Arwen's meanderings

Hi everyone and welcome to my dinghy cruising blog about my John Welsford designed 'navigator' named Arwen. Built over three years, Arwen was launched in August 2007. She is a standing lug yawl 14' 6" in length. This blog records our dinghy cruising voyages together around the coastal waters of SW England.
Arwen has an associated YouTube channel so visit www.YouTube.com/c/plymouthwelshboy to find our most recent cruises and click subscribe.
On this blog you will find posts about dinghy cruising locations, accounts of our voyages, maintenance tips and 'How to's' ranging from rigging standing lug sails and building galley boxes to using 'anchor buddies' and creating 'pilotage notes'. I hope you find something that inspires you to get out on the water in your boat. Drop us a comment and happy sailing.
Steve and Arwen

Monday, 24 February 2014

the GWR box!

The box! I'm sort of over cutting it in half - see last post. But now I'm thinking 'what do I store in it?'

Its not like I've got anything more pressing to think about (like forthcoming poor GCSE exam results; or too many new courses to plan and prepare; or falling behind with my marking; or forgetting what my children and wife look like etc etc etc......).

Nope, I am worrying about a box! In fact what makes this worse is I'm worrying about the empty space inside a box! We don't go a big deal on having regular 'pysch therapy' here in the UK...that's what a pub is for......but I could be nearing needing one!

What do I store inside this empty box I have inherited; and do I need to insert internal walls? When I read this back to myself I realise how desperately sad I sound!

Anyway, I think I will store in this box the following:
  • fuel bottles for stoves and spare gaz canisters
  • the trangia stove
  • plate, mug, bowl, cup
  • cooking utensils
  • cleaning materials
  • washing up bowl
  • food - tinned; bottled; cartonned
  • matches, spare batteries
  • rubbish and food bags
  • toilet rolls and tissue packs
  • sleeping bag and bivvy bag
  • lantern
Struggling to imagine it in my head, having just written two science lessons on 'puberty'......I did a quick internet search and lo and behold, found exactly the kind of things I was thinking of.........yep - I think some form of internal walls and sliding tray affair would be perfect! all the images below are copyrighted to 'Red Otter' on the Songofthepaddle forum

my box is slightly larger and heavier than this one I suspect
 
that top tray tidy is exactly what I was trying to envisage in my head
 
 
and I love the way 'Red Otter' made the sections expandable/removable
brilliant thinking and craftsmanship
 
this is SOOOOOOOO well designed
 
everything you could possibly need for camping
 
 
Of course, this does take me back to my original dilemma in my last post, namely that the box is too big for Arwen as it stands at the moment. It just wont fit in the space between centre and forward thwarts on port side. It would if I cut it in half to make two wanigans...........but.............honour and tradition - I just cannot bring myself to do that to a family heirloom. It just isn't right and I have a responsibility to my Dad and Grandad and to future grandchildren..........the box must stay as it is in size although I don't think anyone would worry too much if there were removable inserts!
 
I'll do some more thinking about this....it helps stave off the reality and impending sense of doom and failure regarding GCSE results!
 
Steve

 
 
 
 
 
 

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