"No Turning Back Now..."

Every now and then I make a decision to do something and then realize that "something" was bigger than I thought. When that happens, sometimes you can turn back... sometimes you can't.

Lowering the V-Berth is one of those jobs that, once you start, you can't turn back.

First, I had to get the old holding tank out of the boat. (Now, despite the fact that it had been pumped out months ago, it still contained about two or three gallons of residual waste... Yippee)! I measured the tank and the only way to get it out of the place it was secured was to turn it up on end; I was NOT willing to do that. There's no telling what would have happened with the old hoses and the last thing I wanted was two or three gallons of wastewater on me or in my bilge. Since I was going to lower the V-Berth anyway, I removed a piece of plywood to make room for the tank's exodus.

I was careful when I cut the lines to bag and tape each one, but somehow, old stinky waste still leaked out of hoses that should have been dry a long time ago. (This may be a witness to the high seas I experienced on the last night of my passage to Carrabelle).

Yuck!

Leaky, stinky, mess!

Finally the tank was free and I lifted it out with great care and no little effort, (at 8lbs. per gallon, it was a little work). I was slow and deliberate like I was handling Nitroglycerin. With my weak stomach, both could easily blow me up in a couple of different ways.

I carefully lifted the tank out of the cabin and then lowered it to the ground with a couple of ropes. I'm pretty sure the tank was the original tank installed by P&M... it smelled like it. (BTW, I love my Nature's Head composting toilet).

Once that part of the job was done, I still had/have a lot of work to do. To lower the V-Berth, all hoses and eventually, two large Groco Seacocks, and the fiberglassed tabbed plywood have to be cut out. Lot's more work than it initially looked like... no turning back now.

Look closely...
the berth will be cut down to the black line
drawn all the way around.

Two Groco Seacocks for sale... :)

Obviously, I need to buy some Bilgekote!

As you can see, there's no turning back now. I'm hoping to have the old V-Berth cut out completely by the weekend and begin installing the lowered V-Berth with all new hardwood plywood next week. (I don't know why I do this... my time predictions NEVER work).

I'm not completely sure how I'm going to set this thing up. I want liveaboard comfort coupled with maximized storage. (Is that possible)? This should be interesting.

Fair seas and God bless!