The V-berth is coming along slowly, but it’s looking pretty good so far. I just got a call from Flagship Marine, and they say my air conditioners will be on the way soon. So I need to get the HVAC space in the V-berth ready. Since there will be plumbing going to and from the unit, unlike most other panels on the boat, I need to make sure that the panels in the HVAC space are solidly attached but can also be removed if I have to do maintenance, like hose replacement.
The V-berth concept drawings didn’t have a lot of detail
What I called the ‘desk-like structure’ is turning out to be more of a decorative HVAC cabinet and step-up to climb into the bunk.
The air conditioner base frames are glued and screwed in place
Insert (or remove) the base panel by rotating it diagonally
Slide the base panel under the two cleats on either side, then rotate it to square it up with the sides.
Squared up…then push back
Nice fit…with a coat of epoxy on all the edges, it should be just slightly snug
Final test fit for the back panel
The back panel must be removed in order to remove the base panel. Because the HVAC unit draws room air from within this space (after it goes through a return grill with a filter), there can be no leaks to the bilge or hull envelope. So every joint has a cleat backing it up or is otherwise tight to adjacent panels. The fit looks good, so now I’ll seal up all faces and edges.
A heavy coat of epoxy seals up the wood
I’m not worried about making this panel pretty. It’s a 1″ thick piece of 1969-era plywood that was originally part of a bulkhead on the boat. I removed the latex paint that somebody rolled on, but since it’s inside a mechanical space that’ll rarely be seen, that’s as clean as it’s going to get.
The marine grade Douglas fir back panel gets white-tinted epoxy
Cutting the final panel
This panel will have the HVAC filtered return air grill in it
Flagship is a dealer for Marine Systems, Inc., a company that makes HVAC grills and ducting parts for marine and RV applications. I considered making my own grills, but some things are just better off left to specialists. And I like the fact that their ducting parts are plastic. Metal duct parts would have been a lot cheaper and readily available locally, but then I’d be dealing with rust eventually.
The side to side fit is looking good
Need to lop a bit off the top
EZ-One track saw makes straight cuts a breeze
Next, I glued and screwed the top and rotated the base in place
Not bad!
That turned out OK
Looks better with the step hatch in place
Ribbon-stripe mahogany panel tops the whole thing
I was tempted to epoxy the 1/4″ mahogany top panel in place and call the ‘desk-like structure’ a wrap, but it occurred to me that the back edge of this panel will hide the corner joint for the panels that go to the left of it. So I’m holding off on finishing this until I get the porthole window surround panel and the base panels below it done.
Oh! And if you’re looking for 12v LED overhead lights, an online buddy alerted me to these Quick brand marine overhead lights on ebay for $25 a pop. They put out a lot of uniform light for only 6 watts. I bought ten for the salon!
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cutting More V-berth Cabinet Panels
1969chriscraftroamer46 