As I´ve done some interesting articles in shipyards and about boats in the process of being built in the past weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to publish some news on the progress of my own new boat, the Omega 42 ALPHA. It has become a bit quiet in the past months which was due to me changing my mode of income from being employed to self-employed, launching my own business. Anyway, financing the yacht has been secured now, hence, works resume in full power.
After delivering the new solid separation toilet to the shipyard two weeks ago, last week I dropped by to deliver some more parts. A good chance to check on progress. This time, the boat´s joiners and carpenters were busy roaming the boat´s internals: After practically halting the efforts some months ago now the deck has been removed again, giving free sight into the ship and making way for the craftsmen to do their work.
Galley & worktop decisions are paying off
Today I´d like to show you guys principle differences between my boat, which is hull #002 or #402, and the first newbuilt Omega 42 WINDFAENGER, a yacht you already know, for example from my boat show report or regatta fun. Getting your new Omega 42 built is a semi-custom project. Compared to an ordinary series production yacht where you can only choose from superficial options more or less only changing the number of cabins, two or three interior woods, some cushion colors and the type of rigging, in the Omega 42 almost everything can be changed.
The two joiners currently being busy in my yacht are working in the galley and nav-station. Standing above the boat looking down, you can easily spot the progress. In my yacht I went for many decisions which will set my boat apart from hull #001. One of the examples is the galley. In the picture below you can see how Stefan, owner of WINDFAENGER, designed his galley: White Corian worktops, round shapes.
I want it different. For many reasons. First, obviously, I try to get cost down. The most expensive part of a boat being build – no matter which and where – is the bulk of working hours. As boatbuilding is 100 per cent handcraft, you pay a lot for the work of skilled and talented master craftsmen. A proper wooden ceiling for example, as to be seen in Stefan´s boat throughout the whole interior, is such a very expensive detail. I´ve done it myself in my first boat, OLIVIA, trying to attach Teak ceiling in the fore cabin. It takes a shitload of time. In order to make it look as spotless and perfect as in WINDFAENGER, lots and lots of money goes in it. So I cancelled this. Instead, we will have a simpler, easier, cheaper but also nice looking simple felt padding.
Apart from getting the cost down a bit, weight plays also a crucial role for me. The Omega 42 is a boat originally conceived to win races. Thus, weight is thing. Albeit we won´t change the projected displacement of 7.5 tons of course, but I don´t want to add either. What a nice coincidence that I don´t like Corian very much. I feel it´s a kind of “cold” material. So we were investigating to find a nice alternative. And we found one …
Bamboo in boatbuilding?
I´m a great fan of Bamboo. I really like the “exotic” appearance of this material, its color and also the haptics. Utilizing Bamboo in my home for years now, for example as thick chopping boards in my kitchen, we came up with the idea of using Bamboo as worktop material – literally on every horizontal area – in the boat.
The raw worktop-boards my shipyard ordered have a thickness of 4 centimeters. They are glued together in different layers and grain direction to make for a waterproof, warp-resistant and sturdy surface. The material is pretty lightweight (although there would have been much more lightweight materials of course), can be treated by the joiners easily and, best of all, is kind of cheap compared to Corian or real stone products. Plus, I really like the design.
In the aft cabin of the boat a huge wooden gauge model of the kitchen worktop is put aside. The joiners used it to get the perfect measurements and form for the galley area. Here´s another difference to the first boat: I wanted a bit more space in this area. That applies to both the entrance into the aft pilot berth cabin as well as the area in the galley itself, the distance between worktop and entryway ladder. Trying out different designs and slowly nearing a perfect fit is best by utilizing a gauge, rather than having to experiment with the precious Bamboo material itself.
This is another nice confirmation for one of my last article. There I visited a very elaborate interior mock-up for a 42 footer: The guys there explained that before messing around with the real stuff, they´d rather test, explore, compare and slowly change certain parts by alternating cheap gauges for a perfect shape or fit. Same here. The outcome for ALPHA is a very nicely designed and perfectly fitting Bamboo kitchen worktop for my boat. Don´t you think?
My boat´s changes for the galley layout
It does not stop at this point. In the picture below, again, you can see the galley setup for Stefan´s WINDFAENGER. This yacht comes with a classy liquified gas stove-oven combination. There´s also a top-loading fridge and a small single sink. As you have probably guessed by now, I want to change that too for ALPHA. The only thing that remains basically is the compressor-powered fridge.
That´s another definitive advantage of having a boat being build according to one´s own ideas and specifications: You literally start with a blank sheet. In my case, as you can see in the picture, I start with a blank Bamboo worktop. The idea here was to get a ship´s galley that is both practical and ticks all the boxes of my own preferences of what a boat´s kitchen should be coming with, but also to arrange the different parts of the equipment to exactly match my needs: Arm length, body height and style of how I prepare meals aboard.
So, what´s my choice then? In the picture below I´ve positioned the main parts of my Omega´s galley to their principle positions. From left to right: First of all, my yacht won´t have a pressurized fresh water cycle powered by an electric pump. In my experience, the pumps, joints, filters and such are a constant source for maintenance and failure, possibly also for leaks. Keep it simple, that´s the overall motto for ALPHA. So you can see a simple foot-pump that will be installed to the right corner in front of the sink. Speaking of which, I changed positions of sink and stove in regard to hull #001. This means that doing to dishes is to port side, cooking is facing in the direction of sailing.
You may find this awkward and it maybe really is, but here´s my reason for doing this. Analogous to my “KISS-philosophy” for ALPHA, I cancelled the whole liquefied gas-cycle as well. I don´t want to cook with gas, neither do I want to have a gas bottle, gas pipes and the whole adhering to 2-year-checks. Again, risk of fire and leaks is therefore minimized. I also don´t need an oven: I´ve never ever baked something when cooking underway nor am I a fan of gratins. So I just need simple burners.
After a thorough test at home in my flat, I decided that for my use-case the good old spirit-burner suits best. It´s really a failsafe and very convenient system. Once standard on sailboat, it has been gone virtually extinct. But the legendary “Origo 3000” spirits burner still has a huge fan base and is – at least for now – again available again in dedicated online shops, though under a different name. As I don´t cook big meals underway, I do not need a gimbal system. This way the stove can be mounted flush countersunk into the Bamboo. I´m sure it will look very nice! By the way, I will additionally mount a Jetboil on a gimbal so that I will at least be able to make a hot coffee or tea even in heavy seas.
In Stefan´s boat, the Corian worktop is prolonged into becoming the backrest shelf in the saloon. Here you can also see the round shapes of his design. Certainly that´s a classic approach and much closer to Peter Norlin´s original design. But ALPHA will also be different in this respect: Straight simple lines, no round edges; and Bamboo for all horizontal areas, including the backrest shelves in the saloon as well as the mini chart-table to starboard side. I guess I will show it later when its finished.
Boat joinery: Smart and simple solutions
You might have read the article about the floor boards in my boat: Another stark contrast to WINDFAENGER. Where Stefan went for the very classic and traditional color scheme and chose a dark wooden floor, I went for a very light colored EVA-foam covered choice. This appearance plus the very light colored Bamboo worktops and much more white lacquered surfaces will make ALPHA become much “lighter” in her appearance – by the same time making room for maybe a bolder choice for the cushion colors. But that´s for the future, let´s check what the guys are working on right now:
Underneath the finished Bamboo worktop, the first push-drawers are in the works. Of course, any ship´s galley needs stowage for all the stuff you need: Tableware, cookware, crockery, cutlery and cups. Pots and pans and of course stowage for spices and all sorts of stuff. Drawers need to be there, but also, make them simple. That was the task here. The boat´s carpenters are currently working on all of the drawers in the galley as well as underneath the little nav station in front of the boat´s bathroom.
To make them as simple, lightweight and also comparably cheap, the idea is to not have the drawers made from wood. Instead, we go for simple plastic boxes. Yeah, right: Simple, cheap grey plastic boxes from the home improvement store. I mean, why should I pay for dozens of working hours making drawers from wood if these are 99.9 percent hidden all of the time? Their only reason for being is to put away all the small and bigger things. Yes, of course, high class boat joinery is great to look at and it certainly is making any sailor´s heart jump to see something like this made the “right way”, but honestly: There´s no need. I´d rather invest my budget in other things. So, by switching to plastic boxes, literally, hundreds of Euros are saved at an instant.
Yet, from the outside, you won´t notice a difference: There´s a wooden facing that will be nicely lacquered. If closed, you can´t tell anymore what´s behind. I really love this idea. The joiners mounted the racks and rails and already finished rough-fitting the first of these drawers. A nice clicking-mechanism will hold them in place, even filled and I heavy seas. A simple push is releasing the tight grip, making those slide out. Simple, beautiful and saving so much time and money!
Of course, all will be painted with a white color and nicely lacquered, achieving a high class look. We talked about the shape and form of the opening recesses to be applied for the drawers, a decision not to be taken lightly. Will it be a simple round hole? Or a nice wave-like shape? The decision I am about to make will be defining a lot for the whole boat because this shape will reappear time and again in any opening hatch or drawer throughout the whole boat. Of course I abstained from a simple hole and went for a nice wave …
An unsolved problem. Yet.
Well, that´s for the status of the interior works of my Omega 42 for now. The guys will go on in the galley and saloon. At the same time, other departments are working to complete the yacht. Yet, I have a kind of unsolved problem, or let´s call it a challenge, yet to overcome: The coachroof windows. That´s really a kind of problem child for me.
In the picture below you can see a picture of the WINDFAENGER saloon. If you look closely, you can see the four upper windows in the coachroof or superstructure. Nicely shaped and haunched with wood. That´s the original design of Peter Norlin and for me a very important and defining detail of the yacht. Yet, at the same time, if I am completely honest with you, the only thing about this Omega 42 I do not really like and cannot make my peace with. Because, just look at the outside appearance of these windows …
From the outside, WINDFAENGER had receive a very edgy, sharp and modern window design. Simple acrylic or glass surfaces, glued to the GRP deck to form a watertight window. It´s in my eyes a too modern, maybe a bit too “aggressive” look. For me, it just does not stay true to the legendary and beautifully balanced design of Norlin. In a nutshell: I want for ALPHA definitely the “old” shapes back!
And this could be looking like in the Photoshop-montage below: Just by partitioning the windows, just like that, the whole appearance of the yacht changes. It´s amazing how it suddenly resembles the classic look of Norlin yet retains the modern approach. For ALPHA, this is the minimum we will do! I am puzzled every time I switch back and forth between these two pictures. What do you think? Am I over exaggerating or do I have a point here.
Now, the challenge or the unsolved problem is the following: As I already went for classic Gebo hatches and portholes for all the openings and windows of ALPHA, I would love to get classic, aluminium-framed windows for these four as well. Of course, these are very thin and no brand using those for their boats now could deliver. Neither Luffe, where the guys sadly didn´t take at least their time to talk to me, nor Faurby as it seems. I received a quote from one manufacturer offering to try and custom build aluminium-framed coachroof windows as specified with our plastic gauges, but the budget exceeded 7.000 Euros! Can you imagine? Well, there must be another possibility.
So, dear readers, if you have an idea which supplier could make windows for this boat (and possible the next units to be build), please leave a comment or send me an email. If I cannot find a company willing and able to manufacture these, I will have these windows made like the ones for WINDFAENGER, but as shown in the montage above. Well, now you know what bothers me at night …
What´s next?
So, you see, there has been quite some progress. Apart from the things I spoke about in this article, many more little details can be seen all over the place. Like the last bulkheads and floorboards that have been fitted or at least made to fit. Likewise, parts and equipment to finish the installation of the Diesel engine in the back are ordered and will be applied, same goes for the boat´s electric circuits.
This will be, by the way, the next big series I am about to produce: Fitting of the 230 Volts circuit and shore power connection as well as the 12 Volts domestic electric circuits. Ranging from the choice for the batteries, the wiring and safeguarding to the very panels and light-concept for the Omega 42. Again: “KISS-system” applied, simple, effective and priceworthy. Also, the rudder blade will be finished soon and I am pretty confident that during the coming months we will also finally get the custom cast full lead keel delivered to the workshop.
And so I again say Goodbye to ALPHA until my next visit. It´s always such a pleasure coming here, seeing the progress, meeting the very people who build my boat and discussing the bigger and smaller details, making decisions and building up pleasant anticipation of how these decisions turn out in reality. As for the Bamboo and galley, I´m again very happy. Let´s see what will have been done in 2 or 3 weeks …
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Here´s so much more about the Omega 42 newbuild-project:
Peter Norlin´s legendary yachts
Why I went for the Omega 42 in the first place
All Omega 42-related building process articles