Deck Gear, Docking, Anchoring, and Dinghy Handling Gear:
We have adopted much of the deck gear concept that has been developed for the FPB 97, and added a few refinements to the package.
One of these is a wider anchoring sprit. We often find ourselves threading snubber or spring lines through the fairlead at the end of the sprit. The wider base will make this much easier. The lifelines have been run out and end on the fairlead. There may be a tradeoff when heading upwind in steep seas with the sprit this much wider, or maybe not. One of those lessons that awaits.
There are now powered winches forward and aft to use for kedging, warping, and mooring stern-to (Med Style): four total.
On the aft side of the starboard mast is a power winch, sized for dinghy launching and handling dock lines.. The port dinghy winch is on deck, so it does not interfere with our use of the deck level docking controls. The life raft lives under the seat, to port of the great room exhaust fans.
Here is a look at an alternate layout we briefly considered, where the area under the stairs was totally enclosed. This would provide lots of additional storage space, and even room for a deck level day head. The tradeoff is loss of the seating under the stairs, and a bit of window space and the resulting view from inside. We will come back to this aspect of the boat at a later date.
The two boom guys and halyards will run through rope clutches just above the winch. We are working through the details of rope storage, tentatively scheduled for the lockers inside of the masts. There is a full height locker adjacent to the entry door, where we will keep jackets, foul weather gear, shots, and abandon ship bags. The boom control clutches, winch, and engine room air intake are all shown here in some detail.
There is room on the aft deck for a large power dink and a second lighter dinghy for exercise and/or going to the beach when the big dinghy is too heavy to drag out of the surf. We have the space on the port side to fit one of the AB aluminum bottom RIBs of about 10.5′ (3.5m), or a 14-foot rowing skiff.
We will be able to launch and retrieve the big power dinghy single-handed in calm anchorages.
The swim ladder is integrated into the swim step in a manner similar to what has been developed for the FPB 97.
At the same time we have been fiddling with the concept details for the FPB 78, we have been at work on what we think will be the ultimate dinghy, designed from the start for the aft deck.
This is a riff on the dinghy Circa have been supplying to most of the FPB 64 owners. For cold climates there is a protected helm, with room for two. And a built-in tentlike cover to keep the groceries dry when it is wet.
If you need serious protection, zip up the cover.
The T-top is permanent, providing shade in the tropics. Note the towing post, good for skiers or other vessels.
We will have a solar panel mounted on the roof. The pipe is where the lifting strap will attach for hoisting.
If this seems like a lot of dialogue about a dinghy, it is because we think the capabilities of this little vessel will substantially enhance our cruising capabilities. Fitting this much dinghy onto the aft deck, leaving sufficient room for a second small boat, stairs to the swim step, and the entrance to the workshop, is not something that can be done as an afterthought. It needs to be on the concept plate from day one.
A final aspect to all this aft deck business. If we were so inclined, there is room for fishing–possibly a fighting chair. We could even work in an aft Matrix deck conning station so one of us could watch fish, angler, and boat, while maneuvering so the other could finish the fish boating process (perhaps an overly hopeful projection given a demonstrated lack of success in this regard). But then there would be the inevitable discourse on whose turn it was to clean the fish, and then hose down the stern. Maybe we’d better continue to buy from the locals.
*Note: This is the eighth post in this series about the FPB 78. You can access the posts in order by clicking on the dropdown menu from the “FPB 78″ button on the top menu bar.