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For a number of years now we've been putting our secondary cold storage (read cooler and ice packs) underneath the dining table on our and have cursed every time we maneuvered around the factory leg to access it!
I thought up this mod to not only get around that, but to provide a grab-rail for my Admiral (and others) who needed it, and also averting breaking the table when things went wrong. The only thing I did was to drill a hole (plug-able) through the surface and thusly re-locating the original leg position somewhat forward by six inches or so.
Under clearance is in a happy place:
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l52 ... hsflns.jpg
I used my redundant rudder link-bar cut down and fitted with a threaded slug) as the grab rail.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l52 ... jzhrwv.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l52 ... gkkoog.jpg
Attached to an upsized SS machine screw located in the sliding cabin hatch topside rail
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l52 ... scigex.jpg
The nut attaching the original screw will be located behind the removable plug in the ceiling above the table. Make sure you use washers and nylocks on both sides, as well as some 3M type compound to seal things up again,
This is much more robust than the factory effort and the table is not being prevented from its alternate purpose of turning into an extra bed.

Ross

I THINK YOU JUST GAVE ME AN IDEA ON HOW TO GIMBAL THE TABLE!

Good job Crikey this looks great! I may have to do this mod myself once I have a new table (and a complete interior ) made for the 222
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Our Venture 222 Restoration Blog

I still need to install two bungee hooks against the side liner. That heavy cooler is going to head south in a blow.
I'll put up some pic's soon.

R.

Hi Ross
Very interesting mod , what do u do with the support bar when the table is used as a bunk ?

J

The bar just unscrews from the upper bolt which stays put with a nylock and large washer hidden behind the interior liner. The original smaller bolt had a second nylock concealed under the actual hatch rail which I dispensed with. It bamboozled me for a while when I2 couldn't push it out to replace with the bigger (1/4") bolt. I was going to use some other pipe but the rudder link bar was solid and nicely chromed as well as SS and I had no further use for it after my hydraulic installation.
When was tthe last time you slept six on your boat?

I'd still like to do a table border and center cutout on it.

R.

That pole is right in the place I am always looking for something to grab onto when walking below when we are out in the ocean. It would be nice to have something to hold so I don't tip over while I am trying to mix my drink. My little table has edges and the dry bar holds cups and bottles for you when you pour but it seems like the minute I open the rum bottle to pour some out into my glass of cola a big swell always comes along and tries to make me tip over or spill my rum. I know the sea gods want rum too - and I make my offering on a regular basis but sometimes they want more. That grab handle could save a lot of rum.

I could probably hang on it if I wanted to BOAT. The table is now also much stronger!

The compression post is one of the reasons the table makes the best berth in the . It's just about as convenient as a grab bar as a post at the midpoint of the table, since it's just about at the midpoint of the table, but outside the perimeter.

Tomfoolery wrote:The compression post is one of the reasons the table makes the best berth in the . It's just about as convenient as a grab bar as a post at the midpoint of the table, since it's just about at the midpoint of the table, but outside the perimeter.

Yes, I rather liked Rogers experiment on the X - the first boat with no bulkheads. It makes the boat really roomy inside. The stainless poles supporting the decks substitute for the places where most traditional boats would have a bulkhead to support the deck. They make great grab handles. I am thinking of removing the bulkhead between the head and the forward berth and putting in a bar there. I like to have the forward hatch open for air when I am on the head and the way the door is set up kind of defeats that.



My table is different than the way yours is. Mine does not make a berth - it only folds down to make a couch for more seating.

Boat,
Nice table. If I read you right you want to replace the forward bulkhead with a post for deck support. My boat has not had either bulkhead in the two years I've had it, the PO took them out. I haven't noticed any deck flexing. I don't think they're structural. I'm also wondering where you got the shades, and do they retract?

Lee Ward wrote:Boat,
Nice table. If I read you right you want to replace the forward bulkhead with a post for deck support. My boat has not had either bulkhead in the two years I've had it, the PO took them out. I haven't noticed any deck flexing. I don't think they're structural. I'm also wondering where you got the shades, and do they retract?

Yeah, they retract:



The shades are made by Ocean Aire - they are real common on Benneteau boats and Airstream trailers.

So you have no forward bulkhead separating the forward berth from the head? That's really important fact there - I have been asking people on this site about that for over two years and no one has been able to give me a definitive on that structural question. I would really like to just make the entire forward section all part of the head so my wife has a private place to do her girl stuff and whatever. I was going to alter the door to close off all the way across instead of only closing off the head part.

So you don't think that I will notice any difference up on top of the deck?

Hey Guys! Lee Ward from Oklahoma has valuable information on the forward bulkhead! What questions do I need to ask here??! Can I remove that wall?? (Hey Lee, are there any tornadoes over there? - they keep telling us on the news that the tornadoes are coming to Oklahoma). Thanks for the info!

It's the wall in this picture - the one closest to the front - see how it gets in the way?

I'm pretty sure that the daggerboard trunk is providing all the structural support. I don't think there is flexing going on at all. It wouldn't make sense to make the bulkhead support the liner which would then have to support the deck with those thin corrugations of glass in between. Where did yo get those shades? Edit: saw the source for the shades. Edit again! Holy cow are they really 50 bucks apiece?!

Lee Ward wrote:I'm pretty sure that the daggerboard trunk is providing all the structural support. I don't think there is flexing going on at all. It wouldn't make sense to make the bulkhead support the liner which would then have to support the deck with those thin corrugations of glass in between. Where did yo get those shades?

You get them at the ZARCOR Store - you know, that guy that invented those funny drink holders:



http://www.zarcor.com/index.php

So have you walked around up there and tried to get the deck to flex? Is it still really strong? I think when a MAC26 has only two people like 'boat' does it is not necessary to have the head closed up so small - we do not berth guests in the forward section so I can dedicate that all to head space. Sometimes I go up there to take a nap - that's about it.

Every boat I've ever seen has always closed off that forward section - even the ones with the poles in the cabin (like the X boat uses).

I,m thinking the dagger board trunk is already supporting the deck above , because the port side does not have any bulkhead or extra support it,s already wide open

I think another option is to have the front bulkhead made into three bi-foldable doors that could fold up to the S/B side or cut that bulkhead in half & put it on tracks to slide across to the port side

the mirrored bulkhead could be cut in half horizontally & fold back down into the head & raised when needed for privacy in the head or the top half could be left down @ night & install a set of horizontal blinds like these will allow ventilation & privacy in the head
http://i5.walmartimages.ca/images/Large ... 221898.jpg

Now a real fast & easy mod would be to leave the bulkheads in place cut out a door in the front bulkhead that would allow it to fold down flush with the V-Berth deck or two doors one folding down & the top one folding up this could also work on the mirrored bulkhead

make cardboard bulkheads cut them out & try it

J