Transmare

Recently David has been working on the galley- altering the position of the sink and replacing it with a new one. It is now on the port side behind the door from the saloon. Previously it was located under the ironwork for the coach roof and was quite unaccessible- useable but not in a useful place. The fridge has now been lifted up from the floor and placed on a new bit of worktop.

David discovered that the fridge is dual-powered and runs on both gas and 240V electricity. Sadly though, one of the previous owners of the boat removed the front cover and dial that protected and controlled the pilot light so that we do not think that the supply would be safe to use- and the pipes and fittings have gone rusty through bad maintenance and lack of care. g

Next to the galley on the starboard side of the boat is the head (bathroom). Currently though we do not have a shower or bath although our plans do include the designing and fitting of a small shower with a controlled head- the water will only flow if a lever is pressed on the head. It saves water on a boat and ensures that only the parts of you that you want washed will get wet. We intend the shower to drain into a small tray with a bilge pump for pumping out overboard. We are also going to replace the sink unit- currently there are two small hand basins and we are going to replace them with a larger single one and a better piece of worktop possibly with hidden storage for the items we use every day. The space under the sink will be able to be used as storage but currrently this is full of pipes!

The forepeak contains a double berth that David has built- we did sleep in here for a while but prefer the space in the saloon- so this is our guest berth. It is hollow for more storage and just needs sanding and sealing (either with paint or varnish) to make it look nicer. At the head of the bed is a shelf unit with a central access point for the chain locker. The door to this needs stripping and painting. The ceiling (underneath of the fore deck) also needs painting and it is here that the through deck fitting for the gun turret is visible! One of the many original features. The forepeak also has four brass portholes which are inset in the hull of the boat.

The saloon is the large living area that you climb down into from the wheelhouse. Underneath the stairs is the cupboard containing our three water tanks that hold a total of 600 litres of water. The are emptied by a large pump under the berth which is on the right. To the left is a 'quarter-berth' which we use as a storage space and will turn into a wardrobe. On both sides of the boat there are cupboards from floor to ceiling- we use one each as a clothes cupboard. After (well, actually in front of!) the cupboards is a long (over 6 foot) sofa on each side of the saloon that can be slept on if needed. We have a semi-folding table for use as a dining table/ desk moved against the starboard (right) sofa with a chair either side for each of us. In front of the dining table is a built in cupboard that we use for crockery storage and the top supports the TV and our CD collection. The main PC is also on the starboard sofa along with various pieces of junk. At the forward end of the port sofa is a built-in cupboard flush against the side of boat that we have presently in use as a support for a temporary galley. Against the bulkhead that seperates the saloon from the galley and head (the door is in the middle) is a Blakes Diesel Heater to keep the boat nice and cosy when we have cleaned it!

The wheelhouse is a feature that has been added to the boat- in her days as a pinnace, Transmare would have been open. It is well worth having one in bad weather! We can stand in the wheelhouse in the rain and wind, keeping warm and dry but watching what is going on outside! This is also where the cat sleeps and has her litter tray. The wheelhouse contains a flop-down chart table, the original ships wheel with brass trim (that tells where the boat was built) and a brass 'king-pin' to tell you where the wheel and rudder are in a neutral position. On the rear 'wall' of the wheelhouse (it is mainly glazed) is a brass barometer and wind-up clock (anyone know someone who can repair one of these???). The compass is in front of the wheel, and underneath the windows at the front is the electrical controls and fuses for some of the systems and dials for the engine. There is a hollow storage seat running across the wheelhouse that holds our life-jackets and the in-coming shore power connection.

From the stern deck you can get into the stern cabin. This contains a double bunk which has been converted to storage for our sails with an added sail locker and under shelf storage for all the boxes of bits that seem to accumulate! To the right of the ladder, looking forwards is the engine room and work bench. David finds this area very useful as it has a great work bench with a bench vice, ventilation fan and overhead light. There is lots of room- which he needs for the tons of tools.

The engine is on the starboard side of the boat looking forwards- and it's a big lump! Next to the engine is the fuel tank. Underneath the engine is the usual bilges (yeuch!) and as the stern gland is where the propeller shaft leaves the inside of the hull, there is always a little water here- not much though!

Outside on deck now! Towards the shore you would see that we have a floating dock to make access to the boat a whole lot easier. This ends just before the boat and we have a passerelle (gang-plank!) at a slope to climb onto the boat. The stern deck has two large cleats that we use to tie the boat up- one on either side and we have a manual winch that doubles as another place to tie ropes to! The deck goes both sides of the wheelhouse and is fibreglass over marine ply. The resin has been painted and has non-slip beads added to it. Unfortunately, the fibreglass resin was not de-greased properly and the paint is chipping off. Another thing to add to the list!

Looking towards the bow (front end) you will see two masts- both of them wood- and in need of a lick of paint. We also need to grease the runners for the sails with lithium grease or similar to make sure it is waterproof! The mizzen mast also has the places on the spreaders for the ensigns and signal flags to be flown from. There is also a washing line for all that washing that needs to be done! The main deck down the side of the boat is lower by about 60cm and there is a step either side- both need to be replaced and the deck under each needs raising up slightly to let the water drain from the deck quicker. The stanchions are also in the process of being welded- they are stainless steel and need strengthening at the base.

At the edge of the deck is the wooden rubbing strake which runs the length of the boat and round the bow but not round the stern. The ironwork that forms the coachroof is straight up and we have noticed on most pinnaces, this is angled inwards making Transmare even more unique. In the centre of the saloon roof is a rooflight letting light below- these open to let ventilation in also. They are another item on the list of things to repair- the plastic has come out of the frames and we have to cover the windows with plastic to stop the rain coming in! There is a raised section to allow more light into the head as there isn't any porthole there. There are four brass portholes in the salooon that are used plus two that have been covered over by the addition of the wheelhouse. Above the galley is a brass ventilation duct that can be angled to let air in and keep the rain out- I noticed today that this has been squashed and needs some attention (hint hint).

Either side of the main mast there was a locker for the safe containment of the gas bottles for the stove- we have decided to keep the lockers once they are mended but to add a floor in each to keep the bottles from going rusty and to maybe only use one for gas and the other for storage of ropes and fenders. Currently on the fore deck we have our rigid plastic dinghy which for some reason filled with rain- it is double-skinned and the water got between the layers somehow! There is also a large black plastic dustbin that is very useful to keep the ends of mooring ropes in. The concrete on either side of the bow deck acts as ballast to balance the weight of the engine in the stern- Transmare seems to rise out of the water sometimes. The concrete has been fixed and repaired several times already by David as we have not had any luck trying to get some wood to bend round the shape to make a nice guardrail and give us somewhere to tie line to. The inboard end of the bowsprit finishes off the deck along with an anchor windlass. The bowsprit itself has been removed, sanded back to bare wood and revarnished and it looks lovely. The metal work that holds the sprit down has been painted British Racing Green- giving us a great idea for the final hull colour of the boat! The three fore sails are spread along the length of the sprit and it is possible to walk out holding the stays to reach the end- which seems so far from the boat.... The stays are pulling the sprit upwards so the dolphin chain- which reaches to the bottom point of the bow keel- keeps the sprit pulled down equally.

Welcome- and we have reached the end of the tour. Please address any questions to the tour guide on the contacts page!