Layout and Design

I had made a scale drawing of the boat and cut some cardboard templates of the ideal sizes of the bedroom, galley, shower room and dinette.
After moving them around to suit windows, then trimming to suit the basic layout was in place.
Everything was really governed by the swan hatch on the starboard side, the port side has two but their location did not influence the interior.

Using 18mm blockboard that was veneered on both sides I made two half height bulkheads. I scribed these to the side of the boat and placed them 3ft from the centre line of the hatch.

These would become the back rests of the dinette. The dinette would also convert to a double bunk

With these in place I then marked out the floor for the galley, shower room and bedroom. Using some 2*2 uprights I created a temporary frame of my layout, with a few minor alterations I was happy with the layout. I then installed three full height bulkheads on the boat, these framed the permanent double bunk and the shower room. From the shower room bulkhead to the first half height bulkhead was a litter over 8ft, this would become the galley.

 So from the bow doors I had 14ft lounge, 6ft dinette, 8ft galley, 5ft6" shower room, 6ft4" bedroom and a back cabin of 5ft8". Again on the starboard side I planned a fireplace for the stove, approximately central on the lounge wall.

 I then set to work building the required elements. Some will be more detailed in future blogs.