If I buy a bare hull and deck, how to layout the interior?

a. Draw a layout to scale. Here is #050, Opportunity’s (although not to scale) per below . I am attaching the only sketch/schematic I have of our specific interior. It is different from all others and I made this by photographing a large drawing. Unfortunately, the lines aren’t very dark and it is NOT to scale! The aft head is SMALL but it is possible to stand up if you are my height, 5′ 9″, aft of the toilet and in front of the sink. We wash while sitting on the toilet lid. We made the space under the companionway top step by making the steps fairly steep and, effectively, extending the bridge deck. The sole is directly on the hull, with a fairly small, flat floor. We step down from the port side aft cabin. There is also a hanging locker in the aft cabin, against the hull and a shelf in front of it. Headroom here is just adequate and the cockpit intrudes in. We have two small ports (5 x 12″, I believe) into the cockpit well, one from the head and one from the aft cabin itself. I can’t give dimensions now as we have lots of deep snow between the back door and the boat. The centreline divider for the aft cabin is angled and includes one of the bolts for the rudder stuffing box (under the berth)! David Salter (s/v #050, Opportunity)

b. Make scale models, per below I went one (or two) better than layout plans! The original Corbin brochure showed cross sections at all the stations of the plan view so I enlarged these with a magnajector (diascope?) and made a model of the boat using cardboard “planking” between stations at a scale of about 1″ to 1′. We still have this! We planned the layout roughly using this. Then we made bulkheads out of corrugated cardboard to try the “feel” of the arrangement in the bare hull. In retrospect, after living in the boat, it would have been nice to adjust things by an inch or two! Lester, I have brought the model in from the garage and dusted it off, but 20+ years of neglect shows! Photo 1 shows the open model – I believe I only ever made a deck for the aft area, as seen in Photo 2. The cardboard has obviously had moisture damage at some time and I ran out of adhesive tape today in trying to repair it. The scale is 1″ to 1′. The stations (1/4″ ply frames in this case) are at 3.25″ spacing and the cardboard planking is stapled to them. You can see the raised wheelhouse sole in the open model and the yellow tab is to support the bottom of the companionway steps. The chainplates marked on the hull don’t show up. We used this model to calculate the number of 4×8 sheets of 3/4″ ply for the bulkheads at 30, for example, and it came out perfectly, with a few small pieces left for furniture. Most of the furniture was made with 1/2″ ply. Regards, David Salter (s/v #050, Opportunity)

Category: INTERIOR FIT and FITTINGS