Merry Christmas to all!

Just a Quick note to say Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring new horizons.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Well, My Wife Daniele, and I have been living aboard our Reinell RSC2600 for a little past 13 Months. Now Thats Love! Actually this was all planned in advance and we do it because we love it.
After a year plus we did do some minor modifications. First on the honey do list was....."Honey, do .....we ...have ...room ...for......my .......dog?" which promptly put me in action.
What was a starb'd Quarterberth was now dare I say it........the DOGHOUSE. but wait there's more. That modification required the removal of our T.V. HMMM. do ya see where this is going? NEW FLAT SCREEN T.V. with built in DVD player. This was attatched using a 24" drawer slide Roller bearing of course, capable of holding 100 lbs. When extended it is centered on the galley and stowed it is lashed to the hanging locker. Together with the Digital Smart antennae we get 31 channels at no cost/mo. here in Port Townsend.

Which leads me to the other modification.......the dinete. Now don't get me wrong but you'de have to be damned small to seat four people in that dinete. So saw that table in half, add a fiddle,

re-center the pedestal mount and drop the remaining half in as though you were converting half to a berth add some cushions and viola a u-shaped dinete with a smaller table but now able to seat four adults or 2 adults and one pit-boxer mix dog.

Do we regret living this way? NOT ONE BIT!!!

NEXT MONTH..........self tending rig on a reinell. How to D.I.Y.

@#$**! Window replacement.

I'm going to try to keep a monthly topic going so that everyone has time to get, or put in their two cents worth. The most important thing is support for each other. My way aint always the right way. My way has, however, stood up to -30 degrees F to +80 as Inkslinger was a "TOP OFF" refit done in Alaska. So.......If nothing else perhaps you'll have a few good ideas to share too.

So.....About those pesky smoked plexi windows. We call em Portlights but us Reinellers have big'uns so windows will do. Mine were the original smoked plexi of 1/8 thickness and were shaped for a slight bubble look and, with 30 odd years of every sealant known to man used to try to abate the flow of water, needed replacement. I used one of the old ones (you know...the one that didn't break during removal) as a patern on the OH MY GOD expensive 1/4"sheet of Polycarbonate, or as we like to call LEXAN. At $388.82 for a 4'x8' sheet that follows the market like precious metals, you DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES!

Preparation for the cabintop was to dig out the rotten balsa back aways, 1 1/2 " in Inkslingers case, and fill the void with Kitty Hair (Long strands of glass in a resin base) then the sill edge was sanded sealed painted etc.

The trim is Oak and routed out for the lexan to sit in for the outside surface and just solid for the inside.

Then, after staining/sealing etc. It is installed to the cabintop using urethane sealant that has to be heated to 170 degrees F. and held every 6" by 1/4"ss carriage bolts. NOTE: The lexan must be overdrilled to 3/8" for expansion and contraction.

To all you Reinell sailors out there. Finally, a new spot to get your Reinell sailboat information. If you are looking to refit your Reinell or just have questions, here is where you can turn for timely answers as well as some good advice for keeping our classic plastic afloat.