As soon as we could call Thisldu our own, we came up with a long list of projects to take care of. One of those projects was to fix up the table in the settee berth. It was slightly too big—it jutted out into the walkway—and, well, we thought the overall aesthetic could be improved.

Like most of the boat projects so far, fixing the table was born and finished from Garrett's vision of what needed to be improved and what needed to be done to make those improvements. He is really, really good at visualizing things and making them come to life. I, unfortunately, am not.

Here are the before and after pictures (please excuse our mess!). The most obvious difference is the table top: the black has been replaced with a vintage map. Would you just look how it brightens up the space? The (maybe) less obvious difference is the size: Garrett cut down the table on the starboard side, and also built in hinges to allow the table to break down on the port side. (Look at me using all of those sailing terms!)

Garrett put together the below diagram to help illustrate the upgrades. In it, you can really see how much the stable size was reduced, which allows us more room to move around the cabin.

Not only do we love the table revamp because it looks better and gives us more room inside of Thisldu, but also because Garrett got to work on the project with his father, David. Together, they cut down the table, made another side foldable, removed the black top, and adhered the vintage map to the wood. Projects are made all the better when you're working on a good team, don't you think? (Come back, David, we have more work for you!)

After all of the resizing and recovering was done, Garrett mixed and applied an epoxy surface on top of the map. This part was *slightly* nerve-racking because the ratio of water:epoxy solution has to be just so, but Garrett did a good job of eyeballing the mixture and spreading it out across the map with the flat side of a credit card. Maybe one day we'll follow instructions closely and use the proper tools required. But until then...

If you ask me, the table came out great. We're so happy with how it looks and how it fits into the tiny space of the cabin. And I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed with Garrett's handy work. Aren't you?