On this week's episode of Onboard Lifestyle we travel back in time to share the construction details of the bridgedeck head we built on our custom catamaran ...

Closed Captions (CC):
[Music]

okay welcome back to SB basic back in

episode 21 we did an in-depth recap of

how we built our galley and we got a lot

of positive feedback and a lot of

requests to show other projects that we

have completed on SB basic so that's

what we're gonna do we're gonna open

this up to a six video series the next

video we will cover the upper head and

go into some detail of why this is here

how we built it construction design

elements and go into some detail about

this project so stand by okay let's talk

about this area of the boat the salon

itself is good size salon and it gave us

a lot of options let me spin this around

give you an idea we're able to squeeze

in everything we wanted on the main

salon not a lot of cats have a head on

the bridge deck here but we wanted one

and we want to look for a reason last

time we were cruising it'd be nice to

have a head close to where all the

action is rather than go all the way

down stairs or to the bow of the boat to

the head so we decided we wanted to use

this area for our head previous owners

had used it for multiple other things we

found photographs on the internet that

showed how this area really evolved over

the years from owner to owner we found

photographs where it was used for a

daybed for a dog

we found pictures the show that looked

like some sort of seat was trying to be

constructed when we purchase it it was

even different so we came up with this

design

just from our own experience of what we

wanted in a boat so our last spot was

pretty awesome

I really loved it and teal did a great

job doing everything in bird's-eye maple

it was pretty amazing so for our head he

kind of extended the design into there

as well

but one of the things that I was a

little afraid of was the smell of wet

wood I don't like the smell of that and

so we decided not to have a shower

inside and opted for an outside shower

so solar showers for everyone which was

great we went we're down in Mexico

but it got a little interesting and we

had to get really creative we're sharing

in an anchorage with other cruising

pavers around when we're talking about

how we came up with a size for this room

we really had to pay attention to access

to the cockpit and access to the stairs

that dictated the size of this room I

could have pushed it that way further

into the hallway because there is just

storage there but I also wanted to

create storage we came up with a size so

we're able to squeeze everything into

really efficiently

[Music]

okay let's talk about how we constructed

this this is a fiberglass skin over a

marine grade poplar veneer that is over

foam and vertical grain fur so what I

did was I started with a vertical grain

fir and I did my layout of the room with

one by two vertical grain and I was able

to insert all those in using epoxy and

stainless pocket screws to hold the

structure together now at this point

this is not what's gonna give the walls

the strength the strength is going to

come with the fiberglass cloth and the

epoxies as we layer it over and blend it

into the cabin top and into the deck so

the next thing we would do after that

was insert a high-density foam and I did

that for a couple reasons

it's nice that you don't push on a thin

three millimeter veneer and be able to

push through it so that high-density

foam makes this feel solid it gives you

sound dampening so this room is very

insulated very quiet it gives you a nice

surface so when I'm bending this veneer

around it doesn't want to dimple in

between the ribs and it worked out

pretty well so the next thing I would do

after the foam was take that thin three

millimeter poplar it was a marine grade

ultralight poplar veneer and I glued it

with wet system with thick and epoxy and

bent it around this entire perimeter I

did just the opposite on the inside I'd

actually do an inside Bend on the inside

so this wall actually Nets out at about

inch and 3/4 thickness

[Music]

[Music]

let's talk about this vanity when adult

this vanity first of all a lot of people

don't realize how long ago I built this

entity it was a long time ago but I

built it using the same construction

methods as I did the walls I started

with the vertical grain fur and framed

out my cabinet box I was unable to put

in the foam core and skinned it with the

ultralight 3 millimeter marine grade

poplar skin I did it loose so I can work

on both sides of this and get the

majority of the Interior glassed before

I permanently affixed it in place then I

was able to wrap glass around this and

blend it into the walls and into the

deck

[Music]

so when we designed the head

my mom she wanted a big counter space so

my dad had to get really creative this

is how you open it there's the head and

this is how you close it

okay let's look at the lighting in here

lighting in a small room it's tough to

get lighting evenly throughout when it

gets dark out but we did a pretty good

job on this I built these lights off

it's one here that's switched right here

we put under counter lighting in and I

built the lights off it in the shower

this one was a little trickier to get

the power to these lights I don't have

to run a 92 foot lead if I wanted to

switch it over here that's a lot of

extra weight so instead I put a

waterproof switch right here and ran

that power lead

through this soffit here and down to the

nearest lighting sub panel right here

you know the downside is I can't switch

it like a normal wall switch like I have

everywhere else in the boat that's the

only switch that is switched differently

it drives me crazy but it saved a lot

away

[Music]

okay let's talk a little bit about the

plumbing in here okay in the shower this

is the scan big Aquafina comes with a

mixer which is nice we actually have

been using this for a couple years and

it works real well the plumbing behind

the scenes here runs behind the

headboard and down over to our hot water

system which is located on the backside

I've had enough room when I push this

wall this way to put a water closet

there the galley see fit faucet with a

scan big thing this is a small sink but

this is a small area it's 10 inches in

diameter but it's 7 inches deep so the

smaller the sink the deeper you want to

go keep water from splashing out now

let's look at some of the plumbing

behind the scenes pretty straightforward

here's a little trick I like to do is

anytime a plumbing runs through a

horizontal surface I'll raise that

surface up that's so if let's say let's

say I develop a little drip here and it

drips down here it contains it in here

without following the hose down to the

next surface down so I could if I see

any water pooling I know I have a

problem in fact I do this every time a

hose goes through a horizontal plane

it's a lot of work up front I even put a

future one in for this lead here so if

any of this plumbing leaks it'll drip

down to this pan here and have to fill

all the way up before it starts going

down to the next Locker down and

hopefully I'll notice that before that

happens now looking out that sink drains

comes through to it through hole fitting

pretty straightforward okay the head we

chose we went with the sexiest head on

the planet the Japs go manual well we

chose it for a reason we could have put

anything in here we could have put

electric we could have put some fancy

toilet in here but you know what we went

with simple and we went with simple for

a reason this head is probably the most

widely sold head on the planet and you

can find parts anywhere we were deep in

Mexico and we're able to find parts to

this real easy and so that's what we got

with it it's not pretty it's not

luxurious

but you know what what you're doing in

it isn't either

[Music]

okay let's look at this wall here and

why I placed it where I did I could have

ran that wall all the way out here and

gained a lot more square footage in that

room but I was able to fit everything in

there that I needed by pushing that wall

to here look what I gained I was able to

put a nice towel Locker

I was able to fit our fresh water system

then by extending that floor it's

looking this longer extended the floor

out quite a ways and what it created was

a locker large enough to put our this is

an electric engine driven hot-water

heater

our manifolds in here for the water

system and all your general plumbing

below even further I was able to tuck

this in here

this door you access through the bottom

step you pull this pin

and there's the holding for that head we

have one more holding tank forward for

the master head

[Music]

[Music]

mirrors in this room are important

because it's a head we installed a

full-length mirror right here

[Music]

and then right here this mirror serves

two purposes it's a mirror and it's a

medicine cabinet

[Music]

pick up this okay now let's talk about

the shower pan when I designed the

shower pan

well actually here's the best way to

demonstrate it this is payback tool in

hang on we're doing a video this is the

best way to describe how a shower works

just trust me I'm not showing a thing

nothing better show we wipe that screen

off okay when I design the shower pan

I built it just like the rest of the

wall I use VG fir and layered the poplar

on and then laminated multiple layers of

glass cloth I deform the shower panel so

everything sloped down to the drain the

bridge deck naturally wants to go

Compass get out of here the bridge deck

naturally is sloped this way so all I

had to do is build up a little bit over

here and over here to drain down it

worked out pretty good don't you say

honey it's getting cold

okay close the curtain I am so gonna get

you back

sorry alright so before we get started I

have a message for teal I'm gonna get

you back for what you did you don't know

when you don't know how what I'm getting

you back so you better sleep with one

eye open mister oh the prank thank you

so much for watching and following our

journey we are getting really close to

setting sail I can almost taste it

almost and remember if you liked the

video give us a thumbs up be sure to

subscribe and if you really liked it

check out our patreon campaign in the

link below come back next week for one

of our awesome videos see you then bye