I've finished work early and come home to lay on the sofa and feel sorry for myself. Trouble is, I'm not very good at lounging around... I'm not good at doing nothing. That is something that I hope will change in time once we get the boat. I'm SO looking forward to having free time to read a newspaper and watch the world go by. Since leaving school (at 17) and going straight into full time work, I've never had much free time. When the boat is finished I plan to pick up reading novels again rather than doing research.
Speaking (or rather writing) of research, after years of 'thinking' - we've come up with a boat layout that we hope will work for us. The photo below is the 'final' layout plan... at least we think it is.
I'll talk you through it - front to back (front being the pointy end on the left) ;-)
Coming in through the front doors, we enter the bedroom - boaty people like to call this the cabin. Coming down the stairs (not on the plan yet) to your left you'll find a triple floor to ceiling wardrobe with a finned radiator in the back of it to keep things from getting damp. Opposite the wardrobe on your right will be a small cupboard containing a small tumble dryer. Now I know most people won't have one on their boats due to the complications regarding generating enough power to run it but at some point we'll install travel power so that won't be an issue. The bed will be a 4'6" wide cross bed in 2 sections... (4'6" by 4' and 4'6" by 2'3") and our heads/ feet should just fit under the gunwhale. For those who don't know what a gunwhale is, it's the bit that sticks out which you can walk along outside the boat. The other side of the bed is another wardrobe (also with fin rad in the back) and the door (centre line) to the main bathroom. This contains a macerater toilet (which sends its contents to a holding tank under the bed), a quadrant shower cubicle with storage shelving behind and a wash basin. The door (to starboard) leads us through in to the lounge. A relatively compact room joining on to the open plan kitchen. In the lounge there will be 3 portholes and 2 side hatches, a multifuel burning stove (5kw), 2 reclining chairs and a TV cabinet.
.... sorry - been away lemsip and a snooze. Where was I? - oh yes, heading through the open plan lounge into the kitchen.. Contrary to most boaters, we are having a slimline dishwasher... I know it's a luxury when space is at a premium but quite frankly I hate seeing a sink filling with pots, waiting for there to be enough to justify using a bowl of hot water. Instead, we're happy to hide them away all evening and set them on a 1 hour cycle when we chug off the following day. As well as the dishwasher, there's a shallow depth washing machine (only 40cm), the usual gas hob and various cupboards, For now, we want to try and avoid wall cupboards. At the far end of the galley are 2 full height larder units (1 each side) to house the eye level oven, fridge freezer (12v model) and microwave. The remaining space will be food cupboards.
The other side of the larder units are another 2 floor to ceiling cupboards about 2 ft wide. One is a wardrobe and the other a 2nd (cassette) WC/basin. Finally, the last 8ft of the boat forms 2 single dinettes which turn into beds (storage underneath) and finally a couple of cupboards at the back housing the calorifier (hot water tank) and inverter/electric panels etc.
A few people we've talked to have been quick to say "it's not the usual layout is it?" but there is method in our madness. On such a small boat (57 foot), when you have visitors on board, it's hard to have any privacy. This way, we can be as far away as possible, with our our own toilets to use. The cassette being the backup plan too in case we get iced in or the macerater breaks... or should I say for WHEN the macerater brakes lol.
You may notice the circles on the outside of the boat - they are portholes. Some people think all porthole boats are quite dark but with enough of them, they're fine. Not having large areas of glass will also make the boat warmer in the winter months and conversely, cooler in the summer- even more so when they are covered of an evening with either 'bungs' or hinged wooden doors (not quite sure how to make the latter but I'll have a bash when the time comes).
oh - btw before I lay back down to continue feeling awful, earlier today, I couldn't wait any longer so I phoned the boat yard - alas Gordon wasn't there but whomever I spoke with did confirm my email had been received so at least that's a relief. I'll try him again tomorrow.,,, like I said ... "no rush" ... grrrrr.
until next time...
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