Meanwhile back at the boat

Bryan has put front bulkhead and side panels up as well as the wooden panels and frame on the hatch doors. There will also be internal glazed door to further reduce any drafts down the back of our necks. He has also part boarded the ceiling. Due to a bit of swearing on behalf of the electrician who hadn't yet fitted the famous grommets the panels had to come down again at the front and port side. However the 1st fix is now complete apart from a minor item the wiring from the Mikuni in the front locker and the control unit which will be in the port beside cabinet. So long as this is done before the water tank is installed not a problem.

This is the frame for my 'office'. There will be a full width desk flap but the topright hand section above the desk height is actually wardrobe hanging space accessed from the corridor.

This micro space is the loo. One natures head to be installed here plus small hand basin.

External view of my lovely hatch doors.

This wont be seen but it is my low level vent which will be venting out below the starboard bedside cabinet. So I can't be Arrietty any more.

Mel has also been busy. A lot of grunt went into making these locks as he discovered that the key can only be removed if the lock is either fully open or fully closed. So he had to measure exactly the distance travelled by the various components and place the support brackets just so.

and this will be my vent into the engine space. Bespoke item. Funky huh? Will obviously look better in situ.

Thursday Bryan, myself and the electrician worked out where the solar panels are going so that we know where the wires will be coming through the roof. Bryan will then do clever things with pipe ducting above the ceiling boards so the aesthetics of the ceiling boards are not compromised.

Yesterday I ordered the kitchen units and extra door fronts etc from www.diy-kitchens.com (I think it is a fabulous site and I got my house kitchen units from there. In my humble opinion they are much better than Howdens/B&Q etc) They should be with us week beginning 30th March. Once they are installed in the boat we can dismantle the temporary back access and the engine/batteries/electrical stuff can all be done. Until all the big items are safely on board we don't want to make life hard for ourselves. But I obviously can't put the boat on the water until we can steer it! Such a fine line we tread.

I also spent Saturday boning up on plumbing so that I can order most of the pipes and T joints etc.