Remodeling Plans

We've been living aboard for about a year now and have gotten to know the boat and our needs pretty well.  Looking around we can see places where changes could be made that would add storage or convenience for our particular situation.  I enjoy doing this kind of work, it saves money doing it yourself, but the reality is that I don't have a woodshop or the tools to do cabinetry.  I used to but I gave that all up when we moved on board.  So the next best thing is to hire out the work and hope that we can afford to pay someone else to do it for us.  We've been kicking this around for a while now and had actually talked to a woodworker person last winter but that didn't pan out.  Recently we were taking to a friend of ours and he mentioned that his custom home remodeling business was struggling in this economy.  Lightbulb!  We have work that needs to be done, he needs work and he does beautiful stuff too.  Perfect.  Hey Anthony, take a look at this idea of ours and see what you think.  The only real drawback to the whole thing is that he lives almost an hour away but we're not in any hurry on this stuff, got about three years to get it done.  We're pretty flexible and he could work on it when it's convenient for him.

One of these projects is in the forward head.  Behind the toilet is a shelf that wraps around between the sink and the wall for the shower.  There's a large open space underneath here that could be divided up and used for storing extra towels or TP or almost anything.  It just seems like a good spot for another shelf.  Of course it would need to be removable for servicing the toilet but that's just a matter of design.

Another spot is in the forward stateroom where we have the home theater stuff (check it out) sitting on top of the hanging locker.  The top has a fiddle, about a 2" lip around it to keep things from sliding off but the whole pile of stuff just looks unfinished.  We have a DVD player, hard drive and controller as well as a power strip and a bundle of wires.  I had pictured building a cabinet on top of the hanging locker that would hold all this stuff.  Anthony had a better idea.  He suggested recessing the top of the hanging locker so all the gear would sit down inside with just the DVD player showing.  He'll also route out a piece of teak to hide the wires going to the flat screen on the bulkhead.  Muy beuno!

This next one is going to be our first project.  Back in the aft head is all the heater and A/C ductwork underneath the cabinet.  I was thinking about making a grill that would cover it up.  He went one further and suggested a teak bullnose with slits cut into it to let the heat out.  The teak will be backed with aluminum to keep the heat from damaging the wood.  The bullnose will have a nice curve to it and match the cabinetry, better than what I had planned.  This dude is good!

The aft stateroom really needs help and is going to be a major project.  The ductwork from the heater comes through the aft bulkhead and runs along under the shelf on the port side.  The area above the shelf is a great spot for some cabinets to give us extra storage.  I had actually seen this done on an Island Packet 320 (this picture is of theirs) and it came out really nice.  Anthony made some suggestions for making it tie in to the existing look and I think what he's got in mind is really gonna look nice.  Kinda difficult to explain here but I'll post a picture or something as soon as possible.  This is definitely gonna be a nice addition to the boat and have a factory look to it too.

Finally we have the galley.  This is a sticking point for Cheri and it's understandable considering the kitchen she designed for herself in the house on Franwall Avenue.  We're talking gourmet here folks, top of the line everything.  So, she understands the limitations of a galley on the boat but she wants to push the envelope a bit.  I'm all for it because she's an excellent cook and enjoys playing with food.  If she's happy then I'm happy.  So we're looking at a bigger sink, Corian countertops, more cabinets, better layout for the fridge and freezer and probably more counterspace.  I think it's all do-able.  At least, as long as it falls within the 3 year timetable.

Beyond all this we're saving our pennies to buy some electronics for the boat.  We have a plan to get the boat ready for extended cruising when we retire in 2014.  Hmmm, that's about three years from now.  A major part of the plan is to get out away from the Chesapeake Bay and do some offshore sailing with some over-nighters, watch standing, food planning, water conservation - the works.  We want to do the DelMarVa circumnavigation which is about a ten day sail going north on the Bay, out the C+D canal into the Atlantic and re-entering the Bay at the southern end.  We're hoping to do this in May of 2012 which is coming up pretty soon now.  After that we want to take three weeks and sail to Bermuda, one week over, one week there and one week back.  That one is planned for the Spring of 2013.

To do these trips we want to have our electronics up and running.  We've picked out some gear for a pretty good system and based our choices on ease of use, world-wide serviceability and cost.  Originally I was going to mix and match pieces from different companies based on cost but it was pointed out to me that if we had a problem then one manufacturer would end up blaming another manufacturer and we'd just have a headache.  So we're gonna stick with just one manufacturer, Furuno.  A real popular thing right now is having touch screen control but I was concerned about it being difficult to use on a sailboat with things moving around all the time.  You'd end up putting in extra way-points or changing the display by accident.  Furuno seems to have designed their display for real world use and they don't offer touch screen control.  Plus, when you change scale on the screen to zoom in on a spot it's seamless, totally smooth, compared to some other displays we've seen that have to rescale over and over making the display very jerky as it zooms in.  Furuno also has a 3D display mode that is really nice.

So we're planning to get a 12" multi-function-display (MSD) which will be the heart of the system and controls and displays everything.  It provides charts for any region of the world and can display them in multiple formats as well as overlay them with satellite photos.  It can also overlay or split-screen information from the other units.  To this we'll add:

GPS - this will provide us with accurate position info to within 10'.

Radar - this will be mounted half-way up the mast and will provide surface information out to about 30 miles.  I expect it'll mostly be used when approaching land or in areas with a lot of traffic.

AIS - this is an automated ID system that can provide info about who we are and our course and receive the same from other ships.  This gets displayed and provides alarms for intersecting courses.  It'll help let the big guys know we're out there even if they can't see us.

Sonar - right now we're planning to use a fish finder (click here) to provide bottom information when we get into shallow water.  Inexpensive sonar is progressing by leaps and bounds right now so by the time we leave in 3 years we may actually have a system that provides a clear, detailed, 3D display of bottom features.  Cool!

Weather - this provides weather information through a satellite link for a fee.  We will also be able to get weather info through our single sideband radio.

So, it looks like the upcoming year is going to be a busy one.  There's a ton of stuff we want to do and time is becoming a major factor.  Tick, tick, tick.  I think maybe it's time for a priority list.