Cabinetry predominated the progress this week as the building of XPM78-01 aka Möbius continues “all engines ahead full”. And a very exciting new stage was added to the list of “firsts” as per this week’s title with the first of the cabinetry being moved inside Möbius and fitted into their new full time homes. Let’s go see …………
First in place is this full height wardrobe or hanging closet which is the first thing you cabinet as you see as you descend the stairs from the SuperSalon and enter our Master Cabin.
If you are new to these weekly updates and to help with orientation, here is the original rendering from many months ago of the layout of the Master Cabin. This is the view when you are standing with your back against the Port/Left side hull walls looking across the bottom of the King bed towards the entry door and wardrobe closet in the photo above.
To the left is this large bureau of drawers with the mirrored space above for our 3D sculpture of a Möbius strip and then more closets continuing to the left all the way to the forward end of the Master Cabin. This is the view when standing beside the closet as you enter the Master Cabin and look forward to the glass walled shower and head/bathroom area in the back left of this render. With the first closet clamped in place the next cabinet moved onboard is the base of the bureau of eight drawers. Thanks to having every part of the boat in the 3D model the cabinets can be made to very close to just right sizes over in the cabinetry shop which dramatically reduces the fitting needed once they are moved aboard so the process goes quite quickly.
Omur (rear) and Selim are a well coordinated team as they make the minute adjustments to getting the cabinets in just the right spot.
The white boards creating the foundation for all the furniture have been previously installed and leveled before being affixed to the aluminium tank tops that make up almost all the floors on the boat. This provides a solid level surface for all the furniture cabinets to sit upon and once they are all fully finished they will all be more permanently attached to these foundation boards as well as the surrounding aluminium frames. Where anchoring points are needed in between frames the 50mm/2” thick EPDM insulation is cut away and the AL hull plate is thoroughly cleaned prior to having an epoxy coated wood brace glued in place using industrial adhesive. The marine plywood sides of the cabinets are extended back towards the hull area inside the frames so they can slide into slots in the anchor blocks as seen here. Once the cabinets are fully leveled and fitted they will be glued and screwed to these anchor blocks and create eXtremely strong and rigid cabinetry that does not move or squeak, EVER!
One of the many benefits of building an aluminium hull with such an eXtremely rigid framework which this skeletal rendering shows and then covering it with equally eXtremely thick AL plating is that the hull does not flex or move so we take advantage of this by attaching the cabinets the way you are seeing here. The back panel above the bureau of drawers has been fitted and clamped in place along with the overhead ceiling plywood and Rosewood edge.
Omur is moving what will be the cabin’s main entryway door out of the way so that the base for the last set of full height cabinets can be moved into place and fitted. Having been previously dry assembled in the cabinetry shop as they were being made and as we’ve seen in previous updates the vertical dividers slot into place very quickly with biscuit joints top and bottom. Shelves are also attached using biscuit joints in the slots you can make out with the two slots running across the middle of this inner vertical divider. Throughout the interior all vertical corners are solid Rosewood with large 50mm/2” radius corners for both safety and great looks and you can see two examples here with the two full height radiused corner pieces that flank the bureau of drawers. Once the cabinets have been fitted and clamped in place the working hardware such as drawer slides and these gorgeous SS recessed hinges will be set in place and adjusted. The groove running horizontally here between the solid door jamb with the recess for the hinge body and the divider above it is where the custom silicone gasket will be attached to ensure there are no drafts when the doors are closed and no rattling or squeaking from any wood on wood contact.
Comfort is one of our five fundamental priorities for these boats and while these kinds of “little details” with these solid cast hinges and silicone gaskets cost both time and money to execute, noise, especially when underway is a huge factor in the overall comfort onboard so we gladly go to such lengths to create eXtremely quiet boats. When they were not onboard Möbius fitting the cabinets they’d built, Omur and Selim were working on the components to go into those cabinets such as these solid edged drawer fronts for the bureau of drawers. These will next have light gray leather panels laminated as is indicated in the rendering at the beginning. Most excitingly to me they also have these solid rosewood hand holds all ready to be attached along all the cabinets and doors with the aquamarine “horizon line” behind them as described in several previous updates. Can’t wait to show you this other unique feature once we start installing them and I can show you better how they work and what they look like. Lest you think that Uğur and Nihat were missing in action nothing could be further from the truth as they were busy working on aluminum details aboard Möbius all week as well. One job getting finished off is the closing in of the insides of the two wing boxes on either side of the aft end of the Pilot House.
The rear half will be fully welded in place and the forward one will be bolted in place. These are removable so we can attach and service the extraction fans which are in composite ducting boxes attached to their inner surfaces. There are ducting tubes connected to the Guest Cabin, Corridor walkway, shower and head and these fans can aid the airflow in these areas as needed. Don’t be confused by their temporary resting spot on and inside the Day Tank but the final aluminium detail for this week’s update is the completion of the bolt on covers for the two vent box hatches for the fuel which are located on either side of the outer surfaces of the coaming below the windows just ahead of the Wing Boxes above.
The gaskets have been glued on and these covers will be bolted in place with SS countersunk machine screws. The slots allow air to flow into the vent pipes for all the fuel tans and the Gray and Black water tanks. Sounds like another minor detail but trust me that well ventilated tanks are eXtremely important. Ask me how I know?!! And that’s the week that was July 22-26, 2019 here at Naval Yachts in Antalya Turkey. We’ll be back again next weekend with more photos and explanations of the continued progress as Möbius gets closer and closer to the water and we get more excited with each of these steps.
Thanks for joining us and please be sure to add any and all comments, ideas and questions in the “Join the Discussion” box below.
This was a four day work week here in Antalya as Monday was a national holiday so a few less hours this week but I’ve still got LOTS of new things to show you as our brilliant interior designer Yeşim created more renderings of her designs for the Guest Cabin and Christine’s Office.
Christine and I took advantage of the long weekend to take some dear fellow sailing friends who were staying with us for the week from their current home in Barcelona, out to see one of our favorite summer spots in this area, Köprülü Kanyon. I will let the following few photos show you why:
Less than 2 hour drive from our apartment and the shipyard takes you up this fabulous river canyon to this ancient bridge built before Roman times and while narrow is plenty strong to drive across. Here was our view of that same bridge from down on the water in our inflatable river raft paddles at the ready.
Not quite what most people picture when they think of Turkey. Our excellent and very strong guide Baris, literally pulled us UPSTREAM against this current by scrambling along those vertical stone walls on the left with a rope from the raft in his teeth! Sure glad he did as this is what was one of several waterfalls literally coming out the sides of the canyon walls as we travelled upstream. We stopped along the way to enjoy one of our many favorite Turkish delights, Gözleme!.
Thanks for such a great visit Annabelle, Sophie and Maurice!!
Tuesday it was back to work for all of us so let’s jump right in by looking at what’s been new this week onboard the good ship Möbius.
Hmmmmmm ………..
Can you guess what these three are working on? There is a similar smaller one leaning up against the wall of the SuperSalon if that helps? Aha! It is upside down and on the floor in the first picture and now we see that this is the plate with all the vent ducts that direct the fresh air flowing into that huge air vent formed by the hinged solar panels up on the front angled edge of the roof overhead. With this plate removed you can see how it closes off this space above to create a nice plenum that creates a bit of a high pressure area as the breezes funnel their way into this smaller space and is then forced out through each of those five 100mm / 4” vent ducts.
The smaller plate closes off the plenum at the very front overtop the Helm station and chair. I’ve created he following quick renderings to help show how these two natural vent systems work. The largest volume of air into the SuperSalon will come in while we are at anchor through a vent funnel that is formed by these three blue solar panels shown here in closed/passage making position. All 3 panels fit into a single large frame which is hinged at the top/aft edge where it meets the short glass panels at the front of the SkyBridge. Removing this frame of solar panels you can see the large green mist eliminator vent. Now imagine the frame of solar panels being propped up about 300mm/12” at the front edge by the red handrail and you see how the opening this forms is a perfect tunnel that captures any breeze coming over the bow when we are anchored and funnels it back through the green demister grill vent and down into that larger plenum you see being built in the photos above. Dropping the rendering camera down to foredeck level and looking up under the overhang of the Pilot House roof you can see the series of red slots which similarly funnel the air in the high pressure zone of air trapped in that upper corner between the negatively raked front glass and the roof overhang. This air runs through another mist eliminator grill on the inside and then fills up the forward plenum above Uğur’s head as he preps this plenum for the 2nd smaller plate to be bolted in place.
Nihat is drilling and tapping the holes for the countersunk SS bolts which will secure and seal the aft plate to the ceiling. The individual vent tubes extend up into the plenum about 150mm / 6” and will have adjustable lids on their tops to close off the vent pipes completely if needed and they also work similar to the Dorade Vents you’ve seen in previous postings to prevent any water that might make its way in here from getting into the SuperSalon and instead being drained off to the outside.
This shot borrowed from the Imperial diffuser company web site shows how this will be finished off nicely inside the SuperSalon. The upper part of the PVC diffuser fits inside the aluminium vent pipe, the upholstered ceiling panels is snapped into the ceiling grid and then the bottom half of the PVC diffuser click/snaps in place. The air flow volume and direction of air entering through each of these diffusers can be adjusted by turning the center disc. This allows us to easily increase or decrease the amount of air flowing in and ensures that there is never a blast of air coming straight down on your head. Moving forward into our Master Cabin Cihan has been busy installing these hoses that carry away any water that collects in the gutter around the deck hatches and drains it off to the side and out a pipe welded through the hull just below the Rub Rails. Up above on deck Mehmet with Sezgin below, is checking these hatch gutter drains for any leaks by filling them with water from that white can. Down in the Basement Cihan has now got the water lines for the four large potable water tanks below the floor in the Master Cabin routed through the Basement on their way to the main potable water manifold in the aft Workshop where the water maker and house pressure water pumps are also located. You can see how well these perforated aluminium trays work to keep each hose and wire fully supported and neatly organised, just like they do for all the wires and cables.
The two black and red diaphragm pumps in the background are some of the series of low water bilge pumps that suck up any moisture that might gather in the gutters created by the angled margin plates that connect the tank tops to the sides of the hull plates and thus run down all sides of each interior compartment.
OK, that covers what’s new this week on Möbius in the very real worlds of all the aluminium, hoses, wires and ducting, now let’s go get virtual with Yeşim as she generates some renderings of the initial interior design work she and Christine have been doing for the aft Guest Cabin which also doubles as Christine’s Office.
First for orientation, here is the 2D General Arrangement or “GA” drawing of Möbius showing the area we are focusing on now. This profile drawing will let you see how the upper level of the SuperSalon relates to the Master Cabin in front and the Guest Cabin aft. In the previous progress update post “Shhhh Here is an Early Sneak Peek of the Interior of Mobius” you saw some of the very first renderings of the Guest Cabin and here is the next round which now includes renders of the shower, head/bathroom and my little office workbench area in the corridor outside the Guest Cabin.
For this rendering we have descended the stairs from the SuperSalon, walked to the end of the corridor leading to the WT door into the Engine Room and Workshop and turned around in the Workshop doorway to see this workbench/desk running along the Port/Left side of the hull. This will be my little office and more so my “clean” workbench area for things like my 3D printer, electronics work and so on and I am more than just a little bit eXcited when I imagine working here.
The cabinets down the left side of the stairs will be where the aft electrical distribution panel will go and the door on the right opens into the aft Head/WC. To get this rendering the shower where the camera would now be sitting has been removed. To see that shower let’s move forward and step into the Head doorway and turn around to look aft down the corridor to that WT Workshop door you see the aft end of my workbench on the right. With the large 700mm / 28” hatch overhead you can almost feel the fresh air and sun inviting you into this beautiful shower. Important to keep our guest fresh, clean and happy right?! Walk into the shower and turn around 180 and you get to see the equally beautiful Guest Head/Bathroom. We’ve been working more on getting this important space just right this weekend and we will show you the latest changes next week. Completing the tour of this corridor area let’s get rid of my workbench/office and step back into that space to look across the corridor into the entryway into the Guest Cabin. Doors into the Head is on the left and shower on the right, WT door into the ER/Workshop on the far right. Stairs on the left lead up to the SuperSalon and then turn 180 to go up the next flight to the Aft Deck.
Our Horizon Line Handhold continues throughout all these spaces as you can see to ensure there is always a secure hand hold at all times for all heights of people and continues our theme of wood/earth below the Horizon Line with clouds and sky above. Cutting out the corridor wall above allows us to see the layout of the Head and Shower areas on either side of the entryway into the Guest Cabin. Stepping into that doorway above with our very wide angle lens shows us the basic layout of the Guest Cabin with the fold down Queen bed/couch at the far end and fold down Pullman berth above. Christine’s desk and bookshelves on the right with more on the upper left. Removing Christine’s desk let’s us get this shot looking forward on the boat to the see the bookshelves and closet. Doing the same trick from the other side let’s us look aft and get this full shot of Christine’s desk and work area with the two big hatches overhead. And we complete our tour of the Guest Cabin by momentarily deleting the couch/bed and looking across to the entryway door with the Shower to the left and Head to the right. We have actually gotten rid of this door and instead will have the door on the Head also serve double duty as the door to close off the entryway into the Guest Cabin.
These “two in one” doors are great examples of how we often use elimination as a design tool to create better solutions and KISS or Keep It Safe & Simple designs. In this case instead of up to four doors in this one area we have just two which is so much more efficient use of space and a more effective design.
That’s a wrap for the week that was July 16 to 19, 2019 here at Naval Yachts and we’ll see you again next week to bring you up to speed in the next run of this awemazing adventure we are on.
Thanks for joining us and PLEASE be sure to add your questions, comments and ideas in the “Join the Discussion” box below.
As many of you who have been following along with the design and building of our XPM78-01 eXtreme eXploration Passage Maker named Möbius, we will be powering this boat with a rather unusual but just right engine, a Gardner 6LXB. Long story behind this and if you are curious you can read THIS ARTICLE “Mr. Geeeeeeeee is in the House” from May 6th last year that will give you some of the background about this awemazing diesel engine and some of the story behind our acquiring what we affectionately call Mr. Gee for reasons that should be quite apparent as you learn more about him.
QUESTION?? Before I go any further you may have noticed that last week’s and this post I changed the photo/text layout a bit by sizing the photos larger which gives less room for the text on the right side. As always you can click on any photo to enlarge it to full size so not sure if these larger photos and less text column is an improvement or not??? Please let me know in the “Join the Discussion” box below which layout you prefer; Medium sized photos & text or Larger photos and smaller text area?
WARNING!! Knowing my love of all things mechanical and especially Mr. Gee, I suspect my Gearhead tendencies will make this post rather long on greasy engine parts and short on shiny new aluminium and beautiful Rosewood cabinetry. However there WILL BE some coverage of all the other facets of progress this week involving aluminium, wiring, venting and the Rosewood cabinetry, so either get yourself a comfy seat and a favorite beverage or else hit the page down key to scroll through the engine mechanics a bit more rapidly to the sections that follow that catch your attention. Or for the really fast synopsis check out the video at the very bottom.
Now back to our regular programming…………………………
If you’ve read the previous article I linked to above you will know that we were able to enlist the expert help of Michael at Gardner Marine Diesel in Canterbury England who spent several months searching the Gardner world for an unrestored original marine version 6LXB and finally found one in a tugboat in the Thames River that was going to be upgraded to a Gardner 8LXB and so we were able to buy the 6LXB when it came out and was shipped over to Canterbury. Christine and I were house/pet sitting a fabulous villa for some very dear friends of ours in Albufeira Portugal for about six months so we had Mr. Gee sent by truck to Portugal so I could begin the rebuilding process to restore Mr. Gee to better than new condition. Once we had settled into our new home base here in Antalya Turkey and began the building of Möbius with Naval Yachts Mr. Gee when for his next set of truck travels and was delivered to us here and has been patiently awaiting some loving attention ever since.
A very long winded, as usual, lead in to the fact that this past week I was finally able to devote a bunch of time to the restoration of Mr. Gee and so that and the progress on many other parts of the boat will be the focus this week. So enough telling and let’s get to showing you the week that was July 8 to 12, 2019.
First, just to put things in some context here is a brief photo synopsis, with some repeating of last year’s posting, of the journey Mr. Gee has been on from my first finding him in England back in 2017 and the journey he has been on leading up to me beginning to work on him again this week here in Antalya.
Meeting Mr. Gee for the first time on July 14th 2017 at Gardner Marine Diesel in Canterbury with CEO Michael Harrison.
Eye of the beholder I’m sure but as my fellow gearheads might be able to understand it was love at first sight! Completely original and untouched since he was first installed in the tug in the Thames in1975. Next stop Albufeira Portugal. Mr. Gee being unloaded along with a pallet full of brand new Gardner parts to replace every part other than the aluminium and cast iron castings and crankshaft. Proud parents with their new little baby weighing in at a mere 1100 kg as many parts have been removed for shipping and are on the other pallet. Gardner logo proudly cast into these valve covers on the two independent heads. Captain Christine, resplendent in her official Gardner hat (thanks Michael!) unpacking and carefully recording inventory of all the new Gardner replacement parts. Everything but the original engine castings and crankshaft will be replaced with new parts from Gardner Marine. Now begins the first of what will be many disassembly’s of the entire engine so that everything can be cleaned, restored/replaced, polished and painted. Quick trip to the local industrial hardware store to get this hydraulic lift, jacks and support stands to provide the power to lift these VERY heavy parts such as the cast iron cylinder block. Pistons and connecting rods all removed and stacked up waiting to to be pressure washed. For a sense of size and scale here is one of the connecting rods. With a total displacement of 10.45 liters each of the six cylinders is just under two liters which is is the same size or larger as many of the cars we drive daily. Down to the bare cast aluminium crankcase and the beauty of that solid cast aluminium starts to shine through. Out with the 44 year old cylinder dry liners and in with brand new ones and top all surface ground back to like new. Cast iron cylinder heads also sporting their freshly ground surfaces along with new valves, valve guides, seats and springs. Time is up as Christine and I need to start our several month trek in our trusty Galloper, seen in the background here (thanks John & Michelle!) over to Rhodes to pick up their Lagoon 500 sailing cat and deliver take it over to Antalya for them, or so we thought at the time. Mr. Gee and Mr. Crane had become intimate friends so they insisted on traveling together and ….. were soon all swaddled in shrink wrap to await their next adventure being trucked to Antalya Turkey. Several months later Mr. Gee and all his parts arrives into the Antalya Free Zone. And is carefully put to bed inside Naval Yachts to await the next stage of the restoration process. Fast forwarding to this past week with Mr. Gee up in his 2nd floor workshop courtesy of Naval Yachts the next disassembly begins to pick up where we left off in Portugal with the cleaning and restoring.
Second tear down goes much faster and I soon have him stripped down into his basic parts.
With all the internal parts removed it is time to put all the castings back together so the entire exterior can be sealed up and ready to head off to be sandblasted back to bare cast iron and aluminium. One slight problem some of you may have caught in the text above; Mr. Gee is up on the 2nd floor and the long extension crane can’t get into the shipyard building right now with so many boats in the way so how to get him back down to ground level? No problem! Yiğit on the left and Uğur lend their keen minds and strength and we take out the window frame, raise the forklift up outside and lift Mr. Gee onto the pallet. Uğur shows off his many talents with masterful forklifting and we soon have Mr. Gee back on the ground, heads set in place and aluminium plates bolted over all the exterior holes to keep the sand out. One of the great benefits of having so many shipbuilders in the Free Zone is that they can all share some of the larger bits of equipment like boat movers and in our case sand blasters. Turns out that Damen, the huge German shipbuilding company with about 5 different buildings here in the Free Zone, were blasting a large steel hull and agreed to let us drop off Mr. Gee for a good blasting with Garnet based sand to really get rid of every bit of his 44 years of accumulating dirt, grease and oil.
Doors closed and a few hours later we went back to find a very naked Mr. Gee sheepishly awaiting our return. WOW!! Talk about clean! And now back to Naval Yachts for the next round of the process. Naval has their own cabinet style sand blaster which I will soon be using to clean the hundreds of smaller parts but we took advantage of the big sand blasting rig to clean up things like the engine mounts you see on the pallet as well a the cast iron exhaust manifold standing up in the center here and the cast bronze engine oil cooler to the right. Such a prime example of a bygone era of engines and engineering, this solid bronze engine oil cooler is probably my most favorite part on our Gardner 6LXB. I’ll show and tell you more as I take this all apart to clean and restore the interior cooler in the coming weeks. And speaking of prime examples, check out the inside of this elbow on the exhaust manifold. THIS is what true thermal efficiency looks like in a diesel engine! This is the amount of carbon “buildup” after FOURTY FOUR YEARS of solid work almost every day in the tug boat this came out of. Nothing new for a Gardner and there is almost no equal when it comes to such overall thermal efficiency and a big part of why Mr. Gee is the just right engine for our Möbius. Sandblasting is awesome when it comes to getting metal parts absolutely clean but they are so clean that they begin to rust or oxidize in the outside air almost immediately so you need to get them painted FAST! Yiğit was able to source some super tough high heat silicone based primer that is good for up to 600C / 1122F While I waited for the primer to arrive I used compressed air to get rid of any lingering sand, filled up my spray gun and spent the next few hours giving all the parts two good coats of this special primer. Mr. Gee and I are both feeling MUCH better now and looking forward to the next stage of the restoration so stay tuned for much more. Meanwhile back inside Naval Yachts Uğur, Nihat and Sezgin were busy finishing up the welding of the Bow Thruster tube and the Sea Chest tubes in the Forepeak. The remainder of the weld around the concave fillet is next up to be ground fair and smooth. I thought this shot will help show just how lean and mean the underwater bow section of the hull is as it is only about 400mm / 16” wide at the bottom of the bow thruster tube which is already about 2.5 m / 8.2 ft. aft of the front of the bow stem bar. Should slice through the water like a knife! More finish welding getting all these fuel tank vent elbows and the vent pipes for the Black and Gray water tanks fully welded in place. And right behind the Fuel Vent Box the Fill Box has its prototype lid test fit with its rubber gasket to check that it all fits and is watertight. Down on the shop floor one of two plates that will be bolted to the ceiling to create the large air plenum for all the fresh air flowing into the SuperSalon, is having the 120mm / 5” duct pipes prepped for welding. One of these plates goes above the Main Helm station and the other goes over the center of the SuperSalon and each of the 5 ducts will have an adjustable diffuser set inside to spread out and control the flow of fresh ocean air.
Similar vent ducts are also being welded through Aft Deck which will be covered by the large Vent Boxes overtop to divert more fresh air down into the Guest Cabin and its shower. These duct pipes extend down inside and the ceiling panels will fit around each one and then have the white diffuser snapped in place to complete the finished ceiling vent. The nautical miles of hoses and cables continues to flow into the Basement as ….. ….. Hilmi and his new intern put in more cable trays …. …. and then start to fill them with the beginning of the long runs of cables, 24 volt DC in this case ….. …… and fuel hoses in this case. The penetrations through the SuperSalon floor above the Basement are also starting to fill up with the cables that lead up to the SuperSalon and Helm stations as well as going up to the SkyBridge and its Helm station. Winding over to the Cabinetry shop which many of you say is your favorite, we find Omur on the left and Selim ripping some Rosewood strips for the solid edging that goes around each door and drawer……. …… which end up looking like this prior to heading over to the big veneer press to have the Rosewood surfaces applied. First solid edged doors are test fit into their respective locations on this set of wardrobes in the Master Cabin to ensure that all their edges are precisely parallel and even. A day later with the veneer all applied and edges rounded another test fit to check that the grain patterns also line up as per Omur’s expert eye. Ignoring the blue tape holding them in place you can start to get a sense of how fabulous these cabinets will look once the boys in the finishing shop have applied all the clear satin polyurethane to really make that Rosewood grain pop. As per this construction drawing, the top doors above the aquamarine coloured handgrip/horizon line will be covered with a light gray leather to complete the look. While I have the shop drawings out some of you have been asking for more details on how the handrail and Horizon Line detail will work and this section drawing of the row of wardrobes with the inset detail in the lower right should clarify. The Hand Hold/Horizon Line are part of the cabinetry and then the upper and lower doors close shut onto it. This is what the partially finished hand hold / Horizon Line assembly looks like. Without the doors in place, here is what the Rosewood hand hold works like this. This plan view of the whole Master Cabin should help you visualise how all the various cabinets are laid out. Our King bed is at the bottom with the entrance door to the right. Full height wardrobe to the far right of that door and then moving forward there is the Bureau of Drawers in red with the 3D Möbius strip sculpture set back from the long row of wardrobes we’ve been seeing built above. The top right two spaces in blue are where a washer and dryer will go and then the vanity sink in the center up against the WT bulkhead with the Forepeak on the other side. Toilet/Head in the upper left corner with the adjoining glass walled shower. Not shown are the 3 stairs at the top left corner of the bed which takes you up to the raised floor alongside the whole left side of the bed and the Port hull wall.
Shifting over to the large bureau of drawers for the Master Cabin this closeup shows what I refer to as the “quilted” style with these radiused edges wherever two Rosewood components meet. These are small details which require more time and effort but they all combine to really add that touch of craftsmanship to the whole room and are easily worth the investment and help make this our Goldilocks “just right, just for us” boat.
I didn’t manage to juggle the video cam with all the work on Mr. Gee too well but here is a video synopsis of most of the other areas where great progress was made this week. Hope you enjoy.
Thanks as always for choosing to join us and spend your valuable time following along with the progress on motor vessel Möbius the very first XPM78-01 to be built here at Naval Yachts.
We’d be most appreciative of any and all comments, ideas and suggestions you have so please click on the “Join the Discussion” box below and type them in. I WILL answer all of them though it may take me a few days to get to them all.
And now for something different, here is the Special Edition of the usual weekly progress updates to give you an early Sneak Peek at how the SuperSalon and Guest Cabin area are shaping up. To do that we will leave the reality of the shipyard and cabinetry shop and take a short trip into the virtual world of CAD renderings all compliments and thanks to our brilliant interior designer Yesim.
Yesim would want me to emphasise that the renderings below are at a very early stage of the interior design process where we are still finalising the dimensions and layout of some of the interior elements in the SuperSalon and Guest Cabin as well as different materials and textures. There are lots of items and details missing at this stage as we are just interested in getting an overall sense of how layouts and materials will look and work.
Using 3D Max software Yesim is able to take photos of the material samples we chose such as the Rosewood, upholstery fabrics, leather and flooring and then “maps” these onto the different surfaces in model. It is a great way to try out all these variations in this virtual space before we start ordering the materials and building it all in the workshops. We are also able to setup the renderings for different times of day/night for different lighting and in later stages we are also able to turn on the virtual lights inside to see how they will light up the interior.
While it is very early and Yesim wanted to do much more work on the model, the lighting and the renders before sharing them widely, I thought you would enjoy this early sneak peek of how the SuperSalon is shaping up. In some of the renderings we we will take advantage of this virtual world to remove some parts of the room to be able to show you more of the space so please use all of this to help to create your own mental model of how our layout will work. Lastly before we jump in, remember you can click to enlarge ny photo in any of these blog posts.
General Arrangements:
Let’s start by getting you oriented with the general arrangement of the interior spaces and the overall layout of the boat.
Here is an overhead plan view of the upper deck level and Super Salon.
And this profile view will add to your understanding of how the different levels and interior spaces are laid out.
Now let’s move inside and switch over to some renderings to give you a better sense of the interior.
Master Cabin
Before I get to the new parts of the interior, let me start by going back a bit by showing the interior of the Master Cabin which many of you have already seen as we have already featured this area in several recent blog posts as they cabinetry for the Master Cabin is being built. This will save you from having to go back to these earlier posts and also help those who have not read the previous blog posts.
This is the view you are greeted with as you enter the Master Cabin via the circular stairs leading down from the SuperSalon. The King sized bed is on your left and sits about 1m / 3’ off the floor with a full set of large drawers in this large base.
The outer two walls of the shower are etched glass to allow all the light and breezes in from that big 700mm / 28” square overhead hatch. Being over the shower also means we can leave this hatch open in the rain if we want to supplement the fresh air coming in via the four Dorade Vents no matter what the weather. The head/toiled in the far left corner of this render on the other side of those slatted walls and there is a vanity sink on center at the far end of this view up against the WT Bulkhead with the Forepeak on the other side.
Not quite visible here, on your right as you enter is a full height wardrobe and then the leather covered bureau of drawers you see here on the right.
Standing in front of the Vanity sink with the shower and head on your right this view shows the end of the bed with one of its drawer stacks.
On the left side of this view there are a series of full height cupboards which also contain the washer and dryer and then as you move aft towards the entry door with its full length mirror, you have the very tall bureau of leather covered drawer and then a full height wardrobe to the left of the mirrored entry door.
Stepping forward to the corner of the glass shower walls this view shows more of the Port/Right side of the Master Cabin with the large bureau of drawers and sculpture display on the left and some steps on the right side of the bed to a raised floor that makes getting in and out of that side of the bed easy as is making the bed. This floor area has also been just right sized to also serve as a very safe “bunk” to sleep in very heavy seas where you are safely contained on both sided.
Standing up on those stairs looking across the bed towards the entry door gives you a better view of the Port side layout with a beautiful 3D sculpture of a Möbius Strip hanging in the dedicated space above the bureau of drawers. The white version in this rendering is a temporary stand-in which will actually be a phenomenal work of art which our niece Lindsay has made specially for us.
The large 700mm / 28” square hatch above the bed provides both lots of light and fresh breezes as well as star gazing at night.
But that is all SO last week and so real! Let’s jump into the virtual future with a look at some renderings of the other two primary living spaces aboard; the SuperSalon and the Guest Cabin.
It is a bit distorted but this wide angled overhead shot of the SuperSalon will help orient you to this eXtremely beautiful and spacious open plan area which is where we will spend the majority of our time aboard. I think you can also see how the name SuperSalon became self evident. Distance from the front window to aft is about 7m / 23’ and about 4m / 13’ width between the side windows.
Starting over on the far right side of this rendering above, the eXtremely large Galley is on your right as you come down the stairs after entering the SuperSalon through the WT door on the Aft Deck. As you reach the bottom of the stairs the four unit fridge/freezer cabinet is on your left and if you turn further to your left you go down the second circular stairs leading down to the Guest Cabin and the corridor to the Workshop/Engine Room.
In the upper center area is the L shaped dinette and in the top left corner are the other circular stairs which take you down into the Master Cabin. The table can be moved on both the X and Y axis with a single handle under the table to position it wherever you like and the pedestal also lowers and raises to adjust between eating height and coffee table height or can go down flush with the seat bases to create an additional sleeping area which we sometimes like to use when on very rough passages and we want both the on and off watch person to be nearby.
The helm chair and Main Helm station is at the far left and then a large open area is our reading and relaxing Lounge area with those two inviting Eames Lounge chairs.
Layout of the Main Helm Station is very much in flux as we refine the list of screens, controls and switches that will be mounted there. Currently we are thinking of having a pair of 20” touch screens mounted side by side in the forward center of the Helm Station with other controls, keyboards and smaller displays mounted in front for things like autopilot heads, AIS, Radar, jog levers, etc. The steering wheel will not be in place most of the time as it would only be used to turn the manual hydraulic steering pump in case of a full failure of every one of the many other steering systems we have.
Standing in about the center of the SuperSalon looking forward provides a good sense of how fabulous the views are going to be through all those 360 degrees of windows. The Helm Chair will be on tracks set into the floor so it can be moved fore and aft about a meter to position it just right both when one of us is running the boat on a passage from here as well as when we are at anchor and want to just use it as a comfy chair or move it back and rotate it to be part of the dinette table seating.
The large 50” monitor to the left of the Helm Chair will be on an articulated arm so it can swing in/out/up as well as be moved back into the cabinet. It will be be very multi functional being used to display chart, radar and boat data when we are underway and can then be used to watch movies and see photos from the day when we are anchored. There is also a remote “Walk About” controller (wired) at both this and the SkyBridge helms so you can run the boat from pretty much any position that is most advantageous to the conditions.
The 40” monitor on the left will be most often display all our multiple views of boat related data, charts, Radar, etc. as its location has been optimized for viewing when seated in the Helm Chair.
The angled half wall to the right of the Helm chair will provide easy access to switches and circuit breakers mounted within easy reach of the helm chair for all the circuits typically needed on passage and when docking.
Using our magic wand “hide” feature in the software we have made the Galley and the Fridge/Freezer cabinet that would normally be to the left of the lounge chairs disappear for this rendering looking out the forward Port side windows will and providing a better sense of the Lounge and Helm areas.
I’ve long admired the work of Ray and Charles Eames and so I think this is the perfect space for two of their iconic Eames Lounge chairs for eXtremely comfy reading or watching movies at night. These chairs can be moved around when at anchor and then have tie downs in the floor to secure them when underway.
The stairs just visible on the bottom left go down to the Guest Cabin and the stairs leading down into our Master Cabin are on the opposite side on the right.
Note that the ceiling is just a blank right now and the flooring is actually very textured vinyl planking rather than the glossy version that crept into this rendering. Lots of great grip and feels good on your bare feet.
Turning to the right the Galley magically reappears and lets us see this perspective looking out the Starboard side windows. You can see how the Horizon Line runs throughout the SuperSalon although we have removed it from the table edge and under the dinette seats and will instead have it run along the tops of the seat cushions at the same level as elsewhere in the Galley.
Standing in the very front Port/Left side looking aft you can see how the Dinette area will be such a marvelous vantage point when weather and conditions motivate us to eating inside. There is a bit of the Galley’s marble countertop behind the right end of the seat cushion making it easy to pass food and drinks back and forth. The Fridge/Freezer cabinet is on the far right just behind the Eames Lounge chair.
Using the magic wand again to make the Dinette seating invisible lets us peer into three of the four sides of the spacious Galley with the Bosch Speed Oven below and the 4 burner induction cook top above. All the other cabinetry below the marble countertops will be different sizes of drawers as we find the so much more functional than doors and shelves. Countertop will be cut from a truly gorgeous slab of 20mm / 3/4” thick marble we found in a local quarry.
Even more storage space for dishes and food is in the cabinets or “Garages” as we tend to refer to them sitting atop the marble counters. The top and angled fronts of these Garages are one piece doors which hinge at the back and swing up and open with gas cylinders and make it very easy to see all the way to the back and easily reach in to the items in each Garage.
If you look closely just below the countertop corner on the left you can get a peek of how the “Horizon Line” and handhold works.
Over on the right the top two SS units are mirrored door opening 135L refrigerators and below are two pull out 75L freezer drawers. Each of these have their own remote 24V DC compressor which will all be located down below in the Basement. Removing the compressors from the fridge/freezer units allows us to add even more insulation around all sides of each fridge/freezer box to make them super efficient.
Now let’s go down those stairs in the far aft right side of this render and take a look at the Guest Cabin and Christine’s Office.
Guest Cabin & Christine’s Office
These two rough renders will show you the general layout of the Guest Cabin area. You come down the stairs on the far left side into a corridor that leads straight ahead into the Workshop and Engine room shown here at the bottom center. On the outside of this corridor is an office/workbench for when I’m need more of a clean space to work and then you can turn into where the doors for the head and shower are or walk straight ahead to enter the Guest Cabin and Christine’s Office. Jumping over to the opposite Starboard/Right side of the hull looking into the Guest Cabin you can see the couch/bed in the lower right corner and Christine’s work desk and chair over on the left.
Note that the full height wardrobe on the bottom left has been relocated to the upper right corner of this cabin.
Now let’s take a look at some of Yesim’s MUCH nicer renderings of this space.
Standing in the doorway into the Guest Cabin, Christine’s desk is on the right, the couch on the far left which pulls out into a Queen bed and then there is also a fold down Pullman berth hidden away in the aft wall on the right. In addition to the two large overhead hatches you see here there is another large one over the shower so lots of natural light pouring into all these spaces and lots of fresh breezes when they are open.
Removing the shower for a better view reveals more of the wardrobe and bookshelves next to the pull out couch.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this very quick and very early glimpse at how the SuperSalon and Guest Cabin areas are shaping up. You’ll be seeing much more of these once the cabinetry work begins which should be in a few weeks after the Master Cabin woodworking is all done and moves on to the finishing shop.
Please do let us know what you think of this layout and put any of your suggestions, questions and ideas in the “Join the Discussion” box below.
First week of July and the summer weather has definately arrived as we see day time highs almost hitting 40C/105F yesterday however progress continues unabated inside Naval Yachts so I’ve got lots to show you this week and let’s get started.
Over the past few weeks you’ve been seeing the fabrication of the Dorade Vent Boxes that will bring lots of fresh breezes into our Master Cabin and this week they finished welding up the actual Dorade Boxes which will next be welded to the decks. These Dorade Boxes surround the 120mm/ 4 3/4” standpipes going through the deck plate that bring air only into the Cabin and leave any water to drain out through scuppers/slots that will be cut into the bottom edge of these Dorade Boxes.
As per the title of this week’s Progress Update more and more holes seem to be showing up all over the place. All very much by design of course so let’s go check on some of these purposeful holes. In previous weeks you may remember seeing the big 300mm / 12” holes that were cut through both side of the hull up near the bow for the bow thruster tunnel and this week those big holes gained two smaller ones just aft of where the concave fairing plates have been welded in.
Those new 60mm / 2.5” holes will have these two thick walled aluminium tubes welded inside and out …. ….. to create the In/Out Sea Chests up inside the Forepeak.
For those not familiar with them Sea Chests are how we create a ready supply of sea water inside the boat and an exit for putting Black, Gray and salt water out of the boat. We need a sea water supply for things like the watermaker, engine heat exchangers, salt water desk wash down hoses and sea water fire hoses. Then we need exiting Sea Chests for moving Black, Grey and salt water back out of the boat. Rather than have individual through hull “holes” all over the hull the Sea Chest tubes are eXtremely strong being welded through both sides of the hull and thus very safe and easy to plumb. Each supply or return hose ends with a ball valve threaded into the Sea Chest tube.
With the Sea Chest tubes tacked in place the 15mm / 5/8” thick Bow Thruster tube quickly had its angled ends cut off with the plasma gun to conform to the angled sides of the 15mm / 5/8” hull plates. And the Bow Thruster tube was soon tacked in place and the whole bow area is now all ready for Sezgin’s magic MIG gun to come along and lay down all the multiple fillets of deep penetrating welds inside and out. Here is how it all looks inside the Forepeak. The 220kgf Vetus Bow Thruster will be angled back towards the bottom of this photo so that it stays below the floor plates that will cover this bay and the one forward.
The Port/Left Sea Chest takes Black/Gray Water out from the Master Cabin Head, shower and sinks and the Washing machine. The Intake Sea Chest on the Starboard/Right side is for the salt water anchor washdown nozzle, deck wash and forward fire hose.
This is the view looking straight down the Port Sea Chest tube and as with all the other Sea Chests, 5 in total, there will be a thick clear Lexan cover plate bolted to this flange so you can easily see what’s going on inside these tubes. These covers sit about 500mm / 20” above the water line so they can safely be removed when in the water and underway and they will also have a threaded plug in them so you can push out any debris that might get in and clog these tubes. This is the other Sea Chest that made its appearance and corresponding hole in the hull this week. As you can see we have located this 120mm / 5” exiting Sea Chest just inside the lower corner of the Coffer Dam for the active stabilisers which are down in the Basement area. This Exit Sea Chest takes out Black & Gray water from the Guest Cabin head, shower and sinks as well as the Galley sink above.
The angled plate surrounding it provides the flat sealing surface for the gasket and lid that will be bolted overtop of the Coffer Dam.
Looking up while we are down in the Basement reveals more of the “superhighway” on the ceiling with the addition of more perforated aluminium trays that will soon be filled with AC and DC wiring and hoses.
Hilmi our electrical wizard is adjusting his riveting tool to secure more trays to the ceiling and walls as he gears up for putting in the miles and miles of wires that carry all the electrons to their just right place at just the right time. Above his head you can see two of the penetration pipes where wires will run up into the SuperSalon area and then these will be filled with special foam to keep the Basement watertight. Moving forward into the Master Cabin we find more of Hilmi’s work as he puts in the big DC cables for the Windlass and the Kedging Winch on the Foredeck. A good example of how well these perorated aluminium trays work to keep everything in them neatly organized and securely fastened. These cables carry 2.4kw each (100Amps @ 24V) so we twist them to cancel out most of the magnetic fields that surround them when this much current if flowing. To further assist with keeping this flux and “noise” out of more sensitive cables we run all the data cables in cable trays on the opposite side of the hull. Leaving the shipyard and walking next door to the Cabinetry Shop, we find part of the Whole New Look referenced in this week’s title as Omur and Selim have been hard at work on the cabinets and wardrobes which run along the Starboard/Right side of the Master Cabin. Last week we say this large bureau of drawers and 3D Möbius Strip sculpture space being assembled and the photo above is the start of the wardrobes that continue to the left. This is an upside down view of the base foundation for this bank of wardrobes and closets. The slot on the right is for the LED strip lights which will provide just the right amount of indirect lighting on the floor for those quick trips to the Head in the middle of the night. Everywhere there is a vertical corner we put in these large 50mm / 2” radius solid Rosewood corner pieces for safety, durability and a great look, though I may be a wee bit biased? Then there is this rabbet on the other side to create the jamb for the closet door to close flush into. These are the vertical dividers that will separate the different wardrobes and cabinets. And the assembly begins. Hakan on the left is responsible for all the detailed CAD drawings for the interior so he and Omur are in constant contact throughout the build to work out the details for these very custom cabinets. Being the first of the XPM boats to be built everything is new and we are designing most of the details as we go. Stepping back a bit to show you all three cabinets so far; the bureau of drawers in the back left behind Hakan, the new set of wardrobes on the right and the first full wardrobe that is laying on its side over on the far right. One of the best examples of the kinds of details we have developed is what’s behind these cut outs you may have been wondering about. The cut outs create the recess for this multi-purpose assembly. One of its primary functions is a constant hand hold about 1m above floor level around most of the boat’s interior. The grove in the upper segment is for LED indirect lighting which also illuminates the “Horizon Line” of an aquamarine coloured 2mm thick epoxy strip that is set into the shallow vertical dado in the back. The upper and lower flat surfaces form the faces for the tops and bottoms of the doors to close against.
Omur is dry fitting the Horizon Line assembly into the frames. Then the solid Rosewood handrail is set in place. This is how the handrail provides a just right and easy molded for your fingers to grip. Here is how the bottom half looks. The shelves are just temporarily held in place and will have adjustable stops let into the sides to enable multiple choices and changes of shelf sizes over time. The overall cabinet now takes shape. Below the Horizon Line all the doors will be Rosewood and above they will all be finished with a gray leather.
The upper cabinet on the left is for a standard sized Bosch washing machine and one to the right of it is for a matching Dryer. The two wardrobes on the far right are for hanging clothes and then all the shelves below are for other clothes, shoes, etc.. With the cabinets all dry fitted Omur gets started on building the doors. These 12mm / 1/2” marine plywood frames will have those two cavities filled with rigid foam and then both sized will have multiple layers laminated on top with solid Rosewood edging around all sides. This results in doors which are beautiful, rigid, dimensionally stable and light. Who could ask for more?
Not much time for video shots this week but here is a quick one of what I was able to grab.
And that’s almost all for this week but stay tuned for a special edition of these weekly progress updates that I’m about to create to give you a sneak peek of the other parts of the interior of XPM78-01 Möbius.
Thanks so much for joining us on this grand adventure and be sure to let us know your questions, ideas and suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below.
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