I've built two lockers in the forepeak in the corners immediately forward of the bulkhead, and fitted the water tank under the sink in the galley to Port aft. The locker to Starboard has doors and an intermediate shelf, the one to Port is to be an open hanging locker. The frames, doors and forward tongue and groove panelling are Queensland Maple, the corner post is Australian Red Cedar. I decided to keep the number of doors to a minimum on this boat. In a previous boat Blackwattle (see My boats Page) I built 14 locker doors, each of Mahogany with louvred faces. It took me about as long to do the doors as the rest of the interior construction! I like the look of rails, styles and panels but as in a previous post on the bunk fronts I decided to join the parts together with biscuits rather than mortice and tenon joinery. While the biscuit material itself would absorb moisture and swell if allowed, they are completely buried in epoxy, and if ever there is enough water in the boat to penetrate through the Queensland Maple and epoxy, the furniture will be the least of my worries. I would still not use biscuits in any structural parts of a boat hull or deck just in case. As usual I assembled the lockers dry before disassembly and complete priming of edges, mating surfaces and the interior of the lockers. In fact all interior surfaces were primed and coated with two coats of white Bilgekote (International) before final assembly. The third photo above shows the Port locker which will be an open hanging locker for (hopefully) dry wet weather gear.
I have also installed the 60 litre water tank. It is a standard Diablo moulded plastic tank and is locked in place with chocks with rubber pads and cannot move a millimetre in any direction. I was able to locate the whole water system in one small area. The filler will be above the tank in the cockpit. The sink with brass hand pump is immediately above the tank and the drain to a Spartan seacock is below it. The seacock is installed but not connected yet. Sixty litres will be ample for a boat which will only engage in limited cruising.
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AuthorIan Smith, Boatbuilder (ret'd) Archives
January 2024
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