Up in the bows we added netting to keep the foresails (and daughters) on board and included a holder for the boat hook:
We added a skylight for the main cabin and a small opening hatch for light and ventilation in the head. Here we are moored with bow and stern anchors in a small cove in the San Juan Islands. The hatches are all open for ventilation, and the boarding ladder is rigged. The life raft canister can be seen on the hatch turtle as well as the new grab rails on the dodger. The flexible solar panel is rigged up on the furled mainsail:
This photo below shows how we stow two small kayaks (a.k.a. "deck storage units") as well as the stowed position of the solar panel when underway:
One of the first projects we undertook after getting the boat was to lower the v-berth 9" and put a full 1/2" thick plexiglass skylight in the fore hatch. This turned a dark shelf of a berth into a well lit, comfortable cabin. A favorite place on a rainy day:
We have a block on the end of the bowsprit for a pennant that is used to take our mooring lines and the mooring buoy away from the topsides: it is nice to finally realize a benefit of having a bowsprit!
Chaika needed a full set of sails when we got her so we bought a good sailmaking machine from Sailrite and over the years made a mainsail, staysail, yankee, storm jib, and storm trysail from their kits:
However, when the time came to replace the old cabin cushions we decided to hire it out to professionals. This do-it-yourself stuff can only go so far!
Chaika came with a substantial flopper stopper made up of a welded frame with thick rubber flaps. We deployed it continuously down the coast and it was always worthwhile. We used our whisker pole, shortened up all the way, held up by the staysail halyard, and prevented from swinging using the jib sheets:
The boat came with a traveller across the bridgedeck, and after the loaded block almost took off a daughter's finger, we removed it and shifted the mainsheet to the end of the boom and boomkin. Here you can see the clear bridge deck:
We came up with a lifejacket stowage solution we really like: pockets in the cockpit weathercloths allow the pfds to be easily accessible when needed, and to provide comfortable backrests when not.
We traded our 8' hard dinghy for a used inflatable down in Mexico, which was much more practical for use as a snorkeling tender and for the longer distances to shore, but here in the Pacific Northwest we prefer a nice rowing boat. This is a 9'3" dinghy we bought as a kit from Cascade Yachts in Portland that is joy to row with 7' oars and actually stows on the foredeck:
One of the features we liked about Chaika was that it did not come with a staysail boom (or teak decks). The foredeck is clear, and a favorite place to hang out at anchor:
Here is a small table for the cockpit that we rig with detectable hinges. Note the stern anchor roller built into the boomkin and the hawse pipe for the rode:
For shelter from the weather underway we have what we call a "sail awning" that zips to the aft edge of the dodger and extends back to the boom gallows, but at anchor we use the boom tarp pictured below. It has a two section PVC pipe for the forward edge and lashes down to the gallows aft. This photo also shows how we can move around the flexible solar panel.
The boom tarp is particularly nice for those occasionally rainy Pacific Northwest anchorages:
Adding grab bars to the sides and back edge of the dodger was something we had wanted to do for years. The last time the dodger needed remaking provided the perfect time to do it. The welder at the local boatyard did a real nice job with them and we sure like hanging onto them in rough conditions!
We keep all of our electronics dry down below. We can't reach any of it from the cockpit, but we can see it all okay, and we don't have to put up with those annoying swing-out electronics blocking the companionway. The laptop (strapped down with a bungee) is plugged into the older Garmin GPS which gives us electronic charting with NavX software. The radar and GPS are connected to the VHF radio via NMEA so the waypoints from the GPS show up on the radar display and the DSC on the radio gets the position from the GPS.
After years of hauling ice, our latest project was to reinsulate the icebox and install refrigeration. We cut out the old icebox liner with it's minimal insulation and did it up proper: 4 to 6" of insulation all around, even the lid. Looks a bit absurd, and we lost half of the volume inside, but we hope the compressor (located in the outboard locker beneath the forward settee seat) will draw only a minimum of amps. We'll probably need to add a second battery to the house battery for the increased load, however.
The Aires windvane has been hanging off the stern of the boat for almost 40 years and has given good service. We used it extensively on our trip to Mexico but more recently needed an overhaul. After disassembling it and getting everything to move freely again, it is back in action. Here it is on a test sail:
