We’ve lived on our Endeavour 42 (E42) for five days. Slowly, things are finding spots–at least their first spots. We know the concept of what is needed on SV Mach 5 will evolve and our idea of “organized” will change.
What is a v-berth?
A berth is a place to sleep in a yacht or vessel (the V in SV Mach 5). It’s called a v-berth because it is located in the forward part, or bow, of the boat and is shaped like a V. When it isn’t piled full of stuff–when you can actually see the shape of the bed. Not all yachts have a v-berth, our E42 happens to have one. It’s our second cabin/berth/private sleeping place. On land, you’d call it the guest room. (Link to Sailrite’s website to see images of a v-berth.)
So far, we call it the place we stick things we don’t know what to do with. After today’s first phase of organizing, we call the garage.
What’s in ours?
Too much stuff. We downsized so much leaving the land-house and we still need to discard more.
On the starboard (right side), we have Mark’s tools, chemicals, scrap metals, and random wood pieces. We know these things may come in handy, but not sure when. There are so many boat projects ahead that we could use all of these things by the end of 2021. Why discard and have to buy again? Well, because there is no room? Or just deal until the boat projects are done (which is never)?
On the port (left side), we have household items, cleaners, Christiana’s extra tech and journaling items, the Ninja, and sewing bag. We have a brand new full-sized bottle of dish soap. Do we need it today? No. Will we use up the dish soap in the galley and need more? Yes. When we go cruising will we take the Ninja with? Doubtful. But right now, in a marina slip, we could cook with electricity and save on costly propane.
What else is in the v-berth?
We spent 4-5 hours emptying, organizing, and putting things back in the v-berth. A good 2-hours of that time was spent mapping the black water.
The what? ?
Black water. Think the stuff you flush down the magic toilet each day that you hope disappears into oblivion. Septic. Sewer. ?
Yep, the forward head (toilet in the front half of the boat, or guest toilet) dumps into a holding tank that lives under the berth. Yes, the guest room is on top of a septic tank!
Our holding tank is about 40-gallons. We don’t currently do #2 onboard because we are in a marina and it’s just easier. We’ve had the holding tank pumped out once. We do #1 onboard so it’s about 25% filled with urine so far.
The goal of the mapping was to know:
- which hoses go where and their condition
- where the valve for sea vs. tank is
- where the pump to empty the tank at sea is and does it currently work (yes it does and it’s $523 so whew)
- where the vent for the tank and hose are
- where the switch for the pump is (and that one took a long time to find, hiding in plain sight)
Everything looks good today. The bilges under the berth are dry. We have an excellent starting point for future troubleshooting!
Enjoy some pics of before, the salon during the reorg, and after. We have concerned that the items won’t stay while underway. We know this can’t be a long-term solution.
[…] part of the divider found that it had delaminated due to the ingress of water (did you watch the…
That’s a diver that was cleaning the hull.
Who is that guy in the water by Mach 5?
LOL Paul, thanks!
WOOT!
Thank you! I’m still learning the lingo myself.
What an amazing adventure! Physics…. such a pest.
Wow, this is a great start to this journey and story. I really like the mental images of sailing on…
WHOA, that’s quite the adventure! I’m glad you’re learning lots.
Yes to all this. I get the “did it suck? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes.” Vibe here. And hell…
Sounds like an adventure. I don’t understand a lot of the sailing lingo but look forward to following you in…
so much work!
so much work!