Old Layout and Livery for BELLE

 

The layout and livery has slowly evolved over the last year or so – we have retained most of our old layout drawings for reference.  It is interesting to note that our layout has changed substantially since we first started with a semi-traditional stern, one less room, a separate bathroom [i.e. not a walk-through] and a saloon with an integral dinette.

 

 

February 2005

 

One of our earliest layouts.  We have a semi-traditional stern, a separate bathroom, the saloon includes a half-dinette and we have half / half portholes and windows.  In all other respects the layout is self-explanatory.  You may wish to note that we had a stern hatch that lifted rather than the more traditional sliding type.  The base colour is burgundy with coach-lines and boat name in gold.  The trading name is in white characters on a charcoal coloured panel at the stern, along with a gold coloured flourish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


March 2005

 

There are some minor changes to the half-dinette and galley areas and the semi-traditional stern is tidied up a bit.  We decided to do away with the lifting stern hatch and have a traditional sliding one instead, owing mainly to some concerns we were having about the weight that must be lifted each time we wished to open / close it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


April 2005

 

Some major changes.  We dispense with the half-dinette in the saloon and rearrange the galley area.  The bedroom is shortened, we convert to a ‘walk-through’ bathroom and we decide that a traditional stern would give us some more room to work with.  All of the aforementioned changes add up to enough space for the new day room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


August 2005

 

A few minor changes.  We reverse the galley so as to make slightly better use of the combined galley and saloon areas.  The side doors swap sides for both the galley and the day room.  The bathroom is ‘rotated’ so that you cannot see the toilet from the galley area.

 

A major change.  For some reason (not really sure why) we decide to change the colour scheme to a gunmetal grey base with white / black coach lines and white character sets with black shadows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2005

 

Heeding some remarks about the benefits for having the ability to ‘shut the door’ on the toilet, we decide to have a go at redesigning the bathroom.  This means that the main bedroom must be ‘reversed’.  The bathroom doors in this new arrangement can be positioned so that they either close off the main bedroom and/or the day room.  They can also be positioned so that they close off the whole toilet and bathroom area if required, thus effectively creating a corridor through which one can pass whilst the toilet and or shower, etc. is in use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 2005

 

The bathroom is still a walk-through, but now we have added a partition and an additional door to create a completely separate toilet area and the bedroom and stern area layouts have been ‘mirrored’.  The bathroom and day room doors have been changed to the bi-folding type – this means that they do not project quite so much into the bathroom and day room when opened.  We have added two Houdini hatches; one situated in the bathroom and the other mid way between the galley and the saloon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2006

 

The layout of BELLE remains principally the same, but we have added another Houdini hatch.  Therefore, we now have one hatch in the bathroom, one in the galley and a third in the saloon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 2006

 

Going through the process of fixing the porthole and hatch positions in readiness for the commencement of the shell build highlighted that there was a high risk of compromising the position of the Houdini hatch in the bathroom.  Much as we have resisted this to date, we have decided that we will have a chamfered shower arrangement in place of the square one – this makes a lot of difference, especially in the roof hatch area.  In addition to this, we have re-shaped the toilet partition and relocated the toilet door to the side.  This door is now the bi-folding type opening into the toilet area instead of a single panel type opening into the main bathroom area.  Keeping the toilet door open when using the bathroom will provide some more space to manoeuvre between the wash basin and the shower.  The bathroom length has increased to 6’-10” and the length of the day room has reduced to 6’-8” to compensate.  All other dimensions remain the same.  The door between the day room and the bathroom is now the single panel type and it now opens into the bathroom.  The door between the day room and the bedroom is now the bi-folding type, but it has shifted a little towards the longitudinal centre line of the boat – it still opens into the bathroom as before.  Overall, these changes make for a much better bathroom / toilet arrangement and we can stop worrying about not having sufficient roof space to fit the hatch.  Sorted!

 

We have taken this opportunity to make a few pictorial adjustments.  The central heating radiators are shown in orange and the waste tank is shown in grey.  Wardrobe doors are now shown, along with the life-ring.  We have deleted the view showing the fully reclining chair / bed arrangement we were hoping to achieve in the saloon [we have abandoned the idea].  The plank and poles on the cabin roof have been moved slightly towards the bow so as to allow for the full movement of the stern hatch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2006

 

We learned during our third trip to Alexander Boatbuilders that their ‘standard’ gas locker at the bow is 4’-0” long.  We had been proceeding for ages on the basis that this locker would be 3’-6” long.  There were several options on the table for overcoming this problem, but all of them entailed finding 6” somewhere along the length of BELLE to compensate.  In saying this, we did not want to deviate from the builder’s standard gas locker design.  Furthermore, there was very little scope for reducing the length of the well deck - in fact, any reduction here would have probably resulted in insufficient space for the bike[s].  We eventually agreed that the bedroom would be reduced from 9’-0” to 8’-6” and everything between here and the gas locker would all shift 6” towards the stern.

 

Some further discussion with Alexander Boatbuilders and the bow having now reached the stage where you can actually see the deck and the cabin bulkhead, etc., has helped us to consolidate our thoughts about how to incorporate the removable gunwale sections and the interface for the ramp to be used for loading / unloading the bike[s].  We have decided that the ramp will now be perpendicular to the hull sides, instead of being ‘raked back’ by about 30O.  We originally thought that having the ramp raked back like this would help with loading and unloading, but we now feel that this is no longer necessary.    We have also fixed the width and height of the cut-outs for the removable gunwale sections, i.e. the bottom of these cut-outs must be set 4” above the well deck and the cut-out width will be 2’-5”.  The deck itself will be set at the standard height used by the builder - there will be sufficient space between this deck and the underside of the cratch plank to accommodate the height of the bike[s].

 

The ramp will be constructed from Aluminium tread plate.  It will pass through the cut-out, engage on two vertical pins that form part of the cut-out arrangement [to stop it sliding] and it will effectively ‘overlap’ the deck by about 6”.  The deck end of the ramp will be bent downwards so as to create a small ‘lead-in’.  Whilst every bit of lead-in will help (especially when it comes to unloading), it is important that this bent portion does not readily come into contact with the deck and in so doing preclude a reasonable amount of elevation at the opposite end of the ramp for accommodating some variations in towpath height.  The bike is now shown on the starboard side, the theory here being that, when the bike is resting on its side stand, it will lean towards the centre of the deck and this will help when it comes to passing the cratch cover over the top.

 

We have also made a couple of pictorial changes.  The Houdini hatches are now also shown in the floor plan [were only shown in the roof plan].   We have highlighted the TV in the saloon in blue [mainly to serve as a reminder that we need this positioning more or less mid-way between the chairs!].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


July 2006

 

With temporary bulkheads now erected - for the most, this has proven to us that our layout is OK.  However, we re-assessed the day room and we decided that things were getting a bit too ‘busy’ in here.  There was a folding desk with a two-seater unit and a matching single seat.  The idea was that this single seat would be used when sitting at the desk, or the desk folded away and the single seat turned around and pushed into the space where the desk was, so as to make a three-seater or a bed.  We were concerned that the quality of the seating and the folding desk might not be all that we had hoped for and that it would be better to go for a decent sized fixed desk with fitted cupboards over/under and a conventional leather office chair that can be pushed under the desk when not in use.  We have sneaked a small half-height cupboard into the corner of this room as well.  The loading ramp will now be stowed on the centre of the roof instead of being offset to the starboard side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


August 2006

 

We want a wooden door over the top of the fridge door – we reckon that this will look a lot better.  Unfortunately, we cannot find a decent fridge that is shallow enough to allow for the thickness of the wooden door, whilst still achieving an acceptable walk-through width between the galley units.  So, we have opted for the shallowest fridge we can find that promises not to fall apart within the first twelve months of service.  Our plan was to have the fridge relocated to the saloon end of the galley unit on the starboard side, rotating it slightly to improve the fit, but we have decided to have it relocated near to the cooker instead (the galley unit is slightly wider on this side).  There will be a set of three drawers sandwiched between the cooker and the fridge.  The two cupboards shown mounted above the galley work surfaces are now chamfered to improve their appearance and to help ‘balance’ the inset panels for the saloon cabin sides

 

We have finalsed the cupboard above the desk in the day room.  We have also re-shaped the half-height corner cupboard in here so that it incorporates an ‘extension’.  The idea here is that this extension will hide the steps for the side doors when they are not in use - said steps will be mounted on a robust slide arrangement.  The radiator has been relocated under the desk to make way for the above described extension.

 

We have also updated our layout to show the ‘T’-shaped waste tank in the stern, along with the washer/dryer door and stern cupboard door openings and the step between the engine and the swim (on the starboard side) and the latest version of the graphics.

 

You will find the latest layout and livery drawing here.

 

 

Copyright © 2005 - 2006 C J Wells