Interior Layout - My Ideas

My goals for changing the interior are:

1. Remove the nav station and storage units added by the PO.
2. Move the head to the base of the companionway.
3. Re-arrange the galley to make it safer and make better use of the space.
4. Get rid of the Pullman berths in the main saloon and install pilot berths. Move the settees inboard a few inches so that they remain wide enough to use as additional berths.
5. Install a new table.
6. Remove the old chart table (now child's desk). Remove the old head. Remove one of the hanging lockers. Out of all of this, create a stateroom with double berth, dresser, etc.

Here's what it would look like:

Starting aft:

1. Holding tank. 45-gallon (maybe larger) holding tank to go in bottom of starboard lazarette. I'll install one of those Groco Sweettank units.
2. Head. The shower area is about 26" square. There's enough room in the bilge right below it for an enclosed gray water tank (with automatic pump). I have a novel idea for enclosing the shower (see separate posting). The sink faucet is at the aft end of the vanity. This gives easier access to the behind-the-mirror shelves (not shown). The toilet and the head sit just at the edge of the deck house. The shower and entry door have 6' 4" headroom, but immediately above the center of the toilet, there is only about 5' head room. Ditto for the sink. This will work, because when you get off the potty, you can't stand straight up! You have to lean forward as you get up, putting you in the taller area.
3. Nav station moved to just forward of the head. The seat will be a permanent mini-bench with storage under.
4. Galley. The big change is to remove the existing dish locker area (see the original layout), allowing the stove and countertop to be moved outboard about 11 inches. The new sink (single basin, thank you) is on a peninsula. This will reduce the passageway from galley to main saloon by about 2 inches to a new width of 23" (plenty). The result is a compact standing area between the outer counter top and stove to the sink peninsula. It's 21" wide, enough to open the oven door (you have to move out of the way, of course) and work comfortably. The counter next to the sink is 21" wide, with a drawer stack underneath. On the aft face of the peninsula there is a flip-up counter extension. It will have a sliding bold to secure it to the forward edge of the fridge/hanging locker. This gives the cook another 21" of counter space while preparing meals. It does impinge slightly on the companionway ladder (which is not as wide as shown in the drawing. With the flip-up counter up, there will still be 19" of clearance for people using the ladder. On one of my Victoria to Maui trips, the boat I was skippering had this flip-up thing. It was great: you were completely enclosed, making it super safe to work in the galley in any conditions.
5. Main  saloon. The old layout has storage shelves outboard of the Pullman berths. Impossible to reach with the berths up, and too small to be useful in any case. By removing them, I can install pilot berths as shown. These are 24" x 6' 5". The settees will move inboard a couple of inches so that they are 24" deep. The saloon table will have drop leaves, and can be lowered to coffee table height (as shown in the drawing), or raised with the drop-leaves up for dining.
6. New Stateroom. On the starboard side, the head is removed. The V-berth area is modified by removing the hanging lockers. The bulkhead at the aft end of the new V-berth will extend across the full beam to preserve hull and deck strength. The double berth will extend into a cutout in that bulkhead. On the port side, the child's desk is removed, as is the hanging locker from the old V-berth. This provides room for a built-in chair with a night stand next to it (with a lamp on it and a drawer stack below). At the forward port side of the stateroom is a large built-in dresser.
7. V-berth. There's room for an angled double berth as shown. On the starboard side there will be a small settee with storage behind it (extending to the deckhead). The V-berth cabin shrinks because it loses its hanging lockers, but there will still be plenty of room for a pair of kids at anchor. For extended cruises, I would remove the mattress and install a work bench with vise, etc.

Up next, a semi-nutty idea for the shower enclosure...