November 8 to 15

​Kawashima is fitting the desk and drawers in the Captain’s cabin.

Tatsumi is making the cabinet  above the crew’s washbasin.

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​Hashimoto is making a duct for the air conditioning in the floor of the galley.

​Kawashima, Hashimoto, and Tatsumi began installing the locks in the drawers.

One of the finished drawers with the escutcheon and lock installed. The handles are original and have been restored with fresh nickel plating.

November 12

Sail Training

Weather: Cloudy

Wind: North, 8 to 18 knots

Sailing speed: 8 knots

November 3 to November 7

Paul and Hirai are discussing the shower ventilation for the showers in the owner’s and guest cabins. We’ve made special ventilation panels, but a box needs to be built to attach the fan ducting to the panels.

Hashimoto is making panels for the top of the cabinets in the galley. They will fit the space between the deck beams.

Back in the crew’s shower room, Tatsumi is putting in the molded cedar boars that will seal and cover the hull planking.

The shellac on the hanging locker in the crew cabin is being cleaned back for a fresh coat after electric cables scratched it during the electrical installation connecting them to the panel at the back.

The bars of naval brass have just been delivered. They’ll go over the glass on the skylights and need to be fitted and polished to a final finish.

Tatsumi is getting started on the washstand in the crew’s quarters.

Koiwai is varnishing one of the pattresses made by Paul that go behind the wall light fixtures (below).

In the tent, finished drawers are everywhere, awaiting the completion of interior work before they are installed, to prevent any damage from scratches, etc. All have been matched with their correct keys. It’s hard to imagine the number of places that these will go.

October 27 to November 2

 The nickel-plated light switches have been restored and temporarily installed so that the lights can be used during work hours. When everything is done, they’ll be fitted with the correct nickel-plated screws that are less obtrusive.

Tatsumi (above) attaches a hinge to one of the original locker doors, for the hanging locker in the owner’s cabin. The decorative holes are there to allow ventilation inside the locker (below). After attaching the hinge, he hung it in the cabin (bottom).

Hashimoto is installing the columns on the cabin side of the door frames and fitting light switches with the wiring hidden in the columns.

Paul has been building the washroom vanity units (above) and installing the shower hardware and trays (below), as well as making and fitting the pattresses for the light fixtures (bottom) and moldings that cover the wiring, and fitting the nickel-plated mesh to the air conditioning vents and bilge vent frames.

Kawashima is fitting the handles on the new drawers made for the aft guest cabins.

Members of the crew came to polish and prepare Cynara for a day of sailing.

Work has started on the galley (above and below).

Two of the period instruments have been mounted facing aft at the forward end of the deckhouse. The one on the left is an inclinometer, which indicates the angle of the heel—how much the ship is leaning to port or starboard. It was on Cynara when we dismantled her, and though we don’t know if it dates back to the launch, it is fairly old. On the right is a ship’s clock dating from 1911.

The space on the left is for the barometer, which is currently being restored and will be fitted soon. Like the inclinometer, we don’t know it exact origins.

Wada is concentrating on finishing some of the cabin details, such as the molding that runs around the top of the cabin bulkheads.

The molding is not easy to paint, as there are many difficult to reach areas.

Tatsumi began measuring and planning the frames for the washstand and lockers in the crew area.

Sawdust and shavings from the work above can block the pumps, so the bilge must be kept clean while the work continues.

Hashimoto and Paul are discussing the access for the electricity and plumbing in the galley.

Pascal has finished installing three of the toilets—there’s one more in the crew quarters—and as well as the necessary plumbing. The job was a complex one, consisting of two systems so that the ship meets both Japanese and European requirements.

Tatsumi continues to work on the crew’s shower room. It’s compact, but will accommodate a sink, shower, toilet, and room for storage.

Kawashima has finished making the drawers and is now working on the desk for the captain’s quarters.

The cushions for the seats in the aft guest cabins were delivered today. The cabins are looking more complete every day.

October 12 to 18

There was a hole in a saloon cabinet where a radio was fitted sometime in the past, most likely in the 1950s or 60s. We considered various ideas before deciding to place modern stereo speakers behind this grill (with the same elegant pattern as the air conditioning vents) and fit a small, modern radio in the cabinet beneath.

Kawashima has finished some of the 27 drawers for the cabinets in the various cabins.

Hashimoto is making a cover to hide one of the wrought iron knees in the cabin ceiling (below).

Tatsumi is making fiddles for one of the shelves in the aft cabins that completes the box around the steel engine room bulkhead.

October 19 to 25

Stoppers have been installed in the saloon cabinets to hold the tableware in place.

There are a number of sliding pocket doors that save space but require innovative solutions for installation.

Kawaragi came from Zushi Marina to check the engine, electrical systems and discuss future maintenance and inspection methods.

Tatsumi is adjusting the sliding doors before installation.

October 5 to October 11

The fixtures have been installed for the sinks (above) and showers (below).

Hashimoto has been cutting holes to install the electric switches.

Makoto is stripping and cleaning the old shellac from the door panel moldings.

Usui and Koiwai are stripping the varnish which was applied over the years on top of the original shellac. Removing the varnish requires some aggressive treatment to get down to the original shellac, which is removed more carefully. The finish of the interior is all being done in shellac.

This shows the surface before restoration with varnish added over the original shellac surface.

This is what the interior looks like after the surface has been stripped, cleaned and given a fresh coat of shellac.

September 14 to September 20

On the deck, we set up the table to check that everything fit. We’ll cut the legs to the right length accounting for the deck camber. We also checked the position to see how the chairs fit around the hatches. The table is designed to fold with the legs stored inside.

Animal fat is used on the leather covers of the blocks and stays.

September 21 to September 27

Samples of the tableware were placed in the cupboards to check the final fitting.

The cabinet door frames are lined up for shellacking.

September 28 to October 4

The legs of the deck table are being varnished by some team members.

Hashimoto began installing the sinks in the washrooms. These are new, but meant to blend with the overall classic look.