Good progress has been made since I wrote last: I started by bonding in the bunk dividers and cutting out the rest of the V-berth structure and the chain locker lid. I spent the next 6 days cleating up the whole interior ready for the bunk tops, and as of last night I have the first one cut out!
Fitting the cleats took much longer than I anticipated but happily the process of spiling for and cutting out the tops has so far been quick and painless. Having the first bunk top on makes the interior feel one step closer to a cosy cabin!
Dividers bonded in and chain pipe fits. V-Berth structure complete with cleats in place. Quarter berth cleats on. The aft cleats proved a nightmare as there’s very little to reference off for getting their height and angle right. Starboard quarter berth top on!! I’ve been looking forward to this moment since day 1!
As I write, I’m on my way back to Tarka to resume work. I’ve been away this past week studying celestial navigation, ocean passage planning and meteorology as part of the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean theory course.
When offshore I plan to use celestial navigation as one of my primary methods of navigation (alongside a more manual approach to coastal work), supported by a backup gps fix from the radio/personal locator beacon. When one calculates their estimated position from landmarks ashore and in the sky they become intimately aware of what’s going on around them – infinitely more so than blindly following the chart plotter (not to say it’s always one attitude or the other). Similarly one often finds oneself blindly following the satnav in the car and having absolutely no idea how we got there or how to get back to where we departed from – without once again following the screen. I find this approach prudent given that a comprehensive understanding of your surroundings is vital in an emergency situation, and gives a much richer and more fulfilling experience.
In other news, the bunk fronts are cleated and bonded in, and the bunk dividers are cut out.
From today I will be bonding the dividers in, cutting and bonding-in the rest of the v-berth structure, cleating for the bunk tops, and then cutting the tops out.
Aft bunk fronts and dividers. V-berth fronts and dividers. Taking distance-off sights off the Dingle Peninsula, west coast of Ireland.
This week has been productive. Whilst there is progress everyday, it’s not everyday that the appearance of the interior changes so quickly. I keep reminding myself not to rush – as a reaction to my alarm at this rate of progress – but then backtrack and remember that the progress is simply proportional to the time spent working, time I now have in abundance. I’m relishing this time, well knowing that there will be months ahead when progress will seem tediously slow and far less tangible.
The four main bulkheads have now been glassed in and I continue tomorrow with spiling and cutting the bunk fronts.
This week’s niggle has been the storage of anchor chain, which I had to finalise in order to build the V-berth around it. I intended to run the chain through a deck fitting, down a hose-pipe along the centre-line of the boat to the forward end of the bilge. This required choosing a chain (of suitable strength) that had clearance inside a pipe, which was of a size that allowed it to be securely fastened to the underside of the deck fitting. On looking into it I was surprised to find myself looking at diameters of chain at this relatively early stage in the refit. Funny how one has to look so far down the line and cement tiny details in order to take steps forward in the present.
The galley will be on the port side, chart table to starboard. Looking aft: to starboard will be a hanging locker (hence the cutout around the window) and to port, storage. Beginnings of the V-berth. The ‘chain pipe’ will run down the centre-line.
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