Due to a computer failure in which all data was lost, access to this missions blog has been redirected by Blogger to a new blog. All future postings will be written there. All past postings and photos up to this date are still available for viewing.

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Island Missions Support, Inc.

Progress Update: August 27th

On July 28th, Eric was rudely interrupted by a heart attack. He received two stents. The main artery to his heart was 99% blocked. He's recovering now and getting much better! 
Progress has resumed although Eric is working on a small side job to help pay some of our personal bills so he is split between the two jobs for a short time. 

( Eric prepping for the FRP panels)

The shop overhead is finished! The black area is the emergency hatch.

The top outer 1/4 section of the door frame for the lower head was too badly burned and could not be salvaged. Eric made new pieces and they look perfect! 

The two remaining door frames in the hallway were sanded, primed and painted before prepping the walls for FRP panels.

Mary cleaning up after the over-all hallway sanding. 

Our beautiful new panels!!

Right side of the hallway. The left side still needs to be done.

Stopping an annoying leak in the aft cabin we recently painted.

Progress Update: July 24th

(Eric painting large overhead panel)

The last two weeks Eric has been splitting his time between the ship and a temporary marine service job. We made slow progress with on-board projects but progress non the less. The overhead in the shop has the perimeter finished, one large panel installed and another large panel set to go up Monday. 
The crew head is spackled and ready for sanding and the hallway walls are ready to be covered. We will be using textured FRP sheets for the hallway which is similar to fiberglass shower-board. 

Overhead perimeter panels

First large panel installed

The crew head

 Fiberglass station

Adhesives and Putty station

 

 Painting station

 

Progress Update: July 10th

 (Eric putting the lathe together)

The projects have resumed with the wood shop having top priority. The lathe beds had to be cut to length for the space available, assembled and a new switch wired in. The overhead installation is moving along steadily but slowly. The first outer panels needed patterns for accurate fits and that took some extra time. Plus, each panel has to be sealed under the insulation and three coats on the other side and each coat has to dry several hours. Then they are clamped in place, drilled and tapped through the aluminum frames and finally anchored with machine screws. Its a bit of a process to be sure.
We are also continuing to prep the hallway, door frames and two large closet/storage sections that open into the hallway.

The lathe partially assembled

Making patterns

Painting overhead panels with close supervision by Penny

Bonding insulation.

Lots of objects come in handy when you have to weight things down.

Carefully drilling so the bit doesn't snap off in the aluminum.

The same care must be taken when tapping through the aluminum. Tapping threads for the machine screws.

Starboard (right) side outer overhead installed.
 

Port (left) side overhead installed. 

We are using 1/2 inch plywood for the outer sections to give extra strength where the cabinets and shelving will be added. The inner overhead will use 1/4 inch because it won't need to be weight bearing.

 Doors for lockers under the crew cabin bunks getting refinished.

Progress Update: June 24th

We are on the last few days of cleaning out the storage unit. We have filled many of our lockers!
The wood has been stacked on one side of the main salon and will be used for rebuilding the interior. We have upper bunks to build. A lower head to redo and another guest cabin to rebuild. Not to mention installing overhead (ceiling) everywhere! Cabinet interiors in several cabins need to be rebuilt and/or reconfigured. All the counters on the boat need to have fiddles (a raised rail on the edge to keep things from sliding off at sea) made and installed. By Wednesday of next week we hope to resume working on the big projects up forward.

Its been a long month of sorting and organizing. We will have to create a data base of just where everything is stored soon!

Progress Update: June 11th

The previous few days have seen several smaller projects completed as well as continuing to sort, organize and store the various items from the storage unit. 

The metal pulls from the dressers in the forward crew cabins were salvaged and hand scrubbed to remove soot and touches of corrosion. 

The painted doors have been installed and have received new hinges and handles.

Our new magnetic door screens are now installed but had to be cut and re-sized to fit the ships odd-sized doors. Very grateful thanks to Dyann Noles for her perfect sewing alterations! 
 

Sorting the many old woodworking hand tools. 

 

 

Eric is very proficient in their use and will be cleaning and repairing them for the wood shop and the future needs in the many remote areas where there is no electricity.

Much thanks to our friends Dave & Tammy Acorn for their help with some projects, a bit of heavy lifting and donating food for the galley!

Tammy helping Mary install the new magnetic door screens. Definitely a two person job.

One for the double doors leading to the aft deck

One off the galley and two more on the port and starboard doors off the helm (steering station).

Progress Update: June 6th

The painting in much of the aft crew cabin is completed. There is still one closet next to the doorway that will be worked on once the old plumbing and wiring has been removed. The floor still needs sanding and painting and the overhead is not installed. 
There is a lot of space under the bunks and we have begun to fill containers with various items as we sort through the stuff brought over from the storage unit. We are planning on being out of the storage unit by the end of this month.
God has provided the funds to complete the wood-shop! This will entail putting in an overhead, building tool storage on the walls and installing the lathe. Some of the containers are the perfect size to place under the lift-up flooring in the shop. These will provide lots of precious storage for our many tools and shop supplies.

The windy/rainy weather was really slowing us down so some of the painting was done in the main salon.

 First coat of paint on the crew cabins' dresser drawers.

These are the doors for the opening under the bunks. They will be lightly sanded and coated with a clear finish. 

These holes will be hidden by blank electrical outlet covers.

The wood around the overhead edges will be cut flush with the walls.

The floor still needs sanding and painting

A lot of wonderful storage space under each bunk!

 The aft crew quarters

A sampling of stuff from the storage unit needing to be organized into the ship. The five containers in front are the perfect size for under the floors in the wood shop.