Top and Tail

Aug 8th, 2021 James The Build

Scout is about a month away from splashing into the English Channel. The yard is racing on the interior and the remaining systems. Most notably, Scout now has a roof!

...or her 'chapeau' as Garcia like to call it..

This is the one part of the shell that is not aluminium, so it gets mounted towards the end of the build, after the large parts of the interior have been lowered in. It’s a composite of fibreglass and high density PVC foam.

With the roof in place, you can now see the shape of the ‘watch station’ which is a fully protected area at the front of the cockpit, and that still provides reasonable forward visibility.

The watch station.

The rudders have also both now been mounted:

We can now steer.

You can also see that the port-side locker will contain a built-in drum for a long, but convenient, aft docking line.

Inside, the galley is complete, though the carpentry is covered up for protection. Our induction stove will be mounted on gimbals where that bag of trash currently is. And if you’re planning on coming to stay, you will be pleased to see the spacious meuble à bouteilles on the left!

Just needs the stove, fridge, freezer, microwave...

Turning around to the right, the navigation station is well underway. The chart table has a built-in drawer for maps, and the angled console will contain a 12” chartplotter, several instruments, and the autopilot controls. We’re also mounting an engine throttle on the left of the table, so we can easily control Scout when she’s under power from this warm, dry spot.

And 270° visibility too.

Meanwhile, other electric and motor systems continue to get installed. Our two main winches by the helm stations are powered (to ease single-handed sailing) and their Lewmar motors are now in, embedded behind each wheel:

Now we're torquing.

Up front, the capstan is also now installed and ready to pull up the anchor. It’s pretty amazing (and dare I say nerve-wracking) to see how many fuseboxes and power systems are needed behind the scenes for each boat function.

The underneath of the capstan.

And, as if to make a point, we’re also starting to get photos of the main electric system panels. We’ll do a whole post on what we’re having installed, but I just need to redo the “Ohm’s Law At Sea” chapter of my physics degree first. Be right back.

P = V × I... or something like that.

Scout’s mast is scheduled to be stepped in just a few weeks’ time, so we’ll try and get a few more posts in before she ventures outside for the first time!

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