Best laid plans

This Monday morning's visit to the recycling yard did not prove very fruitful they had some larger sections of hardwood but I do not have the means of ripping it down so back to the drawing board. Over last weekend I did manage to progress the door frames a little by making a couple of templates for the segments for the top of the frame, I drew the required arch on a sheet of thin ply so that I could ascertain the shape of the segments, the templates were cut from an odd piece of the 4mm laminate used for the bulkheads.

Templates for segments of door frame

Top of door frame drawn out

There are two templates shown the wider one is for the aft door where I am aiming to form the stops as part of the frame, the forward bulkhead is thinner and there will be insufficient thickness in the frame to rout the stops, they will be formed by having the cover strip overlapping the opening. The photograph of the layout for the top of the frame is not very clear but it is possible to see the development of the segment.

The first job on Monday when I eventually got to the boat was to fit the latch to the drop in panel under the cooker and then apply the first coat of varnish to the edge trim. I finished off the day by fitting an LED light fitting into the end of the cabinet housing the engine panel to provide an over bunk light for the quarter berth, I had found this fitting amongst all the other stuff that came with the boat and have been looking for a use for it not wishing to throw it away.

Quarter berth light

The first job on Wednesday morning was to put a second coat of varnish on the edge trim for the drop in panel before moving on to installing the AIS transponder. Some time ago I bought an AIS transponder when Cactus Marine Electronics were having a 'virtual London Boat Show special offer' this years show having been cancelled and I decided that it was time to install it. I started by fitting the aerial to the pushpit and running the cable through the aft cabin via an Index Marine deck gland, I find that these are much superior to the 'waterproof' plugs and sockets.

Aerial mounted on the pushpit

Cable gland

The cable was then run above the quarter berth headlining as far as it would go so that I could site the transponder unit, this has a built in GPS receiver which will work inside the boat provided that it can see the satellites, it will apparently work provided there is only a layer of GRP above it electrical fittings etc are to be avoided. I have sited the unit under the quarter berth just aft of the chart table, as this is as far as the aerial cable would stretch, one of the disadvantages of centre cockpit boats its a long way to the transom, the indicator lamps will be visible with the chart table in its working position.

AIS transponder

The transponder is only temporarily fitted until I can finish the installation by installing the NMEA 2000 backbone and check the GPS reception.

On the way to Conyer this morning I went to a timber merchant and bought some meranti, an African hardwood, for the forward heads door frame so that this weekend I can make a start on the top of the frame, if this is successful I shall obtain some more for the aft door frame. The first job this morning was to wire up the quarter berth light at the moment it is controlled by a spare switch on the engine panel. I finished off the day be pulling the AIS data cables through to the back of the chart plotter which is where I aim to site the NMEA 2000 backbone providing that its power supply cable is long enough to reach the electrical panel, the backbone kit arrived today so that on Monday I should be able to connect everything up and test it.