Interior refit 1970's kit sailboat questions

[Spot]

Currently planning for battery and head and fuel tank to all be on centerline. I have not decided on built on water tanks but that could be a interesting way to help balance or ballast the boat.

[Spot]

Next steps seem to be portlight sealing, cabinet construction, wiring, and interior cushions.
I am still considering old lights with new frames, have not yet pursued new materials for frames.
The cabinets need to be done or at least planned before cushions can be started.
Wiring could also be done anytime but the chases need to be planned.
I had a sort of 'boxy' mockup in CAD for the cabinets. Originals were a little smaller, carpeted, Formica'd, and had sides that would help keep things from sliding off. I could adopt some of these detail again less carpeting. I am also open to other ideas. I like the idea of the boxes being closed and latched but wondering if I am asking for condensation issues.
Some pics of CAD and original interior enclosed.

[wingless]

It may still be possible to get shag carpeting to retain / restore that '70s look...

On my boat I keep internal air circulation fans running 24/7/365 to ensure high ambient humidity doesn't become mold. It has been working fine. It would be better to run the AC continuously, but I don't want to deal w/ the extra AC maintenance.

On my boat there isn't any exposed interior fiberglass. Instead all of the ceilings and walls have upholstered plywood panels attached. The panel is covered w/ foam backed fabric glued to the plywood. The panels are attached w/ hidden perimeter screws. The fabric is not glued near the screws and the fabric is just pulled to cover the screw head and tucked into the gap.

Start w/ the window frame solution. That will affect later steps.

Plan ahead on the wiring. Things like reading lamps, interior lights and charging receptacles are important. My guess is that feet are forward in the berths. An interior bow light will help w/ that currently dark corner. My guess is no shore power, so a small properly-installed inverter w/ receptacles at several locations could be useful.

A counter perimeter lip will be helpful to retain stuff. What is on the counter opposite the sink?

It would be nice to have curtains covering the portlights.

[Spot]

Thanks WL. I appreciate the food for thought.

Doing the windows next would make sense as far as keeping the inside drier.

There is an Origo 1-burner intended to be opposite from the sink.
Pic below is from a mock-up of the new cabinets.
I think I will lower the stove cabinet so height of stove and sink is similar.
I am thinking of removing the plywood lip in front of the cabinets as shown on the CAD picture above so it seems less pinched.

Task lighting above sink and stove could also be reading lights for the berths. if rotated away from the galley. A light in the bow would be good too.
It would be nice to have something in the rear lazarette, a sealed LED perhaps.

Currently I only have one 12vdc outlet. I have a small inverter that could be used in the boat. Not planning on shore power yet.

[wingless]

One idea that might have an outstanding result is to add indirect lighting.



If the wall trim shown in the image is spaced away from the wall, then it could conceal LED lighting strip(s), either one or an upper and a lower that should work great to illuminate the forward berth.

Having the sink and stove heights, or cabinet heights, matching would provide nice symmetry.

Now is the time to install new NAV light wiring, currently exposed.

[wingless]

Where is the anchor and the rode stored?

[Spot]

Originally Posted by wingless

Where is the anchor and the rode stored?

Previously the Danforth type anchor was hung from the bow pulpit on brackets with an undisclosed amount of rode. Boat was 'looted' prior to purchase and so brackets were AWOL but I got an anchor and bit of chain back before I left the yard. It may go there again or it may be stored in the rear lazarette for lack of an anchor locker. Currently I just have it in the cabin.

Originally Posted by wingless

One idea that might have an outstanding result is to add indirect lighting.

If the wall trim shown in the image is spaced away from the wall, then it could conceal LED lighting strip(s), either one or an upper and a lower that should work great to illuminate the forward berth.

Having the sink and stove heights, or cabinet heights, matching would provide nice symmetry.

Now is the time to install new NAV light wiring, currently exposed.

The old wiring was indeed behind the plywood trim that covered the deck to hull joint, which is a semi-circular bump-out containing the rivets and glassing used to join the two molded shells. Most of it was ran port side. They did not have a good solution for crossing over to the mast and starboard side for the nav light. They used wire clamps screwed into the cabin ceiling and covered it all over with white duct tape.

I will have to think on the indirect lighting. What I have now is pretty harsh, aftermarket automotive type 1156 in a clear case with a small built-in switch like as found inside enclosed trailers. They are wired to a double throw double pole (DTDP) switch that allows me to have red-off-white cabin lights. The red light is a separate red clearance light from a trailer. My anchor and navigation lights are also wired DTDP as amchor-off-nav. I have all the fixings to wire this in the spirit of ABYC but I do not have a final list of items to be wired.

My usual crew, youngest adult child, stopped by last night to visit and eat and borrow tools and to get help on a project. After we completed all that we did a boat tour and idea session and made tentative plans for a last sail of the season. Today was to be our first frost so it was only 39 F (3 C) in the cabin with the hatch open last night.

Lots done, lots to go. Thanks for the input!

[wingless]

This type of product raceway is used by the factory in my engine room (different size).

Panduit G.75X.75LG6 Wiring Raceway

If this were added to the interior rub rail wooden block and if short segments of the snap on lid were attached to the trim board, then that wire guide cover could be segmented into short strips (3-6") to permit using that lid as the snap on attachment method for the curved trim board w/ hidden fasteners (screws from the inside).

It might be required to either remove some fingers, or to narrow some fingers to permit the raceway to follow the hull curvature.

The raceway could be used both for wiring and for the upper and lower exterior surface to mount the indirect lighting LED tape strip.

Trim board removal would be to reach around the lip to depress the fingers.



The raceway could also be segmented, to use less material, especially in areas where internal wiring will never be required, using it just for the snap on mounting and to maintain consistent spacing.

A six foot section of raceway (in this size) is under $30 and the lid is under $10.

[wingless]

This image shows some of that factory installed raceway on my boat. The raceway is on the bottom and on the right. It looks like mine is 3" square.

The raceway permits easy updates by removing and replacing the snap on cover, plus a repeating gap for breaking out wires w/o any effort.

[Spot]

WL, my compliments, that is a nice looking fuel system and wiring runs.

I tried looking at upholstery items (foam and fabric) at the local fabric store today.I was amazed at how many 'outdoor fabrics' were rated for dry clean only and not wash and wear. Seem like a bit of an oxymoron to have to dry clean outdoor fabrics.

I also had a chance to visit with someone at the one upholstery supply house. He did not seem to agree that my 3" 60#/3.1PCF foam choice for the sides and the same with a 1" softer top would be comfortable for the v-berth. I may end up getting some sample packs from there and shop from home or arrange a warehouse visit, which means they roll out products for you to view outside. Seems like I will be a little over 400$ US to do everything new: foam, fabric (acrylic), thread and adhesives, plus a little more for zippers.

Color scheme is still up in the air, I do not have certain objects or existing surfaces or other people driving these decisions. My daughter also mentioned another local-ish fabric store that deals in discounted, mill end type goods. I redid most of the RV with fabrics from this type of store but I did not need foam or outdoor rated stuff at that time so those parts are new to me.

[wingless]

Foam and fabric selection are important and expensive.

The fine folks at Sailrite have great information that could be helpful.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by wingless

Foam and fabric selection are important and expensive.

The fine folks at Sailrite have great information that could be helpful.

I appreciate all the information Sailrite has made available online covering the various sewing projects and sail plans. I have a set of their vintage sail making pamphlets from the 70's. I have not ordered anything recently.

[Spot]

Colder here today, frost yesterday and tomorrow.
I had this old piece of plywood from a shipping crate that was 'telling' me that it should be used for making a next-level mock-up box as the cardboard ones did not have a good horizontal surfaces or the retention features along the sides and backs. A couple quick cuts and some air nailer action lead me to these pics. On these pics the box is only 17" deep, I am thinking to take the two sides and top surface all the way to the hull. Stove is approx. 5" tall so that is the difference in heights between the tops 10" for the stove and 15" for the sink over the height of the berths.

[wingless]

The sink and stove mock ups look nice except for one thing. There is no counter space. Where will a hot pan be placed after cooking Where will dirty or clean dishes be placed? How will any preparation be performed?

What if there were fore / aft flip up counter top surfaces at those cabinets for preparation, to extend those counters when required?

The factory built my boat w/ drop in panels that cover the sink and cover the cook top when not in use. If going that route, then have the sink cover hand hole aligned w/ the faucet. The galley counter cover pockets on my boat have a continuous seamless lip to make cleaning super easy.

Another consideration is to make the sink and stove covers either identical or obviously different. Same consideration if they are a rectangle and not square.

One modification I made on my boat was to have a vertical storage slot for the sink cover (plus my paper charts) as I already have plenty of horizontal galley surfaces. It might be possible to have that between the sink/stove cabinets and the berths.

Yes, extend the sink / stove cabinets to the hull. It may be required to have a trim filler on the hull to cover the cabinet to hull gap. The factory used glued welting wherever panels meet for that purpose.

The Sailrite site has 14 foam selection guides with useful information on that material.

Why not just hand fabricate "identical" window frame segments out of plastic and use the existing unbroken material, such as with a jig saw or a router? If going that route the break should be cut back so that it is midway between fasteners. Why not just fiberglass over the broken window frame parts? Then just paint the frames.

On my boat the bow has four fixed tinted plastic windows. I didn't like the appearance after they got old so I had a plastic guy duplicate them out of new plastic and I just sealed and bolted them into place. That might be applicable on this boat.

If the plan is to retain a painted upper interior half and some sort of upholstered lower, then why not first fabricate a glassed in wire run, for the mast and for the navigation lights in that upper half, prior to any possible future painting? If going that route, then include a removable cover wherever the wire turns 90° to make future work easier. It is also handy to include a pull cord over twice the run length.

[Spot]

Counter space: we were thinking flip-up too, probably towards the v-berth on both sides which is super accessible from the 'throne' cushion. Sink will probably get a cutting board cover. Covers would have to be different regardless if I extend them to the hull. Or I just use the cutting board on the sink and make a stainless on for the stove that doubles as a heat shield behind the stove.

Windows: It would take 4 rectangles and 4 oddball frames and they are are all drilled differently so the holes need to be matched to the hull. So maybe CNC the frames, round over the outer edge, mark one side for drilling, match drill both frames per opening. My CNC at home is too small, one of the ones at work would be easier but I would have to call in favors as I am not an operator. Material appears to be 3/16" PVC. The full window with no outer frame is an option but I think there would need to be something on the inside to cover the rough opening in the hull. Another case where having a end picture in mind would help guide decisions now.

Wire run: I was thinking about that too for the cabin ceiling, something glassed in forward of the compression post, port to starboard, with an access hole on each end and the middle for 'fishing'. I could also go up the side too. The hardware used to secure the wooden slides for the cabin top was not appropriate and a couple leak. I need to redo those too, the boat only has 6-7 pieces of wood outside the cabin and those are the worst for wear beside the exposed one under the companionway hatch.

Foam: the kid sent me an Amazon link to some he's used in the past. I will review the Sailrite info.

WL, I appreciate the thoughts. They make my mental to-do list a little longer but better to consider more up front that to slap one's forehead minutes or months later about forgetting this or that...