{"id":6354,"date":"2016-11-28T12:21:13","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T17:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=6354"},"modified":"2016-12-09T17:03:52","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T22:03:52","slug":"how-may-does-pandora-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=6354","title":{"rendered":"How many does Pandora sleep?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems that one of the first things that most “non-boaters” ask about Pandora is “how many does she sleep?”, a question that was always an\u00a0odd one to me and yet a question that only seems to apply to boats.<\/p>\n

To that point, when someone asks about our home, they never ask “how many sleep in your house?”. \u00a0Why is that?<\/p>\n

I guess that the same sort of question applies to size as inevitably, the next question is “how big is your boat?”. \u00a0 My answer is always “well, that depends how far from the dock we are. \u00a0When we are close, she seems huge. \u00a0Far out to sea when it’s rough, very tiny indeed.” \u00a0Funny as nobody ever says, “how big is your house?”<\/p>\n

Anyway, the point of the title of this post is, sort of, related to how many Pandora sleeps. \u00a0 Brenda’s answer is always the same when that question comes up. “six for cocktails, four for dinner and two sleep on board.” \u00a0That works well for us as most of our cruising friends have their own boats and even at 47′, Pandora’s not much larger than a normal sized bathroom in a house.<\/p>\n

Related to the sleeping question is how many eat on board and while we have a generous dining table down below,we usually prefer to eat out in the cockpit. \u00a0However, unlike “old” Pandora where we had a good size dining table in the cockpit, “new” Pandora, not so much. \u00a0Her table is fine for two but if we are going to live up to Brenda’s saying, we’d have to use salad plates and sit WAY TO CLOSE TO OUR GUESTS as the table is just too small. \u00a0 It looks lovely all set for dinner but, alas, only for two. \u00a0 Yes, I realize that this isn’t dinner but you get the idea.\"5-27-15a-011\"So the question was how to enlarge the table and yet have it still fold down like the one that came with the boat?\u00a0 \u00a0My solution was to put on some sort of extension, a sort of “leaf” like a “land-home” table might have. \u00a0The question was how to do it.<\/p>\n

I decided to increase the length of the table by 18″ for a total length of 3 1\/2′ and design it in a way that could be slid on and removed easily. \u00a0 I am using\u00a0teak to match the “already aboard Pandora” table. \u00a0The wood alone, while only a single board, set me back $150 (that’s .15 of a boat dollar). \u00a0No room for mistakes.\u00a0\"11-28-16a-016\"Next I had to include\u00a0fiddles, like the “old” table, \u00a0to keep things from sliding around when the table is in the closed position, say for cocktails when we have the “six for cocktails” thing going on. \u00a0This is what it will look like, sort of, in a deployed but “closed” cocktail position. \u00a0There will be a slide bracket on the back to keep the two sections aligned and secured to each other.\u00a0\"11-28-16a-015\"There will be two tapered legs to support what will be a long table. \u00a0We don’t want a guest to lean on the suspended end after “one too many” and bring the whole thing crashing to the deck. \u00a0Making the tapered legs was a bit challenging using a shop-built jig. \u00a0 This is a shot of the jig and “blank” of the soon to be tapered leg.\u00a0\"11-28-16a-012\"Here’s one of the two roughed out legs. \u00a0 They taper from about 1 1\/4″ at the top to a bit over 1\/2″ at the bottom. \u00a0Magic, a tapered leg! \u00a0A fitting will go in the top of the leg that will allow me to screw it into the bottom of the table to support the extra length.\u00a0\"11-28-16a-013\"Curious about how to make such a jig or how to use it? This four minute video shows how to make a jig and after that, if you just have to know how to actually use the jig, a second short video will come up.