More woodwork and cooker gimbals

During the last week I have connected the cockpit sole drain gutter to the cockpit drain pipework its just a simple piece of hose and a couple of Jubilee clips. Homework for last week was to make two cut outs in the panel which fits over the chart table one for the NASA GPS repeater and one for a three way switch panel which I intend to use for the power supply to the navigational instruments the idea being to leave some spare ways on the main switch panel for future use. The backs of the panels were then painted and left on one side to dry over the weekend. With the paint dry today I assembled the panel and fitted the GPS repeater and switch panel.

Panel in place

The plan is to cover the screws with some more recycled teak trim the same as around the electrical panel and I will leave cutting the opening for the VHF until I have the radio to hand.

I found one of the cooker gimbals and I had some concerns that there are no restraints to prevent the cooker sliding out of the gimbals in the event of a knock down so for my own peace of mind I decided to fabricate a new pair this was to be this weekends homework project.

One of the original cooker gimbals

The new gimbals were to be fabricated from some stainless steel sheet that I happened to have to hand, which is about 14 swg, so they were cut out and bent to shape in the vice a proper press would have produced sharper bends but I don't have easy access to one. Before bending the holes were drilled to allow the slots to be cut to take the cooker trunions.

Bending the stainless sheet

Ready for the slot to be cut out

After levelling up the cooker on two pieces of timber and setting it in the centre between the bulkheads I marked off and drilled the holes in the new gimbals. There are a number of holes in the bulkheads from previous cooker installations as can be seen from the photograph below so in order to not have to drill even more holes in the boat structure the cooker  has been placed to make use of some of the existing holes those remaining will be filled and faired. This photograph also shows the restraining device bolted across the slot, the black finish is a protective polythene layer stuck to the stainless sheet to protect the finish which is removed before dropping the cooker into place.

First of the gimbals fitted.

Cooker in place.

To complete the job I need to fabricate a locking device for the cooker there is a sliding bolt fitted to the lower left hand side of the front of the cooker I just need to fabricate a stainless steel socket to receive the bolt. All it needs now is a gas supply and as they say we will be cooking on gas it will be nice to be able to boil a kettle to make tea etc instead of having to rely on the thermos flask.

Internal woodwork

Arrived back in Dover on Saturday 13th after a good run back from the Yealm the wind was W or SW all the way back a bit easier than the trip down a little bit lumpy round Portland Bill and the auto pilot threw in the towel on the second day so it was hand steering most of the way back fortunately there was three of us and we didn't do any night sailing.

So back to work on the project most of last week was spent on internal woodwork I finished the bottom piece for the switch panel mounting once that was in place I started on making the teak trim pieces for the panel I recycled some of the old cockpit bench gratings from Shuda these were most uncomfortable to sit on for any length of time so they were replaced with Dek King synthetic teak. Varnishing the trim will be a homework job.

Old grating

Trim after first coat of varnish

 I then put the chart table back temporarily so that I could fill in the space above it the plan is to install a new DSC VHF flush in this panel together with a NASA GPS repeater which came with the boat, the chart plotter will be in the cockpit so the repeater will give a position etc read out at the chart table, this panel will also be used to house any other bits and pieces of navigational equipment e.g. AIS etc.

Chart table in place

As can be seen from the photograph the chart table has some staining evident I am not sure what it is probably water from the leaking saloon window I will completely strip it and re-varnish.

Infill panel

Incidentally I now know one reason for the engine panel being in the cockpit bulkhead and not in the original position as shown on the original Moody brochure photographs and where I have put it, the key is very close to the chart table see photograph below.

It is a bit awkward to use but I am not about to pull it all out again so I will have to live with it, the thought had crossed my mind when I first looked at the brochure when I was deciding on the position for the engine panel.

I stripped off the glued on wood grain finish to the aft side of the galley bulkhead some was already peeling off. I had originally thought that it was a form of synthetic veneer but it appears to be a thin wooden veneer with a foil backing and some sort of clear coating why it was used in the first place I don't know the ply underneath looks to be of good quality with a dark hardwood veneer finish. The plan was to apply the same laminate as already used but I don't think I have a large enough piece left I was toying with varnish but there are a number of redundant bolt/screw holes so I will fill them and probably paint it white perhaps try and match the laminate colour which is an off white otherwise there will be too many different finishes and textures.

Afr side of galley bulkhead

Over the weekend I finished varnishing the teak trim for the switch panel mounting and also made some new stainless steel brackets for the drain gutter which runs under the hinged join in the cockpit floor I did not bother with photographs as they are only bits of bent stainless steel plate.

I had a fairly productive day today got the teak trim round the switch panel fitted first on reflection I think that perhaps the switch panel would have looked better if it had been mounted more centrally but that would have put it behind the companionway ladder a case of function before aesthetics.

Switch panel with trim fitted

I finished off the parts for the infill panel above the chart table then cut out and glued on the white laminate the cut outs in the panel will be a homework job with the jig-saw power is available in the yard but for the odd times that I need it at the moment its easier to do the job at home the rest is down to the trusty Aldi battery drill all £29.99 worth. Up to know it has proved more than up to the job even using a 50mm hole saw to cut through a bulkhead for the exhaust hose the keyless chuck slipped a bit but I think this says more about the cheap hole saw as all the drive is taken on the shank of the pilot drill I have also a better quality one that has a hexagonal shank which is no problem I tend to use cheap ones where there is GRP involved as it soon takes the edge off the saw even on more expensive ones.

To end up today I fitted the drain gutter for the cockpit floor it still needs a length of hose to connect it into the starboard side cockpit drain plumbing I guess it will work fine on port tack but starboard tack we shall have to wait and see I guess.

Cockpit floor drain gutter

Electrics

Most of this week has been spent finishing off and painting the internal surfaces of the woodwork for the switch panel mounting for the time being I have decided to reuse the switch panel that came with the boat its not the original and is obviously home built but the switches seam OK. It needs some tidying up and some of the soldered joints need attention and in addition I will modify the connection arrangement as I have a thing about chocolate block connectors on boats or anywhere else come to that some new labels for the switches will also be required.

The engine panel plugs and sockets are now connected and in theory if the battery were to be connected and the key turned things should happen starting the engine is still a little way off as I still need to install the fuel tank.

Before assembling the woodwork I installed the bus bars and connector blocks for the new wiring.

Busbars and connectors fitted

The long busbar at the top is to take the negative cables from all circuits, the four way bar at the bottom is the positive distribution bar to the switch panels etc which will be fed by a fused supply from the selector switch and the connector blocks will replace the chocolate block connectors on the switch panel.

Once the hardware was fitted I put the woodwork together its now almost complete just needs the bottom infill piece and the hardwood trim but next week will be a short working week as I am off to Plymouth on Tuesday, weather permitting, to bring back the boat that we sailed to Dartmouth previously.

Front and end panel fitted

Switch panel in place