Shaping up while we are shipped out..

Sunday last we met with Dave, a boat fitter who had worked on Caxton during the build, to outline a few modifications we wanted to have made. Nothing major, just adjustments that we know will improve our experience of living aboard. It is true I think that no matter how much thought goes into the planning stage of a boat build, the final tweaks only come after you have lived with it for a while.

So there we were last Sunday with a prompt list gripped in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, working our way through Caxton explaining what we required. Another 3/4 shelve in MY bedside table, a gadget for holding open the cupboards above the bed so it is easier to put things away tidily. Air vents at the sides of the bed base. Hang the door between the saloon and the bathroom differently and, fit cupboard doors under the stair at the back of the boat. The biggest change is to the dinette. We are planning to reduce the height of the seat back to open up the boat a little more.

Here is a photo of the dinette under construction and before all the trim was added etc. We want to reduce that seat back to gunwale height opening the seating area to the saloon more. Dave is also going to make a second larger table top that will give us additional flexibility for dining. Both table tops will then be secured under the gunwale when not in use. The work will be done while we are tied up on land so we are out of each others way when Caxton is filled once again with sawdust and screws.