New window trim

The owner of the 130′ Westport added double pane insulated windows inside of the existing windows in the sky lounge to better insulate the room. He and the crew handled installing the windows. Once the windows were installed, I was called in to see about providing window trim for the crew to install to give the windows the built in look.

Teamwork

In collaboration with the yacht designer, George with Paturzo Yacht Designs, we came up with a two piece window sill which would eliminate any visible fasteners. The base piece which we’re calling the cleat would be screwed into place and would hold the base of the window in place. This cleat would then be covered by a cap molding that was finished to match the surrounding woodwork.

Color selection

After the design was approved, the next step was figuring out what color to finish the parts. The woodwork in the sky lounge is cherry but the window moldings have been sun bleached to a light yellow/orange. The interior of the sky lounge was not bleached and thus much darker. In looking for items to borrow for color matching, we found a vent in the wheelhouse that was close (but not quite right) in color. Using the vent, I created a series of finish samples that I delivered to the vessel and left for the owner to review and select.

More moldings

Around this time, I was asked to also provide moldings for the sides of the windows. No problem. As part of this process, I created a simple mock up of the proposed window trim design and sent it to the designer. Upon approval, it was time to start building. I milled the lumber to size and finely sanded it. I blacked out the side of the moldings against the glass and then toned and top coated the interior faces.

More accuracy is better

On board, I used a homemade jig that is basically a pair of sticks that you spread apart to contact both sides of the opening and then a clamp to hold that dimension. This allows a more accurate transfer of the dimension than using a tape measure. Next I used a marking knife to mark the molding to be cut and then used a jap saw to hand cut the pieces to length. One by one I worked my way through the sky lounge and trimmed out each window.

Great results

The final result was superb and the captain even commented that it looks like it was from the factory. The best part is that all of the moldings are easily removable in case the glass panes ever need to come out.