Britannia has a large aft cabin and en-suite bathroom, both entered through a walkway down the side of the galley on the starboard side. This cabin is now quite roomy but the original layout was very strange. The bed stretched athwartship the width of the cabin, but entry was severely restricted by a full width deck storage lazarette halfway down the bed with only fifteen inches of headroom under it.

A tiny washbasin had been built on the port side, along with a bulkhead that stretched halfway across the bed. This meant anyone sleeping on that side had to scramble over it all to get in and out of bed, and then somehow sleep under the lazarette. This configuration mystified me, because I have never seen an aft cabin and bathroom with the washbasin installed in the cabin, instead of in the bathroom? How two people could even get in the bed, never mind sleep in it baffled me

In addition, there were small cupboards on either side under the lazarette that were not much use, since they could only be reached by lying on the bed and couldn't even be opened when the bed was made up, because the doors were set too low.

The accommodation had clearly been subordinated by the traditional concept of deck storage lazarettes. These are usually just glory holes on every boat I have seen them on, full of anything and everything. Mine included a propane gas tank lying on its side, that I considered highly dangerous, because if the tank leaked the gas would seep down into the cabin. Both lazarette hatches leaked and the lockers were always swimming in water.

I didn't like the layout when I bought the boat, but I could see the potential for a very nice owner's cabin, with an attached bathroom and bathtub. It just needed remodeling - a bit...
 

The obvious first action was to make it possible for two people to actually sleep side by side in bed, without having to climb over each other to get in and out. This meant completely removing the intrusive lazarettes, but that turned out to be considerably easier said than done, because the lockers were an integral part of the deck molding. It entailed two full days of hard dusty sawing, hacking through multiple thicknesses of plywood and glass fiber with a powerful reciprocating saw, a couple of sharp chisels and a big hammer. Then another couple of days spent trimming the rough cuts and permanently sealing the two deck hatches with resin that stopped the leaks. The area was further opened up by removing the useless little cupboards on either side and at the foot of the bed.

When everything was finally chopped out and I had dismantled the silly little 'un-stainless' wash basin and its cupboard stand it considerably enlarged the cabin and I could see what I had to work with.

I then cut away the bathroom door, complete with its framework and bulkhead, then repositioned it at an angle so a washbasin could be installed inside the bathroom area, like any normal bathroom.

I couldn't do anything about the rudder post and steering quadrant directly beneath the bed, along with its hydraulic autopilot ram. This equipment meant the bed was three feet higher than the cabin sole, which made it difficult to climb in and out of bed. I solved this access by tapering the foot of the new bed I built, allowing room for a bucket seat on each side. This was a nice seat that doubled as a step, making it very easy to get in and out of bed on either side.

The new bed now measures six feet wide at the head, (king size), four feet wide at the foot and over six feet long.

The old bed foam had lost its support, and was horrible to sleep on. Personally I like a soft bed, but my wife likes firmer support, so I bought two commercial air mattresses, like those used in hospitals. Unlike foam they are non-absorptive; lightweight; easy to deflate and remove when necessary, and individually adjustable for firmness. They are five inches thick and kept in place against the tapered sides of the bed framework and in the center with strips of foam.

The mattresses can be inflated and deflated independently from a compressor with twin control buttons to adjust individual firmness. The compressor is 120-volts that works when on shore power and also at sea from the 120 volt inverter. It uses very little current because we hardly ever adjust the pressure. This is now one of the most comfortable beds we have ever slept on, anywhere, on land or sea.

Next, I built the curved seats on each side of the bed, using three laminations of 1/16” inch plywood that was easy to bend round to form the seat backs.

I reused the old cupboard doors to make new lockers that now actually open. I also made shelves and edged them with traditional teak pin rails.

The bedroom had a bank of five large drawers built into the rear of the engine room that I would not normally have touched. However, later I needed a space to install an air conditioner unit for the aft section of the boat. Removing two of these drawers gave me the ideal space, but rather than lose the drawers I incorporated them into the end of the bed. It's quite marvelous what space can be utilized on boats with a bit of ingenuity. In this case I actually gained three square feet to install the AC.

With the removal of the lazarettes the rear of the transom was exposed. I covered this with a sheet of plywood covered with vinyl foam and ran electrics for reading lights and sconce lights behind it, working on both 120 and 12-volts.

A new ceiling was also needed where the lazarettes had been removed. for this I used EverTrue PVC Interior wainscot panels like the rest of the boat. These are 7 1/2” inches wide by 8’ feet long, tongue and grooved plastic panels. They lock together and are easy to screw to the underside of where the lazarette had been. I then trimmed the exposed edge with teak.

The original foam backed vinyl cabin sides had become torn during the dismantling work, so I made cardboard templates and replaced them with Plas-Tex pliable plastic sheets. On the port side I incorporated a locker with a cupboard door to house fifty feet of chain and rope for a stern anchor.

My wife sewed drapes for the four portholes, adding a nice touch of homeliness to the cabin.

In this modification I reused a lot of teak wood left over from other modifications, but it was not always possible to match all the teak faced plywood and the exposed ends. I bought a 4’ foot by 8’ foot sheet of teak veneer and laminated all the exposed edges and the curved seats. The veneer is easily cut with scissors and glued in place with contact adhesive, care is needed to place it correctly the first time. After one coat of clear satin varnish the result is a very pleasing uniform appearance to the whole cabin. This is now a "real stateroom" with space to move and dress, and somewhere to sit if you need a quiet spot.

There was some loss of deck storage after the removal of the lazarettes, including where the propane gas tank was stored. I bought two plastic deck (patio) seat boxes that I fastened to the deck and cut the base out of one to allow the gas bottle to stand upright. This tank is now completely separate from the cabin and any leakage vents into the atmosphere. The capacity of these boxes are only a little less than what the lazarettes had been, and they form nice stern seats.

This was a major modification to the aft cabin that transformed it into a very fine bedroom.