Project M - Interior Aft Bulkhead

[Highlander]

Hi DLT

Thx for the info I might just through that double 8" air mattress in there & see how it fits it got to be better than what I got

Na I'm just an old fart with a good imagination teasing "Beene" He know's where I'm coming from. I have two daughters of my own so I have the upper hand on how to lay a tease their . As most guy's including myself are over protective of their daughters no matter what age .

Anyway I'll be seeing him tomorrow I think & if I offended him I 'll apologize personally never to old to learn . But I think you misread the punch line, then again maybe you gotta learn to lighten up a bit life after all is just a breeze that we don't control you gotta learn to ride the wave's
not the trough's & life goes on.

My humble apology if I have ofended anyone

John

[DLT]

I'm not offended and I hope he isn't either..

I was cautioning in jest...

[Currie]

I thought I'd try to get things back on track

Taking in the suggestions, I did the following to the pic...

- Widened the doorway
- Handled the difference in position from top to bottom
- Inset the magazine racks into the mantle area
- Slid the louvered doors over more to where the actual space is behind
- Added some lighting for fun
- Now more room for a radio, etc.
- Would plan on adding 1/2" - 3/4" thick stiff foam along the edge to soften contact with hull. The wood & foam edge (not shown) is about a 3" width against the hull. It is covered up with decorative rope edging in the pic.



I like the look of the new doorway. The ladder is still not shown, but the doorway structure is single pieces from top to bottom to provide support for the deck. The idea of opening the ladder like a swinging door is still the same. This all should only take about an inch off the depth of the berth at the level of the mattress.

Cheers!

~Bob

On Edit: Here's a fun evening pic...

[beene]

Bob....


.... man you are good at those drawings.

Now that the suggestion was made to fit in there with wise, I LOVE the look of that mod.

Nice work!

G

[beene]

DLT

Don't worry about Highlander, he's a good man with good intentions and a great sense of humor. Even if he does drink from a bottle named after a monkey.

Cheers

G

[Jack Sparrow]

I have posted a few photo's of the bulkheads we installed on our mac in the mods section hope they help

[Currie]

Great stuff, Jack! Looks very nice. How are you liking it? Anything you would do differently now that it's done? I like the galley slide-thru hatch, BTW. Thanks for posting it!

~Bob

[Andy26M]

Nicely done, Jack!

Question: What material do you use for the bulkheads and doors? I've not figured out where to buy the laminated wood and the plastic edging.

- Andy

[Jack Sparrow]

As always, there are things that one would do differently and we are no exception. It was originally our intention to match the Mac interior veneer but this was not available in OZ, so the admiral requested a complete colour change. And so it was - the thin laminate is bonded over 7mm structural ply board and the edges are doubled up to make the bulkhead look thicker. The edging is iron on 1.5mm pre-glued laminate (cabinet bench edging) but this is too fragile. During the winter lay-up, this will be replaced with knock in flexible edging similar to the original Mac edging available from a caravan supplier but not in the Mac colour, so complete edging change. The bulkheads were cut from cardboard templates mocked up in position (just made it up as I went along) so I don't have any drawings or measurements. The bases of the cupboards are screwed and glued to the bulkhead and are supported by angle brackets bonded and screwed to the deck head in the aft berth. To keep the bulkheads in place at the lower edge inside the rear berth behind the battery compartment an angle bracket was bonded and screwed to the berth base, in the photos there are some brown headed buttons these are the covers for the metal threads that pass through the bulkhead to the support brackets there are screws that also pass through the bulkhead and into the aft side of the top gangway step. On the fwd side of the aft bulkhead there a 2 screws at the top edge that screw in to the original boat structure the fwd bulkhead is supported on the stb side as the original and on the port side by an angle bracket at the base inside the berth and angle brackets attached to the deck head.

Things that we would do differently

1. The false bulkhead on the end of the galley put a radius on the top starboard corner (ie, curved edge).
2. Place a fixed infill on the berth side of the aft end lower galley.
3. Something a little better where the gangway passes through the bulkhead.

How are we enjoying it? Couldn’t be better but a lot of work. The book on all our sailing mishaps is taking shape.[/img]

[Captain Jim]

Bob, how did your aft bulkhead modification turn out? Do you have any photos of same. Your concept is really great!

Regards,
Jim

[Currie]

Thanks Jim,

Weird, this just came up in another thread. I'll just copy/paste my reply...stay tuned.

PS. Bob (currie) how is that rear berth mod you pictured some time back comming? The one where you drew a wall across where the ladder is and added shelve and holders and created a little door to the aft berth. I printed the picture and put it in my mods wish book for future consideration. I liked the idea enough that I may tackle it in my retirement years. I see Jack Sparrow did some similar ideas in his boat, saw them on the mods page, but I still liked your aft berth concept more. It looks like quite a challenge to build though, but I should have plenty of time in my retirement.

Hi Terry,

...and thanks for asking! I bought the plywood, and asked for some of the lighting hardware for Christmas (heheh, I saw the package arrive from Popeye's Marine the other day). I'm getting some nice brass lighting - two sconce lights with shades, and two bulkhead cage lights (gorgeous). The latter go on the aft bulkhead. I'll update them with LED lights. I can't wait to get started. I'll post construction pics in that thread (i.e. this thread) if I get a chance.

~Bob

[Terry]

Yes, it does look awesome Bob, the evening pic looks very effective, don't know how you portrayed the lighting. So what are those units just beside the cupholders, the ones that would locate beside your hip if you sat on the seat? I see your drawing includes the companionway hump of the '04 model where the battery is. My '03 does not have the hump nor would it fit a battery there, so I have a plastic tub under the lid for all the sailing hardware. I suppose one would need to fabricate a SS frame around the aft opening to replace the support structure the ladder currently does, then make the ladder swing up. The drawing really gives ambience to the interior, I hope the finished product serves equally as well. It is a couple years away for me but at least it is in my wish book.

[Currie]

Hey Terry, thanks!

Next to the drink-holders are built-in magazine racks - about 1.5" deep back into the mantle. Sailing magazines, maps, emergency manuals, emergency phone numbers etc.

In my incarnation, the ladder will be there (it's not in the drawing). It will swing open like a door, and will latch to secure it. But yeah, I have to rework how it fastens to the deck/cockpit. The whole thing will still have to support the companionway/deck, like the ladder does now.

FWIW - I used Corel PhotoPaint (it's like Adobe PhotoShop) to add the lighting effects just for fun. It was pretty easy.

I'm probably going to do some window treatments at the same time this winter. They fasten to the bulkhead, so I might as well do it all at once. Hope it all works.

~Bob

[pokerrick1]

Wow! SuperBob You really hit the nail on the bulkhead with this one - - - look at all this interest. I agree with DLT in that I never move my 2006 M moveable galley; it is out in the cabin 100% of the time - - - so for those who don't move it into the aft berth, this is very doable (as long as I have someone like Bob to do it for me).

Also I like the idea of doing something with the space across from the head (clothes storage sounds good - - - I do that now with a bar across the top of the head that turns the head into a hanging locker because I don't use the head much). Although that area across from the head is where I mostly take afternoon naps with a fan blowing towards the bow from the galley floor. I can find somewhere else to nap; I rather have a clothes locker outside the head.

Also, I wanted to tell you what I did about the weak foam cushions in the aft berth. I went out looking for cushions from outside makers and found it to be TOTALLY cost prohibitive. Then it struck me, the factory knows just what size the cushions in the aft berth are because THEY MAKE THEM! DUH! So I went to the factory, through my dealer, and ordered just an extra set of foam for well under $100. Then I laid THAT form underneath the stock cushions and the result was a much firmer, much more comfortable and easier to crawl around in aft berth. Just doubling the foam made a HUGE difference

Anyway, GREAT idea

Rick

[kmclemore]

Bob, if you're smart you'll measure and document each step along the way in this project, since I expect you will be able to sell, in classic Norm Abrams' New Yankee Workshop fashion, "a measured drawring" of the project! And if you video it you can sell that as well. Heck, you could even sell the kit parts (less lumber) as well!

(Ya gotta love capitalism.)