Sustainable Sailing

Following the first stage of clearing the starboard side of the saloon we got stuck into a whole lot of progress.

We had a number of objectives. We wanted to remove the soffit to make fitting the new chainplate backing plates easier. We wanted to get it all cleaned (quite a bit of mould and the hull was quite sticky). We also wanted to make progress on the planks that will be dual purpose. In day mode they will be used for the backrest. In sea berth mode they will be used to stop you being thrown out of the bunk. We also realised that just putting the lowest board in will make the bed more comfortable even when not at sea by holding the cushions in tight.

After removing the soffit and doing the cleaning

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Preparing the planks by routing the edges and sanding.

Then building channels to drop the planks into when they are used as Lee Boards at sea.

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This is in sleep mode when not on passage. It keeps the join between the two cushions nice and tight so it is more comfortable than it was. I’ll drop the height stops a little so that we can leave this lowest plank in all the time. Even when used as a settee.

This is in full Lee Board mode for sleeping at sea. The top 3 boards will have padding added which will make them more comfortable both as Lee Boards and as the back rest.

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Obviously still work to do.

As an interim measure (as we have a guest coming) we are going to paint the hull and underside of the deck.

I’m going to lower the stops a little so that the bottom plank becomes an almost permanent fixture.

Then sort out channels so that the other 3 planks can be used as the back rest. Jane will then sort out the padding for them.

At some point we will need to have a storage place for those 3 planks when sleeping ashore or at anchor (probably against the side of the hull).

When in full Lee Board mode, the planks are a bit too flexible. So we are exploring options to stop them bending too much in the middle. One idea is to have a vertical pole handhold that we can fix in place when sailing. It would be right up up against the middle of the boards so they couldn’t bend outwards at all. It is a very useful place for an extra handhold when moving forwards.

I’ll also need a brace of some kind to stop the boards bending too much when used as back rests. Still thinking about that.