Insulation,
ceiling, paint, bow-thruster, additional water tank, and much more.
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This pic shows the Bow Thruster fully installed and the auxiliary 47 gallon
water tank. NOTE the door openings for access under the v-berth. |
The v-berth area always seemed to be dis-organized and very difficult to
access.
So after a lot of thought I decided what items should be stored up there and
how could I make best use of this area.
I installed a two blade bow
thruster and then decided that since we will be carrying 400 feet of 3/8"
triple-B chain, it would be nice to store some of the chain a little farther
aft to get some weight out of the bow.
I opened up the bottom of the chain locker and made a sort of "skid plate"
that ran from where the chain falls into the bilge cavity all the way back
to the v-berth bulkhead. In use, we will hand flake the chain back into this
locker. As much as will fit. As we start moving around in various
anchorages, we'll let the useable part of the chain just fall back into the
original chain locker. The only time we will need to hand flake chain back
to this new area, will be prior to making an offshore passage. |

In this pic you can see the
bottom of the chain locker as well as the protective tube for the forward
scanning sonar cables coming from the transducer. |

This shows the shelf that sits on top of the chain locker. This is where I
plan to keep some of the lesser used sails. The mizzen staysail, twin
downwind sails, storm jib and spare mizzen sail. |

During our shakedown cruise in the Sea of Cortez, we discovered that someone
had made a sloppy repair to the stock 200 gallon water tank. The patch began
disintegrating and contaminated our water supply. Fortunately we had a
water-maker and some five gallon water jugs onboard.
On all of my other boats I have had at least two separate water tanks just
for this reason. So I decided to build a second tank into the v-berth area.
This is a 47 gallon tank with a clear Lexan top and clear inspection cover
to access the tank for cleaning.
This will allow for easy inspection of the tank without tearing stuff apart
to gain access. The blue tubing is connected to a "Y" valve that allows me
to select which tank the water-maker will fill |

The top loading v-berth
lockers were deep enough to allow me to set a 4 inch deep shelf for the top
loading locker. This was done with cedar. I have used cedar in all of the
hanging lockers and many of the smaller lockers to discourage bugs and keep
things smelling fresh.
Under the bed area I opened up
the bottom of these lockers and installed doors for access below this shelf.
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Before installing the wainscot panels, we insulated the entire hull with one
inch foam insulation.
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Before installing the ceiling panels, we made patterns to fabricate some
cross-members under the fore deck.
The deck seemed to flex a little bit when standing up forward. A total of
three beams were fabricated and glassed to the underside of the deck. Then 3
inches of insulation was installed. |

Originally I used 1/4 inch ply paneling covered with vinyl upholstery
material. Later I replaced these with wainscot panels like the side panels
in the v-berth. |

When installing new
overhead panels (pic on left) we used solid sheet paneling instead of the
original Vinyl headliner that most F-41's have. I also made reinforcement
beams to add additional support to the deck. These were laminated, curved
beams that were glassed into place. Three in this cabin. This afforded me
the opportunity to add 2 1/2 inches of insulation overhead. On some of our
hot Texas days we can already see the difference in the temperature thanks
to the insulation.
The sides of the v-berth have wainscot panels with one inch of insulation
behind them.
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All cabinet doors were
removed, stripped, re-varnished and new cane installed. One inch of
insulation will go inside these lockers. |
 When
I repaired the main bulkhead and repainted the forward hanging locker, I
recalled how stuff used to just disappear in this locker. So I blocked off
the back of the stock drawers under here and added a top loading locker so
nothing could vanish again. |

While the hanging locker door
was off I re-varnished it and did some etching on the mirror
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The forward head was always
a dark and dingy place.
A previous owner had applied Mahogany stain to all of the teak. This made
the head even darker inside.
There was no holding tank either. Some of the cabinets were rotten and
smelly.
In re-doing the head I made a holding tank from polyethylene. The design
allows for a closed system when in port and no "y" valve to switch for
offshore.
The tank has a concealed fitting in the bottom where a 1 -1/2 inch hose
passes thru the bulkhead and to a seacock in another compartment. To empty
the tank (without a pump-out station) I simply open the seacock and
everything drains by gravity. At sea, we leave this valve open.
The oak counter tops had dry-rot and had to be tossed out. In addition I
wanted to have a shower area here for our gusts. |

I decided to install another
berth up forward so when our grandkids visit, there would be plenty of room. |
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Counter top removed. NOTE
holding tank to right.
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Using this fiberglass shower
paneling available from Home Depot. This is glued in place and then all the
edges are sealed to prevent water intrusion behind the paneling.
The entire compartment will get this treatment making a nice shower area and
a very light and open feeling in this very small compartment. |

I decided to change from the
oak counter top to something totally different.
I did a bit of free-form work here using Blue Gum wood (Eucalyptus) and the
use a Stainless Steel mixing bowl for a sink. This pic shows some tiles that
I am considering for a back splash.
The counter top was treated with two coats of reduced West System epoxy.
Then sanded smooth and three coats of clear AwlGrip were applied. |

Forward head nearing
completion.
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Forward head ceiling with four
inches of insulation.
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May as well make the toilet
seats match everything else! |
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