Pod Improvements

Winter is hanging about, there was ice on deck the other morning and we have bitter Easterly winds but there are signs that things are on the turn and in a few short weeks Spring should really be here.

As our time in Falmouth Marina draws to a close I’ve been working hard in an attempt to finish the last few major jobs left on my list.

Since finishing ‘Lewis’ I’ve been working on improvements to the pod and cuddy. I’d done virtually nothing in these areas since ‘Gleda’ was launched and it was really beginning to bug me. The pod is of course the place where most time is spent under sail and having the cuddy functioning as intended with a usable watch berth will be a huge benefit at sea.

First job was to fit the dedicated Garmin GPS unit and re-position the VHF so they were to hand near the wheel, I have a DSC VHF so I’ve also interfaced the GPS so that an automatic position is sent if the distress button is hit. After that I fitted a new switch panel and wired in the navigation lights (two sets, masthead tricolour and deck level units), anchor light and pod red/white lights.

I also made a seat backrest and a footrest to make helming more comfortable, I knocked up a hanging rack for the lifejackets, fitted some flooring and painted. The pod now looks like somewhere nice to be.

Next up was the cuddy, I put together a frame and created a false floor with stowage underneath then got the whole thing painted. There’s still a bit of finishing needed but with a foam mattress in place we now have an additional berth.