A blank canvas

[GILow]

Well, more of a blank fibreglass than a blank canvas...

I pulled out the MONSTER speaker system above the port settee to get to a leak that was threatening to dissolve the chainplate bolts. OK, so the hi-fi purists would tell me I should have let the mast fall over, but I have strange priorities. But the purists need not worry, I have a nice small set of Tannoy's to put in their place.

Now I am a bit undecided on how to refit this part of the boat. I have an area that is 2 meters wide, about 450mm high to the underside of the deck beams, and around 300mm deep front to back. As you can see from the photo there is an opening porthole near the middle, but not centralised, and a small amount of wiring, most of which is obsolete and in the process of being removed, but some of which is new and a bit important (port cabin light and port running light). There is a similar sized area on the starboard side that currently incorporates a CD rack and some pretty darn funky glasses cabinets. Sadly, they are all finished in a vinyl wood wrap that clashes with the genuine timber on the table and kitchen benches, so they will all go too.

The boat has a pretty decent timber fitout, and I am no slouch when it comes to timberwork, so I feel some kind of timber shelving is the way to go. I have looked at lots of boats for sale, and so far I have really liked the fitout on the Westerly Sealord, and was wondering if I should do something similar.

BUT, there is a practical consideration, we hope to use the boat for extended coastal cruising, and although we have good storage space, it would be crazy to install something that was all about appearance but held very little in the way of useful STUFF.

So, if you had this space, what would you do with it? Photos if you have them would really help.

Matt