Part 6

At the end of my last post I wrote, "Could the end finally be in sight?" It wasn't!

It is amazing how long the project is taking. Even in retrospect, it's difficult to see what I did all last week, or all last month, as nothing seems to change. However, nearly two years after my last post I am more confident, and I'm even inclined to say, "Could the end finally be in sight?"

The only real 'building' left at this stage, was the hard dodger. This was built up in situ, on the cabin top, with a plastic sheet barrier to stop the wrong things sticking. Notice also in this picture, the tunnels for control lines, the pads for the mainsheet track and the cabin vent holes ready to take the Dorade covers. 

This photo shows the dodger ready to be epoxied on the inside corners. I have attempted to keep the dodger in proportion with the original design and not to be too prominent. As such it is relatively low, the sides continue the angle of the cabin sides and the windscreen keeps the same angle as the cabin windscreen.

Also seen here are the cut-outs for the cabin top winches and the small instrument panel.

Once the dodger was rigid, it was removed from the boat and finishing work done. The top is laminated with two sheets of 4mm ply with extra laminations at the trailing edge to keep the curve. Not shown are the added glassfibre layers inside and out.

The rudder too, had to be completed. Here you can see the first layer of glassfibre after an initial thorough fairing. Three layers each side plus a final fairing finished the job.

The wheel and pedestal were fitted to allow the below-deck pulleys and quadrant to be lined up and all drilling done before epoxying/painting. You can also see the sugar scoop steps that will be hinged upwards to allow access to the quadrant.

After a lick of paint things finally begin to look a bit more finished. At this point most of the undercoat has been applied.

This cockpit photo shows all the vents that are incorporated in the coamings. These ventilate the quarter berth to port, and the engine room/lazarette to starboard. Also seen are the two cockpit lockers. The port one will house the auto-pilot ram and the starboard locker will have access to the holding tank.

Ports in the cockpit sides give light to the quarter berth and lazerette.

On the starboard cockpit side there are four outlets for bilge pumps (two electric and two manual) and a slightly larger hole for the fitting of the on-deck pump handle. On the cockpit floor are various holes for pedestal bolts, steering lines, engine control lines and power lines.

A detailed view of the starboard cockpit locker shows the access to the holding tank and, to the bottom right, a small access hatch to the starboard steering pulley nuts.

This shot of the sugar scoop shows the gas locker on the end of the starboard side-deck. There is a matching one to port and each will hold two 9kg gas bottles.

The small hole on the transom is for the fitting of the retractable outside shower. The rectangular hole is for general stowage, and the two small ports can be used for general stowage, but were designed as bolt access for any fitting that may need to be added to the sugar scoop deck.

Moving forward, we have the undercoated fore-deck. All screw and bolt holes have been drilled and treated with epoxy. The siting of the fittings and the drilling of holes alone took two weeks and was one of those jobs where an extra pair of hands would have been exceedingly useful!

The photo shows anchor locker access, location for the anchor winch, two holes for mushroom vents and a small, shallow locker where I hope to install a wash-down hose. The six holes between anchor lockers are for the removable stay-sail fitting. This fitting also bolts to the bulkhead below.

This fore-deck picture shows the access hatches forward of the anchor locker. I've mentioned elsewhere in this blog my aim to move the heavy anchor chain aft and also increase the width of the fore-peak berth. This locker will be used for lightweight gear or even as convenient storage for the gennaker.

In the extreme forward corner we have locations for mooring fairleads, anchor roller and chain-stop.

The above four photos are general shots of the superstructure. The more observant amongst you might have noticed that I don't seem to have made too much progress on the dodger. However, at the moment it is serving its other purpose of propping up the rather saggy roof of our boat shelter! When decks and superstructure are fully painted and finished, it will be removed and completed where I have a bit more room.

The rudder is pretty much finished and should only require a last minute anti-foul.

Moving inside now. There's not much to explain on this galley photo except that to the right of the cooker is the cabinet for the fridge and freezer and to the lower right of the photo is the cut-out for the sink.

The steps in the companionway are as I made them a long time ago with the exception of adding angles to make them easier to use when the boat is heeled.

The starboard side of the cabin comprises chart table with space above for the electric switches, distribution board, VHF etc. A general use locker is below and to the left there will be a small collection of drawers.

In the saloon there are six horizontal lockers on each side as well as one behind each settee back and under each seat. The vertical locker will be used to hide the curtain that will screen off the forward berth when we have guests.

The port side is more or less a mirror image of the starboard side except we have the galley counter top where the chart table was. Under the sink will be the two fridge compressors and the inside manual bilge pump.

In the 20 foot container - otherwise known as the paint shop - there are the recently varnished galley top, chart table top, two cabin doors and the 40 or so locker doors. You can also see the white sections of head lining. The container makes an excellent low dust area.

Looking sternwards from the head, is the area I refer to as the lazarette. The front of the holding tank is at the back, so to speak! The rest of the space will be filled with other stuff such as the water-maker, water pumps, diesel heater, diesel tank plus miles and miles of piping.

The head is mostly finished bar the painting and plumbing. The varnished vanity top and the basin are both in the container. The shower tray with its drain can be clearly seen.

The quarter berth is fairly self explanatory. One of the water tanks is located under the white cover.

As the only part of the boat to be completely finished, we couldn't resist dressing it up slightly - we would not normally have a duvet cover in the boat whilst we were still working! However, it does give some idea of how it will look when completed. The second water tank is under the foot of the berth.

Last, but by no means least, we wanted to include this picture of ourselves with Roberto and Eileen Barros. Roberto together with his partner (and son-in-law) Luis Gouveia are the designers of the MC36 and the rest of the B&G fleet. It was a real pleasure to stay with them whilst we were in Perth, WA recently. Roberto and Luis were extremely helpful during the build, but we never imagined we would ever meet them.

Roberto and Eileen are an amazing couple. We would recommend to anyone who has not read about their cruising adventures, to download their free PDF ebook called 'Rio to Polynesia.' It can be downloaded from the B&G website www.yachtdesign.com.br. Happy reading!