The front of the boat, where the two sides come together to form a V, is where the crew quarter/mess hall/living space was and is therefore known as the V berth. This is where we are planning to put our master stateroom, at least in phase one. When we bought Northern, you may recall it looked like this:
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| We present exhibits A: Berths which have been used for 80 years of stinky fishermen B: Cushions along berths = "settee", pathetic excuse for lounge space C: Fancy folding origami table which leaves room for a two dimensional person when open D: Ginormous non-functional cold locker with, granted, very neat doors but no other redeeming qualities E: Very sketchy stove and sink area (not pictured because not worth photographing) |
Because I am high maintenance this is not my idea of a master stateroom (I think that Eli would be totally fine living on the boat as it is, using the hold as a bicycle garage for the rest of time).
So this past weekend, we got a wild hair and decided to take it all out. Forgive the crummy iPhone photos, we were ill equipped.
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| We started with the table. Actually, to be more accurate, we started with hoisting the giant dog down the ladder to supervise. Then we started with the table. Finger-loosening in crannies the socket wrench couldn't reach. |
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| Salty, having found a nook in which to hunker. |
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| Doing anything around this stupid table requires contorting oneself into all manner of odd positions. It was like doing yoga and construction at the same time. |
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| Got the top off the table and the base up off the deck. Dismantling it--remember, to salvage the screws! Cheap! |
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| Taking out the very forward cabinet and divider. |
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| We also took off and saved all the trim, which is either teak or mahogany. I am not sure why expensive varnished trim was installed on this fishing boat but whatever. Eli says, Because it's still a boat. Proper shipbuilding. |
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| Whooo! It feels bigger already! |
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| Peeling the pieces apart. The red cloth is hanging on the vent lever for the hatch after Eli ran into it one too many times (not previously an issue because of the giant table). Spot the labradoodle. |
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| The end of our hard day's night. Not too shabby for six hours' work! It is fun to make big changes like this; actually feels as though we are making progress! |
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| We had mentioned the creepy galley before. This part is staying so we still have a place to scrub ourselves down and clean brushes after working. It will eventually also go the way of the do-do. |
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| Eli came back the next day and continued the momentum while I was at work. |
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| Notice the fancy new skilsaw. In the past four days we have acquired: a skilsaw an impact drill kit a belt sander an angle grinder an electric planer a heatgun (two actually: does anyone have an opinion on whether flow volume actually impacts speed of work? we are trying to decide between the Milwaukee and a Bosch. will keep you posted on our findings) a multitool (Kate: What is a multi-tool? I have a multi-tool; it fits in my purse but I do not think that a leatherman is what you are talking about. Eli: It's a multi-tool. You know. Like cast-cutters. Kate: Why would we ever need a cast cutter? Eli: You'll see. Kate: Is that a threat? Are you threatening me? Eli: crickets) |
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| All the fancy tools lying around in the dust. Whatever. |
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| THERE IS WALL SPACE. WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO LIVE HERE. (I'm sorry. I meant ceiling space). |
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| Here's a test patch where Eli used the heatgun to scrape the paint off down to bare wood. The whole vee eventually needs to look like this so we can slather it in linseed oil to feed the wood, then let it cure a bit before we paint it. Probably white, but maybe varnishing the deck beams. This is how I am going to acquire Michelle Obama's arms. Side note: both heat guns (Milwaukee and Bosch) were used. Verdict: more testing is required. I think that this actually means we are keeping two heat guns. |
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| So this is where we are at right now. |
We still need to rip out the bench on the port side, the cold box, the galley and the diesel stove. The deck in this room is actually painted rough concrete (and I have the abrasions on my knuckles to prove it) so that has to go too. But! Imagine if you will a bed up in the vee there, and some cabinets and a squishy settee and some port lights. If I squint real hard I can almost see it.
