Aft Cabin

The aft cabin was reconfigured to move the fuel tanks to the centerline of the boat. A queen-size mattress fits across the tanks, with the headboard (the PO scavenged it from a 1970s waterbed!) up against the stbd wall.

We removed the waterbed headboard, the particle board and pressed paneling that served to hide the tanks. Two 40-gallon water tanks were installed across the transom up high, but the frame that held them in place had collapsed. The frame was an eclectic latticework of plywood bits and pieces and 1x3 whitewood, all screwed together with soft brass screws. When a 1x3 split lengthwise, the PO simply installed a new piece of randomly cut plywood and several screw to splice it back together.

The ceiling had been insulated with R13 fiberglass batting, which is roughly 6" thick. It was held up by 4x8 sheets of white-faced pressboard, screwed into every other ceiling frame. Because the frames are only 2.5" high, the insulation tended to make the pressboard bulge downwards. It was not a particularly attractive installation, and because of longstanding leaks the fiberglass insulation was thoroughly waterlogged in spots.

After ripping out all of the unattractive bits, we came up with a design that takes full advantage of the centerline tanks, provides access to the rudders for maintenance, offers robust support for the aft water tank, and added some much-needed storage. The aft bulkhead and bed frame are the major components that needed to be re-done.

With the aft bulkhead cut to size, epoxy sealed on all edges and the backside, it was time to fit it to the aft shelf and install

the interior supports.

The shelf for the AC condenser fit perfectly, while leaving plenty of room for accessing the rudder posts. The bulkhead panel actually "clicked" into place.

Next came the supports and shelf behind the bulkhead to support the 40-gallon water tank.

And the view of the supports from below the shelf.

A little insulation to keep the water tank from freezing.

And the space behind the insulation.

And finally, with the water tank in place, it's fully supported and there is fine access to the gas tank valves.

The AC condenser is now correctly oriented (ie drain down) and properly supported AND there's plenty of room to service the rudders or condenser via the access hatch.

Insulating the condenser on all sides should improve the efficiency of the system.

It's starting to look like the plans.

Fast forward to January, 2012, and it's now a fully functioning (though not yet finished) aft stateroom. Everything is primed and ready for paint, which we'll do once we get the moldings cut.

This shot shows the insulation work we've done on the hull sides. I've also applied insulation to the backside of all the cabinetry to keep the conditioned air on the inside of the boat.

Et voila! The aft stateroom is basically done! Moldings and a grille for the AC inlet will come shortly.

I realize it's not stunning joinery, but we decided to reuse the original centerline drawers. They fit in the hole and the paneling matches the rest of the boat.

The storage area behind the aft bulkhead came out nicely and is very useful when you're trying to pack the contents of a 52' Constellation into a 42' Commander! We'll cover all of the seams for the rudder post and AC access panels with mahogany moldings after the paintwork is done.

This shot is from the aftmost starboard corner looking diagonally forward. You can see the remains of the 6" thick fiberglass insulation that used to be there and the new 2" thick foam insulation that fits so much better. The missus is working on curtains...

While we were in there, we decided to put in floating floors over radiant heat. Warm floors are very nice in the winter time and at only 120w, they're not big energy consumers. It took two boxes of flooring to do the aft stateroom.