Wednesday, June 12, 2013

New Access Panels in Heads


Talk to any liveaboard and they will tell you that they hate wasted and/or unused space.  Last fall, fellow Caliber owers Deb and Fred on s/v Early Out gave us a terrific idea for adding space in both heads.
Wasted space - no pun intended
Tom immediately began measuring the second we got back to s/v Honey Ryder.  He ordered access panels made of Starboard from Buck Woodcraft over the winter.  He installed them this week.
Basic tools for getting started
Once the doors arrived this past winter, he made a template for cutting the fiberglass with our Dremmel using the roto zip bit.

Tom taped the template in place, double checking that the panels would fit properly.  Then he drilled a pilot hole so he could get the roto zip started.
Hearing protection is a must as the roto zip is LOUD
It was interesting to see the slight difference in fiberglass thickness between the forward and aft head.  Aft was a tad thicker.
FYI Caliber owers - slight difference but it's there
The next step was actually attaching the access panels.  For this step Tom used silicone because it's such a good adhesive - fewer holes to drill thus faster installation was the thinking here.
New boat C clamps helped on this step
However, the next morning we discovered that Starboard really can't be glued.  Plan B - drill holes to attach the access panels.  
Six holes were drilled for attachment
This of course meant not only drilling the holes but scrapping the silicone off the panels and the surface of the boat.

Then he simply screwed the panels in place.
I do plan to package anything going into the new space.  I just wanted to show you.
Voila - access to newly found space.  Priceless!  Thanks again Deb and Fred!

 

5 comments:

  1. What a great idea! Good job, Tom. :)

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  2. Great news - We are always looking for that little bit of wasted space so we can turn it into valuable storage space. Thanks for sharing.
    Tamera/Scott
    SV Kooky Dance

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    Replies
    1. Tom tells me he thinks there is space in the shower seat....enough for several boxes of wine!!! Now we just have to figure out how to best access it.

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    2. Where theres wine, theres a way

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  3. We have a couple of those to do too. Unfortunately they're waaayyyyyy down on the list. Sounds like a good project for when we're on the hook.

    Deb
    S/V Kintala
    www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com

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