The port bunk, or saloon settee and the small galley had to be put in at the same time as the structure is continuous. The bunk is longer than it looks as it extends into a footwell under the galley. I framed it up from offcuts of the Huon Pine planking with some Oregon Pine (Douglas Fir) from stock. The bunk front is Queensland Maple in the same manner as the forepeak alcove described in the previous post. The vertical corner post is Australian Red Cedar. All horizontal sheeting is Hoop Pine marine plywood. I spent a lot of time deciding whether to use plywood or solid timber on the interior, but eventually decided that I might as well seeing I built the cockpit structure from plywood and the deck will also be plywood. While this is a classic design I don't feel as though I need to replicate the original build materials, although I have done that in the hull structure and planking. If I was restoring a yacht with a pedigree I would keep it as original as possible, but I feel I have more leeway in building this boat. In my replica of the 1919 Sydney 18-footer Britannia I used traditional methods throughout. Each boat needs to be assessed on its merits. It's a complicated issue and different people will make different decisions. In my case it was a near thing and I nearly went fully traditional in deck and interior. I built the entire structure and then dismantled it to prime and paint all component parts. The galley bench-top surface is made from re-cycled timber.....actually re-re-cycled, as the New Zealand Kauri bench seat I dismantled and machined for the bench top came from old pickling vats. I bought a ute-load of Kauri forty years ago and used it in several boats, a kitchen table we still have, and the bench seat above. When machining the timber in the early 1980's I could smell the vinegar in the timber. It needed considerable machining at the time as none of it was square, having been shaped by a cooper into the vats. I couldn't smell any vinegar this time however. I decided I wanted some of this timber in the Ranger, so I dismantled the bench seat and machined the timber into sections which I laminated into the galley bench-top. It will be varnished and will come up a similar golden brown to the original bench seat.
There is still a bit of work to do, plugging, sanding and finishing. The recess for the stove will have a stainless steel sheet insert, and there will be fiddles and other trim from Australian Red Cedar. The vertical panelling is tongue and groove Queensland Maple that somebody gave me decades ago. The galley panelling will be painted (White Satin), but there is enough T & G to clad two lockers in the forepeak which will be varnished.
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AuthorIan Smith, Boatbuilder (ret'd) Archives
January 2024
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