s/v Merrimac

Another short post. We're off for a week of test sails. Then it's back to the yard to have the 'real' windows and a growing list of small and not-so-small details.

As long as we've got the AIS transmitter running (and we are in range) you can follow us on the internet:

Marine traffic details for Merrimac

If you look at our track for today you can see that there's not a lot of wind around today, but that's great for us as it gives us the chance to get used to the boat, all ropes and lines, the systems etc.

Until now we managed not to break anything!

On the 19th of June 2010 we had our christening party. Nothing to do with religion -- and as far as we are concerned not even superstition! We celebrated this important milestone with our friends, family members, software- and boat-building colleagues. Unfortunately the weather was pretty abysmal, 9°C with intermittent showers. That didn't keep us from having a great party.


Everybody soon flocked inside (shoes off!) where we received many complements on how the interior looked.


And then this week we were able to do the first under-engine sea trial

After the hectic weeks leading up to the christening party we're now able to show you photo's of the interior that look pretty damn good, if I say so myself. Manuel and the rest of the carpenter crew did a great job. The floors, especially all hatches, aren't done yet, there are no doorstoppers yet so most door handles are still wrapped, and there are still a lot of other small niggles, but it already looks the part!

Here is a slideshow of the interior:

Just a quick heads up that there are new photo's up on Flickr.

In the last week the following progress has been made:
- The guard rail is going up, in fact it's almost done.
- The port side is being prepared for respraying and the topsides for nonskid paint.
- The waterline is being prepared for spray painting.
- The keel has been placed in the keel box. No surprises here, the keel box fits like a glove.
- The galley top has been placed.
- The ceiling beams have been placed in the doghouse.
- The electrical panel has been put in place and wired up.

We're waiting for the ceiling to go in and the doors & doorposts to be delivered. Once those are in the toilets can be placed and the rest of the electrical work finished.

She's being sprayed today, and may be launched by the end of the week.

And from earlier this month:

The outside has had the first layers of paint applied.

You can now appreciate what she's gonna look like when finished.

Another week or so and the interior should be done, or at least in a state that you can see what it's gonna be. The carpenters are taking their time, but progress is very visible these weeks. We're very busy so we're not as good with updates as we'd hoped.

Here's the galley which has now been placed:

The bespoke storage cabinets for glasses:

The bespoke storage cabinet for plates and mugs:

For more pictures watch the slideshow on Flickr:

The big question once the interior started to being put up was: will it work? As owners we had definite views on how it should look and work. We cannot answer all our own questions yet, but so far we're very pleased with how it is coming out.

Let us talk you through some of the requirements we had and how you can hopefully see how these are being fulfilled.

One of the first requirements that we had was one of airyness and light. If you use your boat for longer periods at a time, which we are looking forward to do, it must feel homely and comfortable but also liveable. Our old boats were very traditional with full mahogany interiors. Although very nice and beautifully made, we were 'done' with that look.

So the first thing was to brighten up the interior by specifying a mostly (cream) white interior, as you can see in Interior part 1. We'll get back to you on styling later when this can be seen in more detail -- we've got a few twists that are not visible yet.

The other part of airyness is to keep spaces open. The main idea here was to keep the doghouse visually connected to the lower salon. Here you see the view from the front part of the cockpit (the pink vertical surfaces are going to be the backside of the doghouse) looking in.


The 'big hole' under the windows on the port side will remain like that. The galley will be directly underneath, and the dining table in front of that, to the left of the keel case.

What this means is that the crew will be able to visually and audibly communicate between all those areas. Here is a look from what will be the dining table looking to the back of the boat to the viewpoint of the photo above.

The carpenters put in the first bits of interior late january. As much as they can is prefabricated in Germany and then transported all the way to Makkum.

Here you can see them place the first bits of the main bulkhead being placed. As this forms the reference point for all other parts this needed to go in first. Not very convenient, as this limits the access to the front of the boat considerably.


After this was done the master cabin could be set up. Here's where our bed is going to be:


To give you a feel for the scale: the distance between the three bigger frames that have wood glued onto them is 100 cm each. The bed will be 210 by 160 cm. Not too big and not too small. Note that we'll sleep with our heads exactly on the transverse pitching axis, so at sea these will be VERY comfortable. We'll have the capability to divide the bed into two with a lee cloth if necessary, but there is also this bunk bed on the opposite side of the keel:


Those bunk beds are wide at one end (where you're supposed to put your upper body) and narrow at the other (for your feet). This is one of those compromises you have in a sailing yacht. Ideally they would be a bit wider at the feet but the size we have now is OK in harbour and actually better at sea.

All in all this means we have four people that can sleep right next to the keel, which is very nice when there is a seaway. On the other hand it will still be a long way from the engine if powering. This makes a huge difference in comfort when underway.

The piping for the floor heating has been installed. We're using a hydronic system supplied by Yacht Floor Heating which functions exactly like the underfloor heating used in homes. The boiler is a Kabola forced air diesel boiler that is ultra reliable.

To install this the normal underfloor is installed in a much thicker and higher quality plywood than used normally. In our case it took 17 sheets of 30 mm marine plywood. These were supplied by the interior builder that used their CNC milling machine to cut the location where the interior walls will go up into the floor segments. They also cut a 2nd version that they kept in the factory so that they can fit the interior segments. When these are shipped out to Makkum they know that they will fit! This reduces the amount of work necessary in situ, lowering costs (good for the builder) and increasing quality (good for us).

Anyway, back to the floor heating. Once the sheets were installed the floor heating specialists went to work and routed out the pattern for the water piping:


The router creates space for the flexible pipe so that it lies flush with the top of the floor. The pipe is then tacked down so it does not stick out before it is epoxied. Even the floor hatches are heated; the piping is connected using flexible hose. Every bit of floor is used as otherwise we won't be able to heat the boat enough. The floor heating acts as main heating radiator. We have a 9 kw blower for cases where this is unsufficient, but we plan not to use that much (if at all).


Once the pipes were laid down the entire floor was drenched in two layers of a special flexible epoxy. Once the interior is place an smoked oak veneer will be installed as the top floor; this has to be thin in order to keep the efficiency of the heating system at a reasonable level.

The popular How it's made TV series shown on The Discovery Channel has an episode filmed at Hall Spars (I think in Breskens' old site) that shows how this is done.

The mast segment starts at 1:13 into the movie.