Welcome aboard! With this article I will introduce 360 degrees virtual reality photo spheres to NO FRILLS SAILING.com – a technique I am really fond of because it´s immersive, it´s new and cool and lets you discover the picture even more than a plain ordinary one. From now on you´re going to find this technology in more articles to come when it´s applicable: Just look for the #360VR hashtag. Starting this new chapter of my magazine with an article on the current state of the King´s Cruiser 33 refit is a return to where this magazine began: As a blog about my own efforts in refurbishing an old lady. Now, let´s hop on board and have fun!
King´s Cruiser 33 on SY OLIVIA the Stand
I´ve bought the boat in September 2015 and except from a short sailing trip to test the boat and an adventurous three-day cruise to bring it to Hamburg where I live the boat is on dry stand at a yard just outside the city since then. Here she is, the blue-hulled beauty. Isn´t this 40 year old Pelle Petterson design still looking tempting to a sailor´s eye? You will have the best VR-effect by activating full screen mode, just click on the icon in the down-right corner of the sphere. Have fun!
I am working on the King´s Cruiser 33 for some 320 net working hours so far, that´s not very much considering the fact that the yacht is in refit for almost 1.5 years now, but given the fact that I am a hardworking man with two children who will barely find some hours during the weekends that´s a different number. Every time I see the blue hull my heart makes a jump: That´s my boat! I love her. P.S. – If you have an Android-Smartphone and a VR-set you may activate twin-screen mode and attach the phone to the glasses to immerse even more into the refit world of the King´s Cruiser 33.
The Yacht Refit Project so far
The plan was and still is to only make up for the interior. This, I thought, would restrict the restrict to mere “cosmetic” works and will leave the hard stuff for some time later. But as I had to discover with the chain plates (read it here, here and here that´s something a sailing yacht refit is all about: With every item crossed off your list, two new ones will appear. Besides, you sometimes cannot distinguish “outside” and “inside” that clearly, as I realized when I took on the large windows.
Concerning the “outside” of the boat, especially the cockpit of the Fiskars King´s Cruiser 33, you´ll notice that I will have to: Take off the wooden construction at the end of the cockpit as this is a remainder of the steering-wheel configuration. Because I am now steering by tiller, I won´t need this anymore. Furthermore, the tiller was mounted the wrong way (upside down) by my pre-owner. Winches are okay but need a thorough refit (and grease), same with gratings and locks of the lids to the machine room.
Galley and Nav-Station
Let´s go inside! Down the entryway to the port side there´s the galley. I have taken out everything previously installed, especially the old fridge (read it here) and all the stuff of the old sink. A completely new surface made of massive teak will be replacing this (here´s the raw making of it), new stainless steel fittings along with a new compressor fridge unit by Dometic (read it here). An new stove with oven, as well by Dometic, is already waiting to be installed.
Vis-à-vis the you´ll find the navigation station. I love “real” boats with real tables for doing chart work and log. As much as I adore the modern large cruisers for their spacious design, I really miss the good old chart tables. That´s a dream I was fulfilling myself within this King´s Cruiser 33. The old table was worn out, so I invested a lot of time (read it here and here) to make my own, perfect chart table of which I am really proud. A main switch panel with VHF will be mounted here as well (read it here) and I restrained from sealing off the old quarter berth (here´s the initial plan for that) but will restore it to the original state.
In the Yacht´s Saloon
Here´s where the action takes place. The large saloon will be the center of the boat´s life (when not sailing) so naturally most of the effort so far went into this area. Even if you cannot see much from it now. Let´s start at starboard side. I´ve prepared all new wooden panels for the whole saloon made from massive Teak (read it here and here) ready to be mounted. This can´t on the other hand be done until the new porthole windows have been installed but due to the low temperatures right now I´ll have to postpone this till spring. Also, the perfectly refurbished chain plates will be covered by Teak-made furniture as well. Down under the decking is the perfect white of the refurbished bilge (read about this nice chapter here, here and here).
The main bulkhead is sanded down – just as all wooden surfaces – and will be glossy-painted in spring for sure. Looking to the roof you may notice the Oak made substruction and a provisionally fitted new roofing panel made from Birch tree plywood. The whole roofing structure will encompass 6 new LED-lights (here, here more info on that topic). When I am finished here and the protection cover will be thrown away, the whole GRP-surfaces of the boat will be in shiny new white instead of the old yellow-ish color. That´s a nice one. Cushion – now green – will be brand new as well, also the decorative elements like marine chronometer.
Fore Cabin & Head
Entering the fore cabin we pass a narrow entryway to the heads on the starboard side where new teak fittings will be put in place and of course a brand new Jabsco toilet. I´ll also refurbish the small skylight in the head. The fore cabin can host two persons and be a very nice, hospitable place. After taking off the old veneers and wooden fittings the whole bare GRP will be covered with a new layer of fresh Epoxy and painted plain white as well.
New Teak ceiling (like this here) and Teak veneers as well as LED-lighting will complete the new cabin. I plan to have a roofing light for general lighting and a reading light installed. Phoo.
Chaos? Well. Yes.
That´s for the 360 degrees VR tour of my King´s Cruiser 33 and a quick dash into the current state of the refit program. It may look like chaos (and it perfectly well is), but I guess that´s the thing with sailing yacht refits: It will take the double amount of time. And the quadruple amount of budget. Anyway, I love my boat and besides the fact that I am learning each day it is so much fun to be out here, meeting other sailing enthusiasts and spend time aboard. Thanks for visiting SY OLIVIA.
Other Refit-Related Articles:
Refurbishing the old bilge
Making a new chart table of massive Teak
Teak Furniture and Panels