Lena
Invader 22
My main site home allsorts *** *** Cabin Modifications

The new grp white gelcoated tray - bolted and epoxy tabbed in to the existing forehatch moulding. The joins have just been roughed out here with gel coat - ready to be wet sanded and polished up. The new 450 x 450 hatch was a big bonus here - 500 square was always a problem to find room for.

The original, which was not on the boat when I got it - was a plain grp panel, with a deep drip channel on side and back.

I cut all this away, up to the outer edge of the drip channel - so I ended up with a hole, the sides and back of which had an existing apron - of about 40 mm. I made a grp tray, gelcoated, with rounded corners - then trimmed it to suit at the boat. Luckily it did go in to the hole when I exposed it quite well. The upstand of the tray is epoxied in to the existing apron, then bolted through both layers at the top - the butt joint forward has been fixed with two glassed in stainless fixing plates - then tabbed on the inside with about five layers of glass and epoxy.

Below, showing the new heads bulkhead - you can see the rounded profile of the tray, with the bolt fixing epoxied in to the existing drip.

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This week is the start of my six weeks off work. It's great to just be able to get my head round what needs doing - lets hope the weather is kind. Can't complain of the last few days - glorious.

I've found a local place doing 6mm, high density, fire rated foam - so have removed the two bits of original vinyl I replaced without it - and can now get three sheets to back the old vinyl the way it was. They also do a spray glue. For the heads compartment I've made a new bit of white vinyl.

So tomorrow - if this weather lasts, I shall try and get the exterior of the new hatch base cleaned up - and I think the whole topsides could do with a bit of a washdown - may consider a new coat of anti-slip deck paint, in a darker shade, or maybe the biscay green.

The new tray for the new Vetus hatch really improves the cabin roof. I't now just a matter of cutting in the new 450 x 450 hatch - and painting up all the new epoxy.

Left is the new teak veneered bulkhead - this is Robbins 12mm ply, teak one side - with a solid bit of teak I had spare on the end, rebated for the ply and bullnosed all round.

The existing cabin door, hinged slightly differently, swings nicely back to this. The post was set, basically, to suit the door - as it sits at an angle to it. I've taken the doors home and stripped the old varnish /re-varnished. The old veneered ply comes up really nice - worth stripping it.

Also

Have fitted the triangular 120 litre flexi-water bag - and put in a filler in the foredeck. This runs straight down at the for'd end of the v-berth in inch and half hose - also put a round inspection plate near to help access.

Eventually found a good place for my boat jumble trumpet horn - up by the port pulpit leg. Fairly easy to run some wiring back to the roof of the heads, where the pos/neg have been fed to.

At long last I have routed a conduit, with a nouse wire in it - from the port main cabin seat locker, which houses the two transducers for the Bidata - to the back of the swith panel. Luckily the Raymarine cables are 9 m - so was able to run across the rear of the heads compartment - around the forward end of the v-berth, then through the sink cupboards and up into the side linings above the starboard quarter berth. So it's well away from any wiring runs, vhf, engine etc.

An advantage, also, is that the cables don't have fitted plugs - just small individually crimped ends - so two will run quite happily through 25mm conduit.