Author: Joe Bainbridge

At long last all the electrics are in. It’s been an education!

Wiring the boat from scratch was a daunting prospect, and one I approached with near total ignorance. It involved a lot of reading and researching, and a good few existential crises, but became fairly straight forward and systematic once I had chosen and sourced all my materials and familiarised myself with stripping, crimping and soldering.

Below is a list of instruments and appliances fitted:

• VHF Radio
• Log and depth reader
• AIS Receiver
• AIS Alarm Computer
• Radar Alarm Computer/receiver
• USB charger
• Battery monitor
• Interior lights
• Deck nav lights
• Tricolour/anchor lights
• VHF/AIS antenna and Radar receiver
• 2×40 Watt solar panels
• Solar charge controller
• DC-DC charger controller

I am now trying to tick off the remaining jobs to make her ready to be launched. These involve the following:

• Bilge pumps
• Gas system
• Water system
• Fitting the log/depth readers
• Chain pipe
• Anode
• Antifoul
• Wet fitting rudder
• Engine work
• Running rigging
• Windvane
• Mast fittings
• U-bolts and jack lines
• Finish and secure tiller

I’ll then have however long left to make a start on inessential jobs like interior trim and extra insulation before the planned launch date of the first week in June. Not long now!

Once the rough interior was in, the next stage was to paint, oil and insulate.

After some experimentation I settled on my technique for a smooth glossy finish: follow the roller with a brush. Most areas received an undercoat and two topcoats with sanding between. Then came oiling, which has to be one of the best jobs to date. Nothing makes such a marked improvement to the appearance in such a short time as a good few coats of oil.

Fitting the insulation began by making cardboard templates of all the required panels: everywhere between the waterline and deck along the length of the cabin. The templates were then laid on to sheets of inch thick foam, traced around (making note of angles), and cut out. They were then fitted into the boat.

The foam sections were then removed piece by piece, wrapped and stapled to waterproof vinyl, and glued back into the hull with spray adhesive.

The making of Tarka’s cushions has been going on in parallel. They were first templated and cut out of cushion foam, then taken up to London to be sewn up by my very dedicated personal seamster dad! And to great effect! Get your orders in!

Since then I’ve began work on the electrical system. It’s proving to be difficult. Unlike many previous stages of the refit where I’ve been able to apply skills with one material to another with only minor adjustments, electrical work is like learning a second language; a language of tinned copper terminals, voltage drop, overcurrent protection and circuit diagrams. It’s a work in progress…

Despite my current tribulations, there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve given myself March for the electrics, April for getting the boat ready to be launched and May to do the remaining bits of woodwork and get her looking sharp! So get diaries out for the beginning of June..!

The new year was tough – removing all the pieces I’d finished over previous months and preparing them for bonding took a good few weeks, and despite the knowledge it would all be put back together again soon, it was incredibly demoralising. I also built the galley unit which houses the newly available gimbaling gas stove/grill and hand pump tap.

Thankfully everything is in now (hopefully for good), and Tarka feels happier and stiffer for it!

I’ll be painting and oiling next, followed by insulation above the waterline.

I’m almost there with the rough interior install. The engine frame, main bulkhead curve, battery box, electrics and pan cupboard fronts and chart table carcass are all ready to be bonded in. Unfortunately I am still waiting for the gimbaling stove to become available (hopefully Jan) and will leave the galley as it is until that can be fitted.

The engine frame features ‘wings’ either side of the companionway and a removable casing for the engine.

The chart table carcass features a mount for a metal-working vice, drawers for the sextant and station pointer, four other general storage drawers, and a housing for a seat which will slide out of it and sit against the galley on the other side, allowing one to sit facing the chart table or galley.

Whilst I am nearly done for now, there will be more woodwork at a later date. There will be oiled Sapele trim along the length of the berths, on the edges of all the bulkheads and along the perimeter of the chart table and galley as well as more storage units on the bulkheads. I also need to cut and fit the cabin sole and bilge covers.

I was hoping to integrate my toolbox into a storage unit amidships on the port side, but it wouldn’t fit. Back to the drawing board.

The redesigned area is a storage cupboard made up of lockers of different heights, filled to the brim with a selection of plastic boxes – corresponding to the heights of the shelves. It also features a thin shelf for sailing charts. The unit will have hinged fronts facing all the shelves, but they can’t be fitted until everything is screwed/glued.

The hanging locker has also been completed, and looks great!

I’m currently working on the ‘engine casing’ – the removable panels that sit in front and above the engine. I’m also fitting some thick ply panels to either side of the companionway which I hope to wedge myself into when it gets rolly!

I’m hoping that with a bit of a push, I’ll have the engine casing, the galley and the chart table carcasses finished, in time to bond the whole interior in by Christmas!

I had hoped to paint, oil and insulate by the new year, but I’d be surprised if I get that far.

The seat backs are finished at last! I was determined to make the most of the space for storage behind them, as well as having a comfortable seating angle, so I had to go with my own design. The structure comprised two different-angled panels: one to support the seat back cushions, and a vertical panel above, behind which would be storage. I then templated, cut out and fit twelve dividers to split the lockers up. It came out alright!

I also fitted the under-berth lockers with latches, to keep everything in them from pouring out if the boat went over!

I’ll be moving onto the midships sections today; the hanging locker, port storage area, then subsequently the galley and chart table.

On reflection, personal and prompted by those around me, it seems I have been making steady progress over the last couple of weeks – and over the last few months since starting full time, despite it not feeling that way.

I feel burdened with the load of work still to do, worn down by long hours in cramped spaces and am acutely aware of the temperature gently but steadily dropping.

Having said that, the Forepeak now only requires the fitting of finger latches, a few more support cleats and the rounding of a few edges.

I’ve also cut out and shaped the quarter berth tops, have made a good start on the seat backs and hope to finish them both this coming week.

We press on…

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!

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.

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.