Frequent mileage points

It has taken a week to make the locker above the bed and who can remember the number of times the locker face has been carried backwards and forwards to the boat to check measurements.  I’m sure we have worn a groove in the ground between the workshop and Waiouru!  Pity no mileage reward points are earned!

Richard checking the face and porthole tube are square and level.

All the locker components were finished and assembled today.  Richard and James then took the completed locker to Waiouru and fitted it.

They have gone to considerable lengths in an effort to ensure all the fixing is concealed inside the locker.

At our request there is no internal divider between the two lockers.  We think this will give us some storage capacity for any long object.  The doors are on gas struts which hold them in the open position whilst also providing a “soft close” feature.

I’m going to fit two bedside lights on the underside of the locker.  Richard routered a set of grooves in the inside of the locker to conceal them.

Darren has been busy masking the last of the exterior and then filling in the small blemishes with filler before starting to sand the starboard side.

Jan and I applied two thick coats of primer immediately after Waiouru had been grit blasted.  Today Darren said the surface quality after sanding was so good it was likely he wouldn’t have to apply a third coat of primer.  Instead he will probably go straight to the first undercoat.

Meanwhile Nick has been continuing with the wiring in the engine compartment.  We had a discussion regarding the number of cables that would directly connect to the terminals on the domestic battery bank.  We want to minimize the total number and ensure as many as practicable connect to the boat side of the main isolation switch.  Nick and I agreed the number of cables not connected through the isolation switch would be three.  These being the feed from the alternator, the solar panel cables and the monitoring cables to the Smartgauge.  The solar panel cables will have their own “inline” 20A fuse.

Nick has run the cables from the domestic battery bank to the combi charger/inverter.  He has also run the alternator cables and cabling to the Smartbank.  The new cable hole through the rear bulkhead is already starting to fill.

Inverter cables from the engine bay.  The small flat white cable is the data cable to the Smartgauge on the instrument panel.

90mm cable to the inverter on the right.  The other cable is an offcut from the charging circuit wiring.

Nick and I also discussed the remaining wiring needing installation in the rear of the boat.  This includes the bilge pump, switches, lights, fuel gauges, etc.  Actually there is a considerable amount of wiring yet to be installed.

After everyone had left for the day I settled down with a paintbrush to apply the first coat of varnish to the new locker. <no rest for the wicked!>

Jan has made a final decision regarding the external colours.  The main colour will be grey.  There will be an off-white coachline on the sides and the interior of the panel will be graphite.  The handrails, recessed panels at the rear and boatman’s beam will be red.  She has apparently told Darren it can be his choice as to how he uses those colours to paint the bow, cratch, cockpit and stern.