TOM BENN
TOM BENN TOM BENN
CRAFTSMANSHIP
“Previous renovations had left a jumble of ill-fitting joinery requiring many repairs to fit fair”
The partition separating the saloon from the fo’c’s’le was lined with pitch pine on the forward side, pine often being chosen for the crew’s quarters. The joinery of this area included lockers for the crew with mahogany seat tops, the cupboard and plate racks of the galley and a top-loading locker marked ‘Bin’ on Patna’s 1920 plan. This had been used for a Calor gas bottle to supply a floor-standing full-sized kitchen cooker, its use somewhat obstructed by the fo’c’sle ladder in front of it. A pipe also led the anchor chain below the cooker, necessitating feeding by hand in order to stow the cable. This awkward arrangement was potentially dangerous, particularly with regard to the gas stowage. However, Fred Lockwood, previous owner and Professor of Combustion(!), maintained this system successfully for many years by incorporating a gas alarm. We put a top-loading fridge in the bin locker and replaced the cooker with a smaller, gimballed Taylor’s 041 gas stove, supplied from a pair of Calor bottles hidden in an old water breaker on deck aft of the mast. In the space released we built a self-feeding chain box directly below the chain pipe and hydraulic anchor winch, a superb facility for short-handed cruising. A small cupboard was formed around the winch motor under the deckhead with space for food jars etc, and we made a teak sink and draining board. While dismantling the interior, we found that all the adjoining edges of framed panel sections etc were lined with fine felt. This was to prevent squeaks and needed replacing before fitting the panelling, seats, bunks and cupboards. Patna’s electric lighting, possibly original or at least from 1929, included miniature crystal, cut-glass globes, still there but in a parlous condition, needing considerable restoration work. Kathy Swatman from the
yard scrupulously painted the deckhead after dozens of cove mouldings had been sanded clean and pinned back around the deck beams. The saloon and stateroom were French polished, but the companionway, lobby areas and heads were treated with ten coats of varnish. Most of the 30 doors to cabins and lockers below required shaving, shimming and renewal of hinges due to metal fatigue.
PUMPS AND PLUMBING Prior to the reinstallation of the Blakes Victory WC, restoration included serious descaling, the 2in outlet pipe having become restricted down to a ¾in bore. We also made a lead-lined shower tray under a grating, draining into a sump, as well as splitting the WC outlet to a waste tank installed under the lobby sole for use if necessary. A diesel tank was sited below the sole bearers in the stateroom, with a space aft (at the lowest point of the keel) for the suction pipes of the big hand-cranked deck pump, a cockpit hand pump, the engine-mounted bilge pump and a small automated electric pump. Where the previous engine protruded into the stateroom, we built a little semi-circular washstand cupboard with three removable steps to one side, allowing access to the engine compartment behind and passage up to the deckhouse through a pair of doors, with a mahogany slide above doubling as a chart table when closed. Keeping the profile low on deck, seats on either side of the deckhouse allow an eye-level match with the surrounding windows, as well as giving access to the touch-screen chart plotter, radio and Navtex. These are sited forward in the deckhouse, yet can be easily seen from the cockpit when sailing.
Next month: A bit of history CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2012 87
Main picture: The forepeak, looking aft, with the crew’s pipe-cots and the new galley Above left: The curved staircase Above right: The new washbasin
Below: Original switch panel and a seriously scaled- up waste pipe
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