Great Loop & Cruising Adventure Blog

A fun day at the Fathom plant. On our latest visit to Fathom we were able to witness the culmination of 8 weeks of hard work come together to form what is starting to look like a boat.First we took the last photos of the hull’s interior before the deck was installed.

Top-left:  You’ll see the engine has been installed, the exhaust hooked up.

Top-right:  The generator.

Bottom-left:   The lazarette which houses the batteries, water tanks etc.

Bottom-right:  You can see the interior wall where the staterooms and head will be.

We took some photos of underneath the top deck mold and mast which was being worked on.

Top-left:  The underside of the bow and pilothouse.

Top-right:>  The underside of the bow where the anchor will go.

Bottom-left:  The underneath of the top deck - the salon which fits right over the engine room.

Bottom-right:  Working on the mast.

When we arrived Kismet was sitting side-by-side like this (above). To bring the hull and deck together required the work of about 15 technicians - all knowing what their responsibilities were and accomplishing the task in about 2.5 hours.

Above-left:  First they raised the deck up off of its work cradle as high as possible.

Above-right:  Then they moved the cradle out from underneath and took it outside.

Left:  The next step required moving the hull, which sets on a wheeled cradle, underneath of the top deck.

Right: After careful maneuvering, with only inches of clearance, it is in the position to start lowering the deck down onto the hull.

Top-left:  The final steps, of lowering the deck down  into the hull, were amazing. If you imagine a zig-saw puzzle and how all the pieces need to fit precisely this is how the these pieces needed to fit together.

Top-right:   Side view. They lowered the deck down into the hull with only a few minor adjustments.

Middle-left:  Bow fitting.

Middle-right:  Side view.

Bottom-left: Now the Fathom staff is making some trimming, adjustments, etc. to make sure everything fits exactly before lowering into place.

Bottom-right:  Happy owners.

Here are some shots of the interior after the deck is placed on the hull (below).

There has been a lot of progress on Kismet since our last posting. Most of the progress is not immediately visible. In the top 2 photos you’ll see the 9KW Northern Light diesel generator has been installed and unlike our last generator this one will have a sound shield, making it extremely quiet.The bottom 2 photos show the deck that has been moved inside. Fathom’s expert craftsmen are installing, wiring, lighting and storage compartments all in preparation to mount the deck onto the hull the week of January 7th. Prior to this the Cummins QSB425 HP diesel power plant will be installed.

We made our second trip to the Fathom plant and were pleasantly surprised at the amount of progress made in 7 working days.
Top-left - Jim standing next to the boat gives you a good idea of expedition design. The bow thruster has been installed and the holes have been cut for the windows.
Top-right - Here you see the completed hull’s aft exterior without the swim platform installed.
Middle-left - A close-up photo of the lazarette area. Storage in the center with water tanks to both the port and starboard along with some of the many battery boxes.
Middle-right - The two stainless steel tanks you see here are the fuel tanks inside the engine room and to the rear of the starboard tank you see part of the exhaust system. As you can see they have started to run the start of the wiring - however what you do not see that has been installed are the rudder, drive shaft housing, water strainer and holding tank.
Bottom-left - After 7 years of dragging a 50 amp power cord off and on our Silverton it will be a treat to have the Glendenning Cable Master on our new Fathom. You can see the system in the lower right corner of this picture.

Beginning of the week we drove up to Bow, Washington to take our first look at the new Kismet. We were so excited to see our dream boat finally up close and personal. Here are some shots we took:Top-left: The outside work on the hull is complete for a while so the work begins in earnest on the inside. This is a photo looking from the transom towards the bow. The opening to the left will become the door to the engine room. The rectangular hole next to the door opening is where the auto oil charger is mounted. In front of the engine fire wall will be the head, hallway and both staterooms.Top-right: Although this looks like an odd looking hydroplane it is actually the topside recently out of the mold that will eventually be attached to the hull. Windows will go where the fiberglass is now black and also on the side bottom close to the back.Bottom-left: It requires a great deal of imagination to picture what you see to the right of where Rick is standing as the beginning of the galley. In front of where we are standing as the underside of the pilothouse. This is also a close up of what the fiberglass looks like after the vacuum infusion. The rounded out area is the backside of where the pilothouse steering wheel mechanics goes.Bottom-right: More imagination is needed here as well. The white u-shaped area is in the salon and becomes the dinette. The opening in the rear left will become the door that opens to the cockpit. In the middle, to the right of the door, there will be a window installed and also on the port (right) side there will be a large sliding window installed.

Top-left: Taking the mold off of a boat hull is like breaking a very large hard boiled egg open. Here you see 3 men separating the transom portion of the mold.Top-right: This is a shot of the bow where the technicians are pulling the port side mold off the hull.Bottom-left: As you look at the port side without any mold attached you’ll see the grey gel-coat finish just as it came out of the mold. Before the gel-coat is applied to the interior of the mold the mold is waxed at least twice which enables the hull to have such a clean finish that needs little or no touchup.Bottom-right: Starboard/front, completed and detached from the mold.

Left: This is a photo of the two hull sides combined so that the bottom of the hull can be sprayed with white gelcoat. Note the two cylindrical areas in the bow - this is where the bow thrusters will be mounted. Also notice the swirl marks on the base of the hull - this is wax that has been applied so once the gelcoat resin fiberglass and stringer have been applied and installed the mold will release itself easily providing a smooth clean surface.Right: Same as prior photo except you’re looking at the transom.

A few days ago we received updated photos on the new Kismet (SEE BELOW). We are excited and wish we were already there to see the hull work being done. Meanwhile we are busy packing for the drive out to Seattle, Washington. One truck load - that’s it! YIKES!The day before Thanksgiving we depart northern Michigan for Ohio to spend the holiday with Jim’s family for the weekend and then we will head west from there. We are going to take it slow and explore along the way.We have secured a room in a bed and breakfast on Capitol Hill, which is within walking distance of downtown Seattle, until we splash the boat in the water and move aboard. Then we will outfit the boat and do as much cruising as we can before shipping her back to the Great Lakes in the spring.HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Left: Here is a great shot of a mold that has wax applied to it. The wax helps release the finished product when complete. The two-pieces, once attached, will form the mast.Right: Here you see the mold that has been bagged, being prepared to have the resin inserted - when you turn this piece inside out it will become the salon/galley floor.