At some point prior to our ownership there had been a minor fire caused by a faulty dehumidifier.  This had caused fire, smoke and water damage.  Unfortunately, the previous owners had decided to repair the damage at the cheapest possible price and cut a number of corners.  Apart from rebuilding the galley that makes maintenance even more difficult than it was before, they had also decided to “enhance” the interior by fitting the units in the galley with Formica.  This meant that the French polisher I asked to refurbish the saloon shortly after we got Mariadz, pretty much laughed in my face about the chances of being able to match the wood.  Apparently due to different materials and sun lightening he had identified seven different colours of wood in the saloon alone.

So clearly we needed another approach we spoke to Stevie Pike from Watercraft UK based in Ipswich.

We discussed some options and looked into a way we could return the wood in the saloon to its former glory using an iron-on veneer.

This was not an easy job.  All of the headlining had to come down and each panel done individually.  The temperature is very important too or there can be problems with adhesion.  With lots of painstaking work each panel was recovered and then stained.  Clearly this isn’t going to be equivalent to a brand new luxury boat but the results are impressive and this has made her look 100% better. Now we just need to keep the curtains and blinds closed to protect the wood from the sun!