450: Lagoon 450 Modifications

[IanClarke]

Hello L450 Owners,
my wife and I have been reading with interest all the threads about the Lagoon 450. Especially the commissioning thread.
We purchased our Lagoon 450 in Sydney Australia. It is hull #40. We are very new to sailing, and luckily for us this boat had it's options selected by someone who knew a lot more than we did. When the boat was on it way to Australia the original purchaser pulled out to buy a larger model. Great for us because we only had to wait about a month for delivery. Even better it was that it was well spec'd and had options that we may not have selected. Now that we have them, we can see why they were selected and would not be without them.

However we all like to customise our homes, in this case our future floating home. We thought that we would start a new thread for people to share their customisations. Maybe even Logoon may monitor this thread, for suggested improvements. We are sure that a lot of others will have good ideas from which we can all benefit.

We will start this one off with a hand rail fitted to the rear. I have included some pictures of what we had made.

Purpose of the modification
======================
These were added mainly to help my wife feel safer and more confident about getting on and off when backed into our marina berth. Her legs are length challanged and often the gap from the marina to he boat, was a large step and she had nothing to grad hold of. At first I did not think it was necessary, (but do not tell her sometimes I catch myself using it as well).
These were made by a craftsman in Sydney, and we feel he did an excelent job. He visitied the boat a couple of times to measure it. It is more complex than it looks as the curves in 3 dimensions. We also had to consider access to the fuel filler on the starboard side and where the holes through the hull are located. If you take a look in the back of your boat, you will see the thickness varies greatly. The holes were located so that the holes when through the thick part, and far enough into the thick part to have a very secure fixing of the rail.

Final summation, my wife absolutely loves them, and is that not all that matters!

[ClearHorizons]

Another modification we did on our Lagoon 450 was the addition of a front step from the front deck to the cabin top. I am quite short and my little legs could not reach up so we inserted a step and rail for me to hold on to.

We had a step inserted between the two front hatches. Then a rail on the mast. The first photo shows the step and the next two are the rail on the mast. The last three photos are the demonstration of me climbing up on the step while using the rail. It works just as well when you descend.

Please see the photos below.

[IanClarke]

My wife is a gourmet cook and loves to entertain. The oven that comes with the 450 is too small for the number of people she often likes to cater. The BBQ was to act as a second oven, which it does. So we purchased the largest BBQ that we could find at the Sydney boat show.

That was the easy part, now I had to solve the problem of where and how to mount it. After much head scratching and consulation with the same stainless steel craftsman that made our excellent hand rails, we came up with this solution.

We used the existing steel loops on the rear, modified the port one a bit and replaced the life lines with stainless steel tubes. The tubes added to the strength of the structure to support the large BBQ. They also have another real benefit. The tubes make a much more comfortable hand rail at the rear of the boat compared to a normal life line.

The BBQ works well. It is out the way for normal sailing and is nicely positioned so that I can sit on the top of the rear seat back support, wine in one hand, the BBQ fork in the other.

The side view of the BBQ shows the rear of the BBQ quite close to the ropes that hold the tender. Initially I was worried that they would get too hot. However this is an excellent BBQ that provides good heat protection. The lower rear of the BBQ hardly gets warm and provides not threat at all to the ropes.

I have included some pictures to show what we did.

Regards Ian

[DavefromNZ]

Thanks Ian and 'Clear', good ideas. Our Lagoon 450 arrives Auckland 9 Feb and I can't wait to get on it and out on the water. Will contribute if we come up with ideas.

Dave

[IanClarke]

Hi Dave,
Glad to see that some more 450's are coming over to this side of the world. A lot of Aussies are picking them up in Europe. Being born in NZ and knowing how inventive the Kiwis are I am expecting some good ideas from you. Enjoy your L450 we certainly are.
Regards

[DavefromNZ]

Thanks Ian,

Did you see the slightly larger bimini we ordered separately? I put pictures on another Lagoon 450 thread.

Cheers
Dave

[ClearHorizons]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for pointing out your other post with the longer binimi - Certainly extending it is a good idea. Are you getting this done in France or NZ? If it is built in NZ, we would be interested in the supplier as it probably wouldn't be much to ship fron NZ to Oz.

We would love to hear from you when you take delivery and how you enjoy your Lagoon.

We would to see other modifications and alterations that Lagoon 450 owners are doing

[DavefromNZ]

Hi Clear Horizons,

The bimini was fabricated in France by an outside supplier. I don't know the details but if you were interested my broker, Yachtfinders Global in Auckland organized it.

Will let you know how the new Lagoon goes in the Hauraki Gulf.

Dave

[Kinch]

Hi,
I got a L450 last July, and brought it from Les Sables-d'Olonne to Barcelona. Beautiful trip. I plan to sail her in the Med for the next 3-4 years, afterwich there could be some farther destinations.
I have a list of modifications I'm done with or planning, and I'm happy to share comments and ideas here.
Here is the list of what I want to modify/install :
- For the dinghy engine manipulation (50 Kg can't be easily carried, espaccialy with a bit of sea), a dedicated crane, next to the solar panel. That's done.
- A set of two bookshelves in the starboard cabin (3 cabins versions) : under way
- A foldable table inside : under way
- A wind generator (D-400 model) : implementation studying
- A diving compressor (smaller Bauer, electric model) : implementation studying
- Half-level small shelved in the 'carré' (I don'k know the english word for the living area), so that I can be more organized.
- 35-40 btls space under the starboard cabin floor, for good wine storage : studying
- Specific media center (small fanless computer + NAS server) cupboard in the starboard cabin, next to the electric panels : under study

I'm searching for a solution for fruit and veggies storage.

The first big disapointment was the impossible connexion between a Navtex blackbox and the Raymarine E120 system and screen, despite what the manual says.

[ClearHorizons]

In response to the query about where to store fruit and vegetables, I bought Tupperware plastic bins with holes on top and line them up in the escape hatch wells - in one hull for vegetables and the other for fruit. Keeps them nicely cool.

[Kinch]

Originally Posted by Kinch

Hi,
- A set of two bookshelves in the starboard cabin (3 cabins versions) : under way

This has just been finished and I got the following photos (I'll go to see it by myself next week, but this seems quite in line with what I asked for :-)

[ClearHorizons]

Kinch,

Absolutely love both sets of shelves. This is a great way to expand storage particularly when you go long term cruising.

[MylesK1]

These are great modifications!

[DavefromNZ]

A few teething issues, however the yacht exceeds my expectations. It is fantastic, and where would I rather be;

[MylesK1]

Dave--that's a stunning photo and my wife and I love the color you selected for the pads.

Just 22 days till I head down to sail to Charleston to sail Forcynthia home to NY. I can't wait!

Her refitting is just about done, although I'm thinking about adding an extra 30amps to handle future additions of appliances.

In late summer I hope to have saved enough for new canvas and an enclosure around the cockpit so we can use the area as an extra room in the winter.

Fair winds,
Myles