Moving swiftly downstairs, here's the companion way, made up and glued in place.
Many years ago, as an archaeologist on a site in Carlisle, I worked alongside this old fella. He must have been in his forties
- I was a spotty teenager aged seventeen. Now I'm in my late forties. How did that happen? Anyway, he was excavating a Roman post-hole one day, as you do, which had been cut through a sloping interface of two different soil types. "Look at that, Andy - solid geometry in action." And I looked and it was true: the paraboloid post-hole had a sloping ellipticalish ring halfway down it. You'd need better maths than mine to calculate how one interfaced with the other, but there it was in all its glory.
Well, what's this to do with the Racundra, I hear you snore?
I have a more-or-less rectangular companion way meeting the bottom of the boat - a shape (manifold might be a better word) of immense complexity. How to make them fit perfectly?
Simple! ...Cheat!
I spent a few hours with tape, cardboard and scissors and it was a case of trim-&-fit, trim-&-fit and trim-&-fit until it all worked. Then I transferred this profile to wood. I made one side first, made up all the steps and that thing which is ideally placed to bump your head on, plus the doorway, as seperate units, before assembling the lot, checking it was square, and slapping the other side on.
Once dry, and wiith a slice here and there of the scalpel, it slotted in beautifully. Here's the base of the starboard side glued to the hull planking, with a later sloppage of PVA and kitchen roll to help seal the joint.
And now the
feature. I prefer to see it as not a
problem, exactly.
The original Racundra had a short prop shaft and a dumpy wee engine situated under the companion way steps, which were removable. I have a big electric motor and a long shaft that ends more or less above the waterline in the hull, which - as you can see here - passes
over the floor at the bottom of the steps. (The floor's not yet been added to the section aft of the propshaft support.)
This is a
feature since I'll need access to the couplings at some point, so it needs to be accessible. My current cunning plan is to make a removable "pile of oilskins and a crate of cabbages" which will sit at the bottom of the companion way steps and hide all the technical bits.
And finally - a note on scale. I'm appalled/impressed at the designer's ability to shoehorn things into Racundra. That hatchway into the cabin was, in real life, about 20" across and a staggering 44" tall. Pokey doesn't do it justice. (Once inside the cabin, which was ten feet square, there was full standing headroom, and features that weren't so bad for a 30' boat.)
But here in the companion way, each side of the steps and floor, were the galley on the left - a couple of lockers (fronts to be added) containing a primus and some pots - and on the right, the head.
Now I've looked at this build and the plans in depth over the last few months, and while I can imagine a figure standing and cooking without too much trouble, I still can't get a true grasp of the toilet arrangements. I
think you could only "arrive" by backing yourself carefully in (preferably beeping like a truck while doing so) in a semi-crouched position, trousers down, and the door couldn't be shut after you. Indeed, if your arms were long enough I strongly suspect you could have fried up breakfast while on the throne. They were tough in them days!
(Many years later, following a refit, a posh new head was installed up the sharp end.)
Andy
