Words can not adequately express my excitement at the interior destruction going on aboard Ceol Mor these days. Things might currently look to be in an absolute state of upheaval but its all for a very good cause.
I love our boat. She is a great sailing boat, large enough for our family to cruise in relative comfort and has a beautiful teak interior. Since ANY boat has trade offs and no boat can ever be perfect, there are a few things that really annoy me. One of the biggest annoyances is the front cabin. Since the rear cabin is too small for Mark and I, we have opted to commandeer the v berth. The plus side has been awesome ventilation. The down side has definitely been the lack of floor space.
When Bob Perry designed the Nassau (Tatoosh, same boat. Really.) He designed it for the typical American sailing family who will typically feel that 2 heads are absolutely necessary. I guess we are not typical because we found the squeezing in of a forward head to be completely unnecessary and to make the front cabin feel cramped, stuffy and uncomfortable. So we are ripping that sucker out!
You didn't really think Mark would be able to just do some rough sketches on a napkin did you? So with Mark's detailed instructions and plans and Rick's excellent craftsmanship, we should soon have a truly spectacular Master Cabin. WHOOPIE!! I can not tell you how very happy this makes me.
As to the naysayers who say "but what will you do when your only head breaks?!?!" The answer is- fix it.Quickly. And use a porta potty until such time as the repairs are affected. We are keeping the forward holding tank as the rear one is on the puny side and will have a secondary pump installed so that we have the one head plumbed to both holding tanks. I plan on being completely OCD on the head maintenance and preventative use so if you come visit us, be prepared. A small price to pay for a comfortable master cabin with additional usable storage.
I am so excited about this portion of the refit that the current state of the boat doesn't even phase me. Even though right now it looks a lot like this:
Its gonna be messy for a bit but oh it will be worth it!
I love our boat. She is a great sailing boat, large enough for our family to cruise in relative comfort and has a beautiful teak interior. Since ANY boat has trade offs and no boat can ever be perfect, there are a few things that really annoy me. One of the biggest annoyances is the front cabin. Since the rear cabin is too small for Mark and I, we have opted to commandeer the v berth. The plus side has been awesome ventilation. The down side has definitely been the lack of floor space.
When Bob Perry designed the Nassau (Tatoosh, same boat. Really.) He designed it for the typical American sailing family who will typically feel that 2 heads are absolutely necessary. I guess we are not typical because we found the squeezing in of a forward head to be completely unnecessary and to make the front cabin feel cramped, stuffy and uncomfortable. So we are ripping that sucker out!
Mark has finally found a boatwright who can put up with his perfectionist tendencies and whose level of craftsmanship is on a level he is comfortable with- Rick. Rick is an artist and has a tendency to perhaps over embellish on the fit and finish but Mark has found a way to get on the same page with Rick. You guessed it- really, really detailed drawings of what he wants. Drawings that look a lot like this:
You didn't really think Mark would be able to just do some rough sketches on a napkin did you? So with Mark's detailed instructions and plans and Rick's excellent craftsmanship, we should soon have a truly spectacular Master Cabin. WHOOPIE!! I can not tell you how very happy this makes me.
As to the naysayers who say "but what will you do when your only head breaks?!?!" The answer is- fix it.Quickly. And use a porta potty until such time as the repairs are affected. We are keeping the forward holding tank as the rear one is on the puny side and will have a secondary pump installed so that we have the one head plumbed to both holding tanks. I plan on being completely OCD on the head maintenance and preventative use so if you come visit us, be prepared. A small price to pay for a comfortable master cabin with additional usable storage.
I am so excited about this portion of the refit that the current state of the boat doesn't even phase me. Even though right now it looks a lot like this:
Its gonna be messy for a bit but oh it will be worth it!
Looks like you're always working on it...when do ya find time to actually "sail" it? ;)
ReplyDeleteWe sailed it enough to realize what we wanted to change. We are changing it to suit us and then we will have a couple of years to sail it until we are sick to death of sailing. :)
DeleteHah! It looks like Sundowner now. I can't wait to see the finished product. Mark's details never cease to amaze me.
ReplyDeleteIts the double edged sword of Captain Perfecto. The finished product is always spectacular but getting to that spectacular finish takes a long. ass. time.
DeleteDude, I can't wait to see the finished product. We're eventually going to hire a boatwright ourselves, so I'll have to get feedback from you one day on the whole process.
ReplyDelete"What will you do when your only head breaks?" OMG! I've never ever given that the slightest bit of thought. But now that you've raised the ugly spectre, I'm getting worried. What if? Maybe we'll just rip out the aft settee seat and all the storage underneath it and replace it with a backup head. That's a good idea, right? Well, maybe not. There's always that orange Home Depot bucket we picked up in Guaymas.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you back after a month's absence (yes, I check every morning). Glad to see the refit is progressing, even if at times it looks like it's regressing.
Thanks for stopping by Steve! Its hard to post updates when it would be "Went to work. Came home. Did more drawings". Now that there is forward momentum updates should be more frequent. I still check your blog to see what you are eating :p
DeleteYes! But if the backup head breaks, then what?!?!? What you need is a backup, backup head to the backup of the 2nd head. Then and only then might your travels be merry.
DeleteSo may toilets, so little time....
DeleteOh, now we are getting exciting! We are with you about the 'two heads' stuff and since most of the boats we will be looking at will inevitably have two heads because of the 'two cabin' requirement I have, I am extra interested in how this works out. I am thinking it's going to be simply fabulous!
ReplyDeleteStill cannot figure out why I am not getting your blog posts sent to my email. I thought I subscribed many moons ago, at least once.I'm trying again.
I think having a cabin you can comfortably live in is every bit as important as having a boat that can go to windward. It is very, very important!
DeleteOh how exciting! I'm so jealous, i'd love to throw a boatwright at our boat and say "Go nuts, fix it all, gut it!". Lets just say there are a lot of changes i'd make to the interior of our boat. Can't wait to see pics of your new master cabin.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could say "fix it all!" but sadly there is a limit to the funds available. When we first purchased Ceol Mor, I wanted to gut the master cabin straight away. Mark pooh poohed the idea as a waste of time and resources. Then we started doing overnights on the boat and he came to realize just how very right I was. I love being right. It happens about twice a year and I have learned to not point out my little triumphs to Mark but to let him he think he came to the decision all on his own.
DeleteA woman of great wisdom, indeed!
DeleteI guess I have to mature a bit, gain some more womanly wisdom as I still enjoy making him say that I was right! But that also works both ways, when it happens I tell him in my best admiring voice that he is right. Sounds like your master cabin is going to be fantastic when it's all finished!
DeleteYay!!! Oh man, I can feel your excitement. I've been making a "wish list" of items for our boat since we can't do everything, so those little annoyances being fixed give the best feeling! Can't wait to see it when it's done.
ReplyDeleteTwo heads...Only on a super yacht.
38 years, 4 people, one head, no problems. How much time does the entire crew spend in there in a day anyway? When you have so little space, devoting some of it to a second head that gets used for a total of 10 minutes a day is really silly.
ReplyDeleteAnd never worried about "if it breaks....". Guess that 5 gallon bucket has yet another use - emergency head.