Alcanboats Forum

Catherine Ann is a 1972 Alwest 370 that continues to spend her summers in the 1000 islands near Gananoque. This will be her 18th summer with owners Rob Farrow and Cate (Catherine Ann) Vandenbelt. There are several past renovation projects described in the technical section of the website.
The most recently completed project is a total redesign and reconstruction of the lower forward berth.
I actually managed to get a 60” x 80” x 7” queen mattress in there !
The 2001 cabin exterior renovation (described in the technical section) continues to hold up well. 10 seasons and counting with a completely dry bilge !

The teak decks are a bit of a conundrum. They are great under foot, wet or dry, if left bare. But in our climate, they go black. I have tried nearly every oil and teak preserver out there, without much success. A relatively gentle power washing brings them back easily, but this is gradually wearing away the wood. Something like Cetol would preserve the wood but at the cost of traction, particularly when wet.

This past winter has been spent refurbishing spare driveline parts so that I can keep the original 40 year old engines and outdrives going with minimal summer down time.

I have also come up with a design for a completely stowable full topdeck sunshade. I will post pictures of this . . . if it works !

Looking forward to summer !!

Rob

Holy Christmas!

Rob is up to his old tricks... Don't let my wife see this latest "mod". ...I'd be a bilge slave whitlling on a downstairs bedroom til .. well. .. I've no idea

Rob, are you for hire?

Walt

The stowable topdeck sunshade works !
It is made from a breathable fabric that lets the breeze through, but blocks the sun.
It can be repositioned from one side to the other as the position of the sun changes. It collapses on to two short posts on the port side of the deck and the entire frame comes apart for stowing in the flybridge The collapsed sunshade then has its own storage cover.