Mid Cabin Progress

Mid Cabin Progress
Nb Most Game (formerly “Lacewing”), soon to be renamed “Mabel Stark”

Introduction

This is a summary of the work we have done converting the mid cabin of our ex Black Prince boat from a double sleeping-cabin into a study for our many books. With many Black Prince boats, there was sleeping room for 8 people but living space for just 2. We’ve hugely transformed this cabin in the last year, there’s still lots to do including wood paneling the starboardside wall, painting all the bookcases and tidying away all the clutter that’s been moved in here from the other cabins that we’re now working on. Here’s how it started.

May 2007

This is the mid cabin with the wooden bed removed to reveal the biggest pootank in the world! Behind the rear-most bulkhead in the photo is the small forward WC room (the main one being in the bathroom). The original OSB flooring can be seen in the corridor area next to the tank, grey and white where it has remained damp for so long.

Looking forwards from outside the main bathroom through the main bedroom cabin towards the mid cabin. The soft damp floor has been pulled up revealing the concrete ballast

The same pootank looking from the front. It was then cut to pieces and removed to reveal that it was (a) not as empty as they had hoped and (b) it was in fact integral to the hull! The engineers called in a local surveyor to check the work and they decided to weld in some extra stringers to support the hull before putting in new flooring.

The new ply flooring boards were put in where the bed and pootank used to be, as well as where the floor of the corridor was too damp to save. Also (hidden from view to the right of the photo) a new ply wall panel was put in on the starboard side under the gunnel as there turned out to be nothing other than bare steel and pumpout pipes under the carpet that lined the wall next to the bed! As you can see a deck chair was the temporary furnishing in here at that point.

It’s still untidy but you get a sense of how it will look. Floor to ceiling bookcases against the bulkhead (a mix of our old Ikea CD racks from our flat plus some small Argos ones) plus smaller bookcases under the gunnel. The two bookcases under the gunnel were conveniently the perfect size to incorporate a small gate-leg table between – one that we inherited with the boat’s galley. It’s ideal as a laptop desk and folds flush under the gunnel when we want more floor space. The fold-up chair in this picture (with sheepskin rug on it) actually comes from our dining set but is again handy because it folds out of the way. The old fashioned banker’s reading lamp is a mutation of mine which I turned into a 12v low-power LED lamp especially for this room. (I like the old fashioned style but wanted a low draw on the batteries). Much of the clutter in here is from the new Utility Room (eg. what used to be the small forward WC room) and the galley, while we DIY those cabins. (It does look tidier than this usually, honest!)

The same room but looking down the portside corridor. I’ve put in pine wall-mounted bookshelves under the gunnels on this side and above the radiator. The sheepskin rug is now on the floor where it belongs. You can also see the black walnut laminate flooring that runs throughout the boat has been laid in here (stopping just outside the Utility Room) – it will eventually run right through. The door that closes off the Utility Room can be swung open to close off the new study which makes the room really cosy in winter, especially when lit by the desklamp. I’m tempted to one day buy a secondhand burgundy or green leather Chesterfield captain’s swivel chair for this room. Old fashioned, I know, but I’ve always wanted one! You can also see that the oak-stained pine tongue-and-groove panels that we have lined the walls with elsewhere in the boat have been put up in here too.