Once the kickboard was glassed in, and having dry fit the fronts, glassing the vanity side front on was an easy task. I wont be glassing the toilet side until the toilet arrives, as it will need to be cut into the front before it gets glassed in, and probably some form of base made for the toilet to sit on. For now, the toilet side kickboard and front is just dry fit and sitting in place. Its a relatively quick job to glass them in notwithstanding the job of fitting the toilet. So with the vanity side front glassed in, next job is the double curve. Thats right, you heard me, the double curve. Like I said, as if having a curved front isnt enough, and different heights on each side still isnt enough, and different heights within each cabinet still doesnt do it, the vanity needs a double curve, that is, the front goes into an S curve on the bottom half but at the point where the vanity cupboard must end to make way for the escape hatch void, I need to curve the front at 90 degrees to form the vanity cupboard side wall. I toyed with the idea of molding this as one panel but it all got too hard to figure and I decided that I could much more easily glue and glass a different piece to the top of half of the already made S bend part. And it also became apparent that making the top part from a flat kerfed panel would be much easier than trying to mold it.

And this part was made oversize so that it could be trimmed to level. Its easier to worry about that later as there are enough angles and joins to worry about without having to ensure its all level too. You can see the level line in the pictures. A really easy task to trim it to level later. Then once it all dry fit to shape, next job was to glass the 2 parts to each other and fair out the glass line and curve. To ensure the join was tight and flush I pulled it together with clear plastic taped tabs and screws and as I did with the bogging of the fronts I took them out when the glass was 3/4 set and bogged the front (The inside does not need bog, it just needs to not have sharp edges to catch fingers on). And once the bog set I faired it and dry fit it again to be sure, before marking out the door position, cutting it out, de-coring both edges (the doorway and the door) and back filling them. This meant another days wait before I could sand the edges smooth and finally glassing the vanity front into the boat.

While I had the last dry fit to set the 2 panel halves to each other I had the opportunity to measure for the top. I always make them a little oversize so I can trim back, but they dont usually have 2 face edges. I can still trim along 2 sides so I made up the top. I make all the tops to be double thickness, or 30mm. Mdf or chipboard (usually melamine coated) that house kitchens are made from is 16mm, then they make tops out of a 16mm sheet and along the edges they glue another thickness. This is even true of granite bench tops. It saves on material, weight and also adds a little interior volume. You dont need a full double thickness top so this is how they are made. I do the same but I have to de=core the double thickness front and back fill. So with double curve front done. Door cut in. Top made. The moment of truth. The dry fit where I finally get to see (and show) what has been in my mind for well over a year. And I couldn’t be happier. Every now and then you finish something you just stare at for a while and feel a sense of satisfaction that what you have done is beautiful. But before we get to that, I made one slight measure mistake when setting the through bathroom floor pipes, and one of them came through (salt water in for watermaker) too far foward and smack through the kickboard. It is only visible as a bump in the corner of the kickboard and no big deal, but its there, and it annoys the hell out of me. But its too much work to fix.

I really like the way this cupboard has worked. And it will look all the better when the other side is also all in place. But for now I am admiring what I have been able to achieve. This material is really such a joy to work with. I am nowhere near a skilled as the finished product allows me to pretend I am. I have included the finish of the curved port stairwell cupboard. It was finished in late April and got missed from that blog, but I include it here to show another curved panel that I was able to produce with my limited skill to show what is possible with a little care and effort. The top is not glassed on that cupboard, it will be hinged because the stop cock for the grey holding tank is inside it and needs access. In the end there was not enough room inside the toilet cabinet, where the stopcock was going to be so luckily I had not glassed the top on (I had previously decided that having access to the hose going to the tank might be a good idea in case it ever needs replacing, doubt it ever will but in the end it worked out).

The smaller top will eventually be upholstered and that will form a seat for sitting on, or kneeling on to look through the escape hatch. The top of the opposite cupboard will also be removable but will be a bench top and not also a padded seat, although I had considered it. But I think Jo might like to have some decorative features such as a soap bowl or candles or other feminine touches. Hopefully I will have the toilet side done before the end of the month.