Except for one pleasant afternoon sail with my nephew, I haven't been out sailing since 2007. I hope to rectify that situation this year with at least some afternoon sails on a not-too-distant inland lake, if not a week or two on bigger water.
I also hope to make this the year that I pick up where I left off with my Tartan re-build project. The boat was originally laid out like this, with berths for 4. She is sloop rigged, favoring the fore triangle (early seventies design) and a staysail on a removable inner stay:
Since my sailing is mostly singlehanding with an occasional guest, I don't have much need for 4 berths, and with some of it offshore a bit, a cockpit that holds less water would be nice too, so this is the arrangement I'm currently entertaining:
Although I could just sail the boat as it was (after some maintenance!), or buy a different used boat, I want to tackle this boat for the pleasure of the project, and am not really concerned about the (im)practicality of investing so much time and money into this particular boat or whether it will decrease the value; I'll never get it back again, and that's okay.
I plan to cut the cockpit out, then deck over the space to match the rest of the deck, place a small footwell in it, and add bolt-on coamings. This gives me a bridge deck and smaller companionway, greatly reduces the volume of water the cockpit can hold, increases the space under the cockpit, and a few other things. The coamings can hold the sheet winches and space for sheet stowage, as well has have some sockets for plugging in a nice comfy backrest.
A traveler mounted along the aft edge of the bridge deck still leaves room to sit either athwartships on the bridge deck or facing forward, feet inside the companionway. Below the traveler can be a cubby in the front of the footwell for mainsheet stowage. In the rear wall of the footwell, another cubby for handheld vhf, etc. Aft of the footwell will be twin lazarettes, one on either side of the tiller (not shown yet in the mock up below, both split off from the rest of the boat and self-draining out the transom above the waterline. Propane and gasoline storage in one.
Two parallel traveler tracks with a carriage on the centerline of the transom will hold an outboard (the current Kermath inboard is removed), tucked up as close to the transom as possible since it won't need to swing up as with a regular outboard mount. Block and tackle raise/lower.
Other than that, I think I'll go from single lower shrouds to doubles, and move the chainplates out a few inches. It will increase the sheeting angle a little (pretty narrow to start with), but improve access along the side decks significantly as well as increase the strength of the rig overall.
One thing, in re-doing the interior, that I want to do, is create watertight subdivision. As it is now, a breech of the hull anywhere will flood the entire boat. As I replace bulkheads, I want to compartmentalize as much as possible to hopefully confine flooding to that compartment, just like the Titanic! ;-)
That said, as you can see in the drawing above (hopefully it came out large enough to read!), I went from the original 4 berths to just 2, located a little over two feet aft of the original settees, and about 4" higher. This allows them to be a little wider, especially at the foot, which went from about a foot wide to about two feet. They are also slightly longer, up from 75" to 80". Raising them allows me to see out the cabin ports while seated, and out across the bridge deck. That seems to help change the feeling away from being down in a hole. It also increases the volume for water tanks and other stowage and gets the top higher above the waterline for flooding resistance.
The galley is now under the companionway, and all the access to the storage under the counter tops is through the top, rather than the fronts, to maintain the compartmentalization.
To starboard, a 24x28 piece of countertop is mounted on full-extension stainless drawer slides that allow it to be shifted forward over the berth for access into the storage below. That gives me a nice place to lay a chart book or chart or, in a quiet anchorage or at a dock, allows the use of the counter for food prep while allowing access below without having to clear the counter first. A cooler can go below that counter, along with additional storage.
To port, a lift out sink (no drain) and space next to it for a dishpan for rinsing, with storage for dishes in the outboard locker. A small waste bin aft of that, with a door in the bulkhead so full trash bags can be passed to a space under the cockpit on the port side.
The center aisle, where the inboard sat, will house a toolbox, and aft of that the battery bank. All covered, with room for a folded Fliptail 6 or Origami 6 dinghy in the space over them, below the cockpit footwell. Should literally only take 2 or 3 minutes to pull the dinghy out, open it up, and launch it. (
)
The head, originally a conventional marine head with holding tank, is now a c-head composting toilet and is located further aft, on center between the light partial bulkheads and the darker bulkheads in the pic below. It is not enclosed (except maybe with a curtain), although it is in a box (front of box not shown in the pic below) under a hinged lid so one doesn't normally see the head itself at all.
The forward-most bulkhead (white in the above pic) is moved forward about a foot to make more room for sails.
The foredeck hatch was a sliding plexiglass thing, not very watertight. In its place will go a Lewmar Ocean Series size 70 hatch (about 2' square). I'll be able to do a lot of stuff while standing in the hatch, about waist level standing on the platform that is the height of the head cover (but forward of the head), such as change sails and set and weigh anchor.
I also hope to make this the year that I pick up where I left off with my Tartan re-build project. The boat was originally laid out like this, with berths for 4. She is sloop rigged, favoring the fore triangle (early seventies design) and a staysail on a removable inner stay:
Since my sailing is mostly singlehanding with an occasional guest, I don't have much need for 4 berths, and with some of it offshore a bit, a cockpit that holds less water would be nice too, so this is the arrangement I'm currently entertaining:
Although I could just sail the boat as it was (after some maintenance!), or buy a different used boat, I want to tackle this boat for the pleasure of the project, and am not really concerned about the (im)practicality of investing so much time and money into this particular boat or whether it will decrease the value; I'll never get it back again, and that's okay.
I plan to cut the cockpit out, then deck over the space to match the rest of the deck, place a small footwell in it, and add bolt-on coamings. This gives me a bridge deck and smaller companionway, greatly reduces the volume of water the cockpit can hold, increases the space under the cockpit, and a few other things. The coamings can hold the sheet winches and space for sheet stowage, as well has have some sockets for plugging in a nice comfy backrest.
A traveler mounted along the aft edge of the bridge deck still leaves room to sit either athwartships on the bridge deck or facing forward, feet inside the companionway. Below the traveler can be a cubby in the front of the footwell for mainsheet stowage. In the rear wall of the footwell, another cubby for handheld vhf, etc. Aft of the footwell will be twin lazarettes, one on either side of the tiller (not shown yet in the mock up below, both split off from the rest of the boat and self-draining out the transom above the waterline. Propane and gasoline storage in one.
Two parallel traveler tracks with a carriage on the centerline of the transom will hold an outboard (the current Kermath inboard is removed), tucked up as close to the transom as possible since it won't need to swing up as with a regular outboard mount. Block and tackle raise/lower.
Other than that, I think I'll go from single lower shrouds to doubles, and move the chainplates out a few inches. It will increase the sheeting angle a little (pretty narrow to start with), but improve access along the side decks significantly as well as increase the strength of the rig overall.
One thing, in re-doing the interior, that I want to do, is create watertight subdivision. As it is now, a breech of the hull anywhere will flood the entire boat. As I replace bulkheads, I want to compartmentalize as much as possible to hopefully confine flooding to that compartment, just like the Titanic! ;-)
That said, as you can see in the drawing above (hopefully it came out large enough to read!), I went from the original 4 berths to just 2, located a little over two feet aft of the original settees, and about 4" higher. This allows them to be a little wider, especially at the foot, which went from about a foot wide to about two feet. They are also slightly longer, up from 75" to 80". Raising them allows me to see out the cabin ports while seated, and out across the bridge deck. That seems to help change the feeling away from being down in a hole. It also increases the volume for water tanks and other stowage and gets the top higher above the waterline for flooding resistance.
The galley is now under the companionway, and all the access to the storage under the counter tops is through the top, rather than the fronts, to maintain the compartmentalization.
To starboard, a 24x28 piece of countertop is mounted on full-extension stainless drawer slides that allow it to be shifted forward over the berth for access into the storage below. That gives me a nice place to lay a chart book or chart or, in a quiet anchorage or at a dock, allows the use of the counter for food prep while allowing access below without having to clear the counter first. A cooler can go below that counter, along with additional storage.
To port, a lift out sink (no drain) and space next to it for a dishpan for rinsing, with storage for dishes in the outboard locker. A small waste bin aft of that, with a door in the bulkhead so full trash bags can be passed to a space under the cockpit on the port side.
The center aisle, where the inboard sat, will house a toolbox, and aft of that the battery bank. All covered, with room for a folded Fliptail 6 or Origami 6 dinghy in the space over them, below the cockpit footwell. Should literally only take 2 or 3 minutes to pull the dinghy out, open it up, and launch it. (
The head, originally a conventional marine head with holding tank, is now a c-head composting toilet and is located further aft, on center between the light partial bulkheads and the darker bulkheads in the pic below. It is not enclosed (except maybe with a curtain), although it is in a box (front of box not shown in the pic below) under a hinged lid so one doesn't normally see the head itself at all.
The forward-most bulkhead (white in the above pic) is moved forward about a foot to make more room for sails.
The foredeck hatch was a sliding plexiglass thing, not very watertight. In its place will go a Lewmar Ocean Series size 70 hatch (about 2' square). I'll be able to do a lot of stuff while standing in the hatch, about waist level standing on the platform that is the height of the head cover (but forward of the head), such as change sails and set and weigh anchor.
Last edited:
