It has been a little quiet here in NO FRILLS SAILING.com since my work schedule during winter time boat show season was very, very tight and kept me busy. That, sadly, also prevented me from going a bit forward with the refit efforts on my own boat – especially since there are some very cool items on the list coming up, like the finishing of the teak-works. But I am also thinking of another large project coming up: The refit and re-design of the cockpit of my boat. I am starting with the original configuration of the Kings Cruiser 33 …
As Pelle Petterson designed the yacht back in the Seventies he was conceiving the boat with a wheel steering, like soon on the picture above on the Kings Cruiser 33 CELLO. My previous owner was retrofitting the yacht to tiller steering, which I appreciate very much. I would say that with cruising yachts the tiller steering is preferred way of helm up to 35, 38 feet, moreso, on racing boats like the Class 40 tiller is best on even larger yachts.
The Cockpit on my King´s Cruiser 33
When I was bringing my boat from Hamburg to the Baltic sea earlier this year I was taking out the nicely done Teak gratings of the boat (which are now stocked at home) and decided to give the cockpit a full refit as well. First thing on the list was the removal of the aft-grating and shelf-configuration. The bent grating – although crafted very nicely – made only sense on wheel-helmed boats since the helmsman would be sitting right behind the tiny wheel on the grating. Not so with tiller. It´s just lost space.
When I was taking off the grating I discovered that this decision was all too right – the wood had been degraded over time so that after some light-tempered hits with the sledge hammer the grating was destroyed altogether. Even if I would have planned to keep it, there wouldn´t had been any chance to rescue the stuff.
By removing all the rest of the wooden construction I left over some holes in the stern where the construction had been fitted to, so that´s something to take care about later. After taking out the rest of the rotten wood I was astonished of the fact of how much space I was suddenly gaining – the cockpit changed it´s face completely.
Lots of space – what to do with it?
In the aft part of the cockpit the gain of space is some 40 centimetres which makes for a lot of space. I am now thinking of the possible next steps to take and in which direction the refit efforts should go. I probably should opt for a nice, simple and straight solution. No frills, I should say.
I guess the nicest thing would be if I´d keep it simple: Just sand down the aft part, renew the paint or Gelcoat. But then there is a new question arising: What about the wooden planking of the benches? Shouldn´t the newly formed “aft bench” receive a wooden surface as well? And if so, would that new planking mean that I as well would have to renew the old planking of the benches as well? I think … yes.
And this thought brings me to one of the first weeks of my “yachting-career” when I was still searching for a way to go forward with the whole project. I visited a producer of a very sophisticated faux teak – Rosch Deck of Hamburg – and was impressed by the quality of his work. Maybe the cockpit (as well as the decking of the salon) should also be refurbished with faux teak? Decisions, decisions …
Other stories on the Fiskars King´s Cruiser 33 refit:
Deck hatch refurbishment, Part 1
Painting the whole interior in yacht white
Teak made full mode nav station chart table