So much work for one plate!
It took far too long. Maybe because it is so little space in fo’c’sle to work in (relative) comfort. Maybe because I took this too seriously and wanted to do it right. Or simply because there are other things in life to do than to mount toilet on the small boat!
Anyway - after many short visits, trials, mockups and many minutes of thorough consideration I finally arrived to optimal placement for the loo. More or less as on Jim’s Kaika - behind the bulkhead.
This part of the hull is a challange to work in. Not only it is narrow but shape changes very rapidly towards the bow. To place a toilet in so confined space is a compromise between comfort (head room, leg room and privacy) and space. Ideally it should sit in the middle, as it was originally. That caused my anger every time I needed to go towards the bow - I had to crawl onto toilet to reach there. Not good. Having it on the side gives me clear passage all the way but rises the whole business so that head room becomes an issue.
Careful mockups consumed much time.
As nothing is straight on the boat I needed to rely on perpendicularity to the bulkhead. Meritaten is more or less levelled right now but she leans a bit towards bow so spirit level cannot be relied fully on.
Initial tests with head room and placement. All is held in place by double-sided tape, paper tape, Ettan, silver tape and a bit of luck. No sudden moves before I take measurements!
Not only once all this fell apart when I took deeper breath. I also conclude that mounting tape works poorly in 2 degrees Celsius and holds only for about 23 seconds.
Laughing and cursing on this whole business finally I managed to get measurements and started shaping the pedestal. Necessary openings for frames and wires add complexity to the task.
Still held by shims and duct tape the concept starts getting shape.
Next step is to make supporting leg. The whole structure will be resting on the bulkhead and thick frame. The idea is to avoid driving screws into frames and freeboards, relying instead on bulkhead’s rigidity.
Checking angles before determining shape of the supporting leg.
Size of this structure is determined by chemical toiled size and length of mahogany panels which I want to use to cover it. I have them left from another project and they come handy here.
As this is just a toilet I initially planned to use scrap pieces of thick, marine plywood as supporting posts and reinforcements. I changed my mind thou - this is my Meritaten, she deserves better!
So I took a nice, quarter-sawn piece of oak from my wood collection and cut the supports from it. Yes, toilet on Meritaten is build with prima sort Polish oak!
All screwed with brass screws (bronze is reserved to parts in contact with water). Initial tests of the final setup - good head room, good ass room. Perfect.
In the final configuration the toilet will not be visible. I will cover it with hinged panels, serving as a neat box hiding the loo and as a step to climb up through the hatch above. That will have to wait till next winter.
Before leaving I organised wires in this section. They were lying loose and making me uneasy. Routed them with copper loops, nailed to frames with short, copper nails. Much better.
I took all plates to my workshop, for sanding and epoxying. These are not final products yet - sole boards will be covered with solid mahogany slats but until then I need to protect them for this sailing season with one layer of epoxy.