Today, we worked hard on the boat. 
First, we tackled what to do with the helm. In the Mako 248, there was never much depth of the back-side of the panel. They may have never envisioned putting all your electronics in this area since the original fish finders were huge, bulky machines mounted on the top of the dash (of the helm).
First, we tackled what to do with the helm. In the Mako 248, there was never much depth of the back-side of the panel. They may have never envisioned putting all your electronics in this area since the original fish finders were huge, bulky machines mounted on the top of the dash (of the helm). 
The left us with cut-outs that already needed addressing. It was an easy solution. Cut more out. Eventually, we will end up making a custom back end that will cover the back-ends, wires and allow for easy access when making updates or repairs. These pictures are taken from inside the cuddy.
Next, what to do with this mess?Jack has opted to go with all his electronics flush-mounted into a wooden background. He thinks this will stand out given we have lots of teak already on this boat. Two other choices were using starboard or fiberglass.
It took a while to cut all that wood out.
After it was out, Jack sanded down the edges to make it flush and less hazardous.
Meanwhile, I played a little football with our eldest and removed the registration numbers from the topside. That area gets sanded tomorrow and painted next week.
After Jack was at a stopping point with the helm, he focused on the cuddy door. I removed the final bits of wood that lined the opening. We had 2 large chunks of fiberglass missing in both bottom corners. He removed a large section first, then put in some fiberglass to hold the area together. He's out there sanding this as I type. 
THEN, what he will do is take actual sheets of fiberglass cloth and build up the area to match the thickness of the original wall. Jack is all covered in white dust again. He looks so funny to me being ghostly white. He also sanded those bubbles out of the last paint job see here: windshield-area-before-after-1st-tack.html
Tomorrow will have more glass work and sanding involved. We hope to be at a stopping point on Saturday when we can be ready to paint the following week the entire topside. We are pushing ourselves inspite of having no enthusiasm any more. We want to be done and yet we're not. We have about 6 weeks until the cobia migrate through our area. Next come mantas, whales and the mahi-mahi (dolphin). This boat MUST GET DONE!!
Happy Fishing to those who got out today. Beautiful weather today.
Robin
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