It is probably just me but I do not like things to be flapping around when I am sailing, especially if they make a noise whilst doing so. One of my pet peeves is loose crockery clinking as the boat rolls, especially if I am trying to sleep.
In the case of Shoal Waters this extends to curtains, and since it is cold out, so no real construction work will be going on, not that there is much left to do, I decided during my first tea break to sort out the flapping curtains problem.
A very quick, simple and easy to do task. Drill a 1.5mm pilot hole about 5mm deep, screw in a stainless eye fit a rubber band and done. Curtain tieback!
Repeat five more times.
Nice. No more flapping curtains.
The only drawback is that I have very cold fingers.
Time for a cup of tea.
Now that all the construction tasks are done with the exception of the the outer rubbing strakes, the remaining tasks for Shoal Waters are to sand, paint and varnish. The exterior certainly and optionally the interior. After that the tabernacle and gammon iron may be refitted. However, the painting and varnishing will have to wait until the warmer weather in the Spring so I am left with what you might call vanity tasks.
Things like a rubbish bin. There isn’t one, nor has there ever been one to my knowledge. The previous owners just hung a carrier bag on a convenient hook somewhere and left it at that.
Of course, you can’t get carrier bags these days, so anther solution has to be found. On Naiad I use biodegradable food waste bags in a small trash caddy. This is a very good solution and I propose to do the same thing on Shoal Waters. The next question is where to put it. It needs to be in the galley area somewhere that is easily available and to not much in the way.
Fortunately, I can use the caddy I have on Naiad to test the various places to see where it might live.
I also want to find some old carpet or carpet squares from somewhere to put onto the cabin sole. Not really necessary but much nicer on bare or stockinged feet, even in Summer.
I also want to make a plywood template of the centerplate, the same way I did for Naiad. This will be used to determine if I can get the plate hung on the pivot from inside the cabin or not. I can with Naiad, but I don’t know if the same can be said of Shoal Waters. If the plate cannot be hung from inside, then I’ll need to do that from outside whilst she is hanging in the sligns.
Originally, Shoal Waters had a milk crate for storage in the galley and although this had been removed by the previous owner, I decided to put one back in as I find it very useful on Naiad both for storage, tin cans fit in there very nicely, and the flat surface of a piece of plywood cut appropriately and placed on the top.
There is one drawback of the milk crate and that is that it prevents the opening of the latch used to hold the stoke lid down. So, I’ll need to move that aft a bit.
Time for a cup of tea.