BoatsExplained.com - Recreating a cabin

I had to face up to it - Octopus's after cabin was too cramped. At fIrst sight it seemed that all the available space had already been used, but I'd always thought I could make better use of it. One of the fIrst obstacles I faced was an apparently immovable exhaust stack. Fitted underneath the cockpit step, it formed one side of a small clotheshanging area, and was part of a system consisting of a cast iron mixing tank fed by a 4in diameter flexible metal pipe and a lin diameter water hose. The mixture of cooling water and fumes exited the tank through a sturdy rubber tube. After some head scratching, I decided to reposition the assembly below the port deck in a void just forward of the after cabin. Ire-used the exit hose and the mixing tank but the other pipes needed to be 18in longer. With the tank now to port of the engine, as opposed to amidships, it also had to be higher up so the gooseneck could function with the boat heeled to port.
Before launching, I tested the engine - luckily nothing leaked and there were no nasty fumes.
Battling with the berths
At the stern, the moulded GRP structure formed a small cupboard with a table top and mirror. It created a division between the berths - possibly an advantage - but constricted the seating area and the lateral headroom when you were sleeping. So, I removed most of the GRP bench structure and replaced it with marine ply - using the old fIxtures as a framework for the new ones, while removing as much surplus material as. I could to keep the weight down.
The original storage areas behind each bench had awkward sliding doors which were also uncomfortable to lean against. I planned to replace them with open-topped storage - to minimise condensation and also create space. 'fuming the U-bench into a single piece of furniture also helped. I made a high sofa-like back to sit against the stern, with the new bench backs acting as arms. This was trimmed in the same way as the saloon and the forecabin, with an overhanging edge for toe room, capped with substantial mahogany fiddles helping the U-bench look like a single unit.
Finding space for the steps
The fmal problem was the entrance ladder. The original wooden treads and stainless steel tubes took up space that could be used as a changing area, and somewhere to put a table. Also, it was easy to twist your back trying to avoid hitting your head on the hatch as you stepped down.
I needed some way of incorporating a table into the steps. One idea was to have removeable steps, with a table that folded out on a gate leg. 1'd actually started building it before I realised that the height of the table surface was going to be the same as the second top step. The solution was obvious. The step could be fitted to the table surface, with the bottom step integrated into the table legs. The table top was only 22in long to save space but, by adding an extra leaf, we could extend it to 31in. (I used the same principle to make a sliding work surface in the galley, and another extendable table in the saloon.) Also, by making the table/steps removeable, I could get to the engine more easily, having taken the opportunity to enlarge the access port now the exhaust stack was out of the way.
Thanks to a bad cold, I had to fmish a lot of the work at home. I made all the measurements at the yard, then cut and test-assembled the boards and panels. I also built the drawers, table/steps, and all the fiddles and caps. Amazingly everything fitted even the strange mitre angles of the V-bench were reasonably accurate. We now had a useful after cabin that was spacious, comfortable - and, we think, generally more efficient.

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