Table for two

<style type="text/css">p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica}</style>For the past couple of years, I’ve been transforming my E34 from a racer to a cruiser for two. Given that, most of the time, it’s just me and my wife on board, I’ve been bothered by the size of the cabin table. It takes up too much space for the use that it gets. When I installed a Dickinson heater on the forward bulkhead, something needed to be done. I didn’t want to cut down the table, for various reasons. Hinging the forward part was a possibility, but I wanted to reduce the width as well. So I made a new table out of 18mm Russian birch plywood, taking 12 inches off the length and 3 off the width, finishing with half a dozen coats of polyurethane. I didn’t try to match the stain; the cabin already makes me feel like a squirrel living inside a tree. The table is attached with 8 screws, so it would be easy to switch back. I’m pleased with the result. It really opens up the cabin in a noticeable way.

Hi Stefan.

The idea of changing the table has occurred to me. Mostly, I thought that it could easily be turned into a convertible bunk that would comfortably sleep two. Your table would be a little small as I quite often eat three or four. I also don't have that heater thingy on the bulkhead. Mine is one of those Espar thingies in the cockpit. What do you do with the chimney as it would be in the way of the jib sheets?

I rather like the teak interior. It is very masculine and the other half can't do a lot to feminize it. My good hideaway.

supersailor said:

[....]What do you do with the chimney as it would be in the way of the jib sheets?
I rather like the teak interior. It is very masculine and the other half can't do a lot to feminize it. My good hideaway.

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<style type="text/css">p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica}p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica; min-height: 16.0px}</style>Bob,

The chimney is protected from sheets with a guard, which needs to be bought separately. It doesn’t look like it would work, but it does.



I have mixed feelings about all-wood interiors on plastic boats like ours. A bit incongruous IMHO (in matters such as this, I always ask myself: What would Jack Aubrey say?). Some day, when I fix the leaks around the port lights, I plan to cover the area around them with headliner-colored paint, just to break that wooden spell and to lighten up the cabin. But I’ll admit that when I look at modern production boats with their cheesy accents of insipid veneer (if that) I feel better about my old-fashioned squirrel's nest.