41AC - Found a Large Empty Space

[dkinzer]

In the forward cabin, I removed the aft drawer under the bunk. I was surprised to find a relatively large empty space below the level of the sole adjacent to the hull. It measures about 35" fore to aft and about 25" side to side. The depth varies due to the hull contour but it is about 10" deep near the stringer. My first thought was that it might be usable for an additional battery, a fresh water bladder or for part of a component-based water maker. Access to the space is either through the drawer opening (with the drawer removed) or through the removeable panel in the bottom of the storage space below the bed via a hinged panel beneath the mattress.

I haven't yet decided what, if anything, I'm going to use it for.

 

[CrispyCringle]

Congrats! Always nice to find another few cubic feet of storage.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Is that dirt or a crack on the left side?

 

[Davidasailor26]

It might be a place where Hunter would’ve put a battery for a bow thruster, assuming you don’t have one. You could have a dedicated windlass battery there too. It’s probably not a great place for an extra house battery, as it will be far from the main bank and difficult to keep balanced.

 

[dkinzer]

Is that dirt or a crack on the left side?

Dirt, I think. Shortly after getting this boat I discovered that the large fixed portlights were leaking water into the cabin. The water ran down the bulkhead and slmost certainly found its way into this space.

 

[Boiler]

I do not know the interior layout of the 41 AC, but it looks pre-wired. Could it possibly be for the forward AC unit.

 

[Tally Ho]

In the forward cabin, I removed the aft drawer under the bunk. I was surprised to find a relatively large empty space below the level of the sole adjacent to the hull. It measures about 35" fore to aft and about 25" side to side. The depth varies due to the hull contour but it is about 10" deep near the stringer. My first thought was that it might be usable for an additional battery, a fresh water bladder or for part of a component-based water maker. Access to the space is either through the drawer opening (with the drawer removed) or through the removeable panel in the bottom of the storage space below the bed via a hinged panel beneath the mattress.

I haven't yet decided what, if anything, I'm going to use it for.

View attachment 233394

Did you run the wires in there? Or were they installed by Hunter to run some option your boat doesn’t have?

And where did the sawdust come from? Did you cut a hatch on top?

I had a fiberglass compartment on my O’Day that was totally inaccessible. I was feeling a bit destructive one day (and had my circular saw with me), so I cut an access hole in it. Not huge, but spare space now holding a bunch of life jackets. Also cut an access panel in the wall in the head to get access to the starter-side of my diesel.


Greg

 

[dkinzer]

I do not know the interior layout of the 41 AC, but it looks pre-wired. Could it possibly be for the forward AC unit.

The wiring appears to be for saloon AC which would have been installed under the dinnette seat just aft of the bulkhead between the saloon and forward cabin. Interestingly, the wire bundle includes a 75 ohm coax cable with a Type-F connector - signal feed for a TV. The boat has an exterior connection near the shore power connection which has TV and telephone connections.

 

[dkinzer]

Did you run the wires in there? O

And where did the sawdust come from? Did you cut a hatch on top?

I had a fiberglass compartment on my O’Day that was totally inaccessible. I was feeling a bit destructive one day (and had my circular saw with me), so I cut an access hole in it. Not huge, but spare space now holding a bunch of life jackets. Also cut an access panel in the wall in the head to get access to the starter-side of my diesel.


Greg

And where did the sawdust come from?

Poor workmanship. I've found sawdust and a few pieces of construction debris in several hard-to-access spaces in the boat.

 

[MFD]

Good find. One of the few obscure areas I have yet to look into on my 41DS.
I am probably going to look in there this weekend - you have me curious now. I am always looking for places to get keep rarely used tools and such stored far out of the way in air tight bags.

For the wires, on the main cabin side of the bulkhead, as others have noted, that is where the AC/HeatPumps would be installed. They would be 110VAC though, off shore power or generator.

My boat however has the original Bose TV+stereo option. There is some fairly beefy wiring to a dedicated inverter that runs the stereo and sound system, so it might be those wires? If you look close at the numbers on them, you can cross-reference over to the factory wiring diagrams to see what they were originally designed for.

 

[MFD]

BTW - before I get too curious, were there any tricks to be aware of for removing the drawer?

 

[dkinzer]

any tricks to be aware of for removing the drawer?

I just pulled all the way out and then tipped it down, lifted the back and pulled out. It was tight.

Also, a couple of years ago I had found another space under the sole in front of the galley sink. I had the panel out where the raw water strainer is (at the foot of the companionway stairs) and I noticed that there was a panel with no finger hole in front of the sink. I pried it up with a putty knife and found an unused space as shown in the first photo. I enlarged the sub-floor opening to allow the insertion of bins (see second photo) and put a finger hole in the panel. We store wine, liquor, water and soda in there now.

 

[jssailem]

You may want to consider using a Sharpie marker to identify the good liquor from the "Ok for a swig" bottles. Water ingress in that area could remove the labels of the good rum from the bottles, mixing up sipping rum with the crew rum.