The inside blog - painting and decorating.
Over the winter we have spent a lot of time working on the
boat, finishing off some jobs and improving some things like storage. The inside certainly looks different now to when we moved onboard back in Topsham.
Tarquilla was built in Bristol ,
England in 1975
by her previous owners family and it’s obvious how much he cared about and
looked after her. In more recent years however she has started to show her age
a bit. Whilst sitting on the mooring at Falmouth
she did suffer from damp as there were several leaks in the roof and in common
with all boats condensation is a problem. Over a few stormy nights at Topsham
we slowly identified the cause of most of the leaks and worked out where
buckets needed to be put in rain storms, then slowly since then the leaks have
been fixed.
We have been working on the inside of the boat since we
moved on as all families do when moving to a new home, even if the house has
been decorated just for sale the urge to decorate to your own tastes and needs
is strong. As a family of 5 plus a dog our storage needs and the number of
bunks required were also different to those of the previous owner. We have
lockers filled with kites, paddling pool and large dumper trucks and a cupboard
previously used for spare parts for the boat has been given over to games,
paper and craft stuff.
The cockpit got a good clean, a lick of paint and a good
sort out of storage (some of you may remember large quantities of wood being
stored there for a while. Gradually more handholds have been added and a couple
of useful steps to make getting in and out easier for those with shorter legs –
whether 2 or 4!
In the galley (kitchen) the carpet had to be removed as it
had suffered for being under several leaks. The floor and walls have all been
painted (white walls, beige floor for those interested in such things), storage
baskets replaced and the whole room scrubbed through. Apart from a lick of
paint little else needed doing in there, mainly we have just sorted storage
space, we hope at some point to sand down and repaint the worktop.
Our room has a normal size and shape double bed which is
unusual for a boat but a great bonus and means we were able to keep our
‘normal’ mattress (although getting it to and then onto, the boat was not a
simple task!). The carpet and headboard had to be removed because of damp but
otherwise with bleach and paint and the addition of our ‘nick knacks’ there was
not a great deal needed other than removing the toilet and sink – useful? Maybe
for some, but for us, not as useful as the space to keep bikes in.
In the saloon (living room) we had to remove the chair
cushions which had suffered from damp but replaced them with foam covered in
fleece loose covers – really easy to wash or take off when something gets
spilt. The room needed painting so got a coat of fresh white with some
dragonfly (greenyblue) bits. The dog settled nicely into the cubby hole under
the chart table and on the odd occasion that she sleeps in her own bed that is
where it is with her bowls, tucked out of the way to avoid too many spill (the
bowls that is not the dog, she does not spill just dribbles).
Storage has developed over the months and we have book
shelves around the walls under the chart table for all the ‘boaty’ related
books and more shelves in the back corridor for children’s books. The addition
of curtains made by Nanny and our various bits and bobs have made it all much
more ‘homey’. We have additional bits which most houses don’t have like fire
extinguishers in every room, lifejackets and lifelines hanging in the cockpit,
a steering wheel and some storage areas contain useful items like water tanks,
sails and gas bottles.
In the wet room, in addition to painting the room, the old
sea toilet has been removed and replaced with a composting version. Amongst
other things this means that we can use the toilet on the boat when we are in
marinas as we are not emptying waste into the sea, in many countries including
Spain the discharge of sewage is illegal so many boats without holding tanks
cannot use their on board facilities. With three young boys on board this has
been brilliant when the nearest toilets are a 10 minute walk away.
We’ve now finished decorating the boy’s new room. As they
grew their original bunks were becoming too small and as the storage became
more organised (and we kept getting rid of more bits – thanks lovely family for
taking in all our stuff!) it made more sense to swap around the front area of
the boat and the back cabin with a bit of carpentry, cleaning and decorating
thrown in including the removal of another sink. I’m sure you are familiar with
the chaos caused around the whole house when one room is emptied, now imagine
emptying the contents of two rooms in a living space of 30 foot by 20 foot, it
makes getting around quite tricky for a few days. We are all glad to have
everything stowed away properly again and the boys are thrilled with their new
room.
The main difference to the inside is that we are now dry
when it rains! Although the roof no longer leaks in common with all boats we
have to watch out for condensation and mildew – nothing is left pushed against
an edge or crammed in as ventilation space is so vital. A handy pot of bleach
and liberal use of surface wipes keeps most of the shrubbery at bay.
And that’s it, our home.
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