how to use tools. However, nothing had prepared me for the VENEER.

VENEER - REMOVAL

The first few strips came off with relative ease, lulling me into a false sense of how easy this job might be. I was thrilled to see some lovely figure on the old marine ply underneath. Then I hit the first of many, many areas of different adhesives that must have been tried all those years ago. Some resembled chewing gum when heated, and others just wouldn’t give up, no matter how much heat and grunt I applied.

I became obsessed, spending hours on small areas that tried to beat me. I had now thrown out all my scrapers, and had found the only tool that came close to giving me the control I needed to beat this beast, the good old Aussie “Barbie Mate”. I can’t recommend this tool highly enough; it has a great handle, and a blade down one side that can slide inside the split in the veneer giving you a good run on large areas.

As the temperature rose in Melbourne, so too, did the temperature rise inside Mystique.
Between the sun, the heat gun, and my frustration it was almost unbearable. I was now splitting my day to only work when the sun was off the boat, I had no idea how hot it gets in a yacht, or how difficult it is to work in such confined spaces. After turning myself inside out, balancing on one foot with knee bent because of lack of headroom in the V berth, I needed no Pilates classes. I had lost 4 kilos in two weeks.

Along with wearing out my father's old heat gun, I also have what seem to be permanent lumps on my head from standing up under the same bolts in the ceiling, and my legs are a marvel of ever changing shades of purple through yellow and green bruises from bracing myself against hard surfaces while I attacked my Nemesis. Colin tells everyone I have “VENEERIAL DISEASE!” He’s not wrong. If I never see another piece of veneer, it will be too soon!

I just love the amount of woodwork in Mystique, none of the other Holland 25’s we had seen had anywhere near the amount of built in cupboards and shelves that ours has. The oval doors on the wardrobe, and through the bulkhead to the V berth had sent me to marine heaven.

SANDING

Now it was time to sand everything. The previous owner had painted every other surface in paving paint, it had to come off. So did the headliner in the main cabin which revealed something I had never seen before, “splatter paint” (aparently the trend for boat interiors 30 years ago). How ugly is that stuff! It took me ages to work out what it was. It looked like a serious explosion had occurred, or maybe an arterial spurt.

I decided that this was going to be too much for me after my battle with the VENEER, so Colin decided that paying someone else to do the heavy sanding was a good idea. I couldn’t agree more, so I took a week off while the boys from the dockyard boat builder contended with the fibreglass interior.

I spent my time at home sanding all the doors that could be removed from the interior. Sanding the timber on board after the boys had finished wasn’t too bad, except for the difficulty of the confined areas, and places my new little mouse sander couldn’t reach.

PAINT

I spent hours and hours trawling the net and contacting paint manufacturers trying to find products that were water based. I’m very chemically challenged, so I really couldn’t imagine being in that space, in the heat working with chemicals that were sure to make me horribly sick.

After much discussion, and lots of horrified reactions from “boaties” who just can’t be swayed from the old 2 pack, I found that for boat interiors it is quite acceptable to use, “shock, horror” house paint. Okay, okay, I hear you, but I am going to try it. If it fails, be it on my own head. Our house is at the beach, and we’ve had no problems with that after seven years. I just can’t see that the interior of a boat is all that different. I actually found one “yachtie” who painted his boom with house paint straight on the aluminium ten years ago, and it’s still hanging in there. He assured me that he will be painting his deck next with house paint. I’ll be very interested to see how that goes.

I have just finished the clear coat over four coats of Interior Varnish Stain, all low odour and water base. This job was not without its own problems. The product goes on like water, and you need to be on top of the “dribble factor” I had to check and recheck before it was too dry to repair. The doors that I was able to paint horizontally at home were easier to manage than the vertical surfaces, but being touch dry in 30 minutes, and recoat in 3 hours is my kind of product. I just sped through 5 coats and light sanding in 2 days.

I am really happy with the outcome. The timber had been covered for 27 years, and had taken some knocks, so perfection was never an option, but the deep mahogany colour really looks schmick!

Now I just need more weather that is not too hot (the yacht is too hot to work in, with hot sun on the hull) and the rain stops (too dangerous to climb up a tall ladder in the wet). We need the rain and I love the sun. I now understand why renovating yacht interiors is definitely a Winter "sport"!