Changing Quickstep in to a live-aboard!

After speaking to Barry Carson, Quicksteps designer and builder we decided to remove the section of bulkhead beneath the hatch that leads to the cabin from the wheelhouse.

Not only does this give us easier access to "below" it effectively doubles our standing head room. To maintain the privacy that the bulkhead offered we have opted for a removable panel to take its place, this when removed doubles as a table for the wheelhouse,
equally as handy for chart-work, or our fine dining!!

We have also been trying out more ideas for the bow plate and feel as we will be anchoring hundreds of times over the year protecting the tubes as much as possible is vital. The design enables us to push the bow roller forward of the tubes and gives some protection when the anchor is retrieved and also against rubbing from the chain.

When the design is complete we will have it made out of stainless steel and hope it will look ok!
Next steps... We are still trying to decide on the most suitable way to heat the boat, made even more complicated by the fact the petrol tanks will never be far away from the heat source.
Paul will be fitting out the lockers in the cabin some time in April when we have the heater fitted, then we will have the joyful task of repainting....
The fuel tank is still out of the boat and there is lots of re-plumbing and wiring to do along with fitting an under deck water tank. The list of tasks seems endless at the moment but we are definitely crossing off some of the bigger jobs and its nice to see progress.
At present we aim to have the boat ready for launching towards the end of May, our provisional departure date is around mid/late June taking in to account tides (neap tide occurring 24th June) and weather.

Work under way

After all the work last year in preparation for our journey its been depressing to undo some of the trickiest jobs. The under deck fuel tanks were one of the more time consuming jobs we undertook, with cabling and pipes all under the deck. We've decided to remove one of the under deck tanks in favour of storage. The picture below shows the resulting hole in the wheelhouse floor, which we will clean up, paint and use as storage.

In the cabin section we wanted to make more use of the foot well which we found last year generally ended up filling up with all manner of bits and bobs. This year with storage limited we have decided to separate it from the cabin placing a hatchway in to it, meaning it can be stood on easier and also it will make sleeping below more comfortable, whilst still being a useful store. 

The pictures show the boat in full workshop mode!

As before mentioned we will need to use all storage space wisely and for that reason we are having some storage boxes made above and below the casings surrounding the tubes in the cabin area. We are also working on our bow plate ideas, trying to protect the tubes as much as possible as we will be anchoring often. 

Lots going on here. Still we had time to make pizzas at the local pub night, and raised a few pounds for both the RNLI and RS!

More updates soon!