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

Sunday, 17 February 2019

Dinghy cruising Building a dinghy galley box - part 2

A quick winter project is a second galley box for Arwen. The first galley box project can be found here



https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2017/10/it-started-with-some-ideas.html

https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2017/10/galley-box-sagas-continue.html

https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-galley-box-is-finished.html

https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2018/02/galley-box-for-arwen-article-now.html

https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2017/11/galley-box-video.html

https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2018/02/building-galley-box-for-dinghy.html


Now I am building a second, simpler box. This will be for food supplies where my trips are over two nights. The original box holds all the cooking gear and can hold two days worth of dried and tinned food supplies.


The box can also double up as an additional locker if need be. It will be stored under a similar arrangement to the first box, this time, on the starboard side in front of the centre thwart area. It will be strapped in and held in place by buckles and webbing through stainless steel loops attached to ribs near the floor. It has been built strong enough that I can quickly step on it as I move forward to the anchor well.


The box has been built from scrap wood lying around the garage. It reflects my normal inability to measure accurately so there are gaps which will need wood filler!


Measure three times and cut once is a mantra I follow constantly to no effect. Everything comes out a few millimetres over-length, under-length or slightly off square. It is an extraordinary talent which few people have! So, I'm clearly 'special' as my wife often reminds me!


Corners will be covered over. There will be a lid with a deep lip so that it can form a tray on one of the thwarts when dinghy camping. It will get three coats of aluminium flake paint, three coats of undercoat and then three coats of International Toplac white paint both inside and out. 

It keeps me busy and out of 'her indoor's' hair. I earned brownie points this week, changing two tap cartridges, mending a broken toilet seat and decorating the back dining room, hence the garage time. Actually in fairness, I am always allowed garage time. I am a very lucky man. 

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