Stern Cabin Progress

Introduction

This is a summary of the work we have done converting the stern cabin of our ex Black Prince boat from a twin bunk sleeping-cabin into a living room that opens out onto the cruiser stern deck. When we bought her in May 2007, she'd had two short term private owners since being retired from the Black Prince fleet. Black Prince called her Lacewing, the next owner called her Danny Boy and the most recent owner called her Most Game. When we take her out of the water in August for blacking, she will be re-launched under her new name: Mabel Stark. The previous owner had neglected her and there was considerable damage to the floorboards and walls from water ingress (rain from the back step as well as through leaking windows). She listed heavily to port side because of the water in the cabin bilge and there was a disturbingly large ear-like mushroom growing out of the carpet in the stern cabin. Although we’ve transformed this cabin in the last year, there’s still plenty of finishing off jobs to do including beading, upholstery, boxing in cables, etc. Here’s how it started.

May 2007

Rotten floors and mushroomy carpets have been ripped up to reveal water in the cabin bilge. OSB wall panelling has been removed because it had gone soft and mouldy from years of leaking windows.

We've had new exterior grade ply floors put down and more used to replace the soft wall panelling. The calorifier has been reinstalled in its cupboard however it was put back together by the carpenters incorrectly and the shelves no longer fitted it, and they had split the wooden door trying to force it closed. It’s taken mucho PVA and some homespun carpentry from us to resolve this. We topped the floorboards with damp-proof insulation and Black Walnut laminate flooring while camping aboard the boat on our 9 day journey from Sawley to Warwick.
Then we moved all our stuff aboard – and here it is all piled up!

The port side of the stern cabin is where we've built our dark wood CD/DVD units. Also the TV, DVD player and satellite box are in here. The TV folds flush against the cabin side when not in use and pulls out on a cantilevered bracket when being watched. All the electrics for these and the booster aerial box are concealed behind the cream curtains which can be used to close off the stern steps and hatch area from view. Great for keeping out bugs in the summer and for hiding junk out of view.

The temporary fold-out chairs have been replaced with sturdy pine blanket boxes as seating. These will be upholstered in cream leatherette eventually, as will the blue carpet under the gunnels. Meanwhile we use cushions! The pine will be wood-stained to match the Black Walnut flooring eventually. The tatty cream vinyl wallpaper above the gunnels has been replaced with oak-stained pine tongue & groove. Wooden venetian blinds replace what were mouldy damp curtains. Unlike the rest of the boat the laminate flooring isn't as well laid as it could be in this cabin so we'll be revisiting that in the future when we can think of how to improve it or relay it.