While we all talk about the finer points of sail trim, better ways of rigging the boat and other esoteric sailing topics, what many of us hanker for are some simple pleasures afloat. This is especially true of Small Craft Advisor readers as we tend toward smaller and more compact boats. Building in creature comforts takes just a little more effort on our size boats.
The day’s sail might well have been near perfect, but trying to balance food and drink in the narrow confines of a small boat’s cockpit is an exercise in frustration, not counting cooking it in the first place. One sure-fire way to gain cockpit space and room for both cooking and dining is to add a cockpit table.
Our family’s 20-foot Matilda sloop, Ternabout, came equipped with a table for the main cabin. This table was stored inside, underneath the cockpit foot well molding when not in use. Setting up the table was simple; remove it from its storage space, place one end in a bracket on the aft cabin wall and rest the forward end on the edge of the galley.
The table was 22-inches wide and, with it in place, it made going from the cockpit to the v-berth impossible. You had to sit down in the port quarter berth, set the table in place and then sit on the starboard quarter berth. Doing much else but sitting was just about impossible and we soon stopped using the table in its normal place.
The installation of a Tiller-Tamer was the catalyst for developing a new use for the old table. The Tiller-Tamer allows me to lock down the tiller so it doesn’t move, an important prerequisite for a useful cockpit table. The forward end of the table would rest on the end of the tiller while the aft end of the table was supported on the aft edge of the cockpit. The existing table was 22-inches by 2-inches and was made from a piece of ¾-inch thick plywood with laminate on the top side and edges.
If you don’t have an existing table to work with, building one from scratch isn’t that difficult. A piece of marine-grade 3/4-inch plywood or MDO (Medium Density Overlay) will work fine. I like MDO plywood better than regular marine plywood. It is designed for outdoor signs so it has void free interior laminations coupled with a phenolic coating that is ready for epoxy, glue or paint. If you are looking for a little lighter construction, build the table top out of 3/8 plywood and reinforce the edges with wood strips.
StarBoard, the polymer lumber designed for marine use, is another option. It will never require finishing, won’t rot and will never delaminate. On the down side, it will be a little heavier than plywood and certainly more expensive.
If you choose the plywood option, you have several choices for finish. First of all, it should be given several coats of epoxy, especially on the exposed end grain of the edges. Water working its way in here will result in the plywood eventually deteriorating so seal it well. Once that is done, you can paint it or cover it with wood veneer or a laminate such as Formica. Here again the end grain should be covered with narrow strips of wood veneer or laminate. Don’t bother with the bottom side, no one will see it. Just paint it with a good grade of marine paint.
I suggest you then cut some trial rear legs and front supports out of cardboard to get the geometry right. You want the legs long enough to support the table in a level position, and the entire table high enough to easily slide your legs under. You’ll notice that the front support in my pictures has another cleat under the support. I didn’t calculate the height of the support correctly and had to add the cleat to level the table.
With the proper geometry determined, the rear support leg can be cut out. I cut the upper edge of the support leg at a slight angle so the leg would angle back and lock in place. Be sure to finish the leg as well as you did the table top. I fastened the leg to the underside of the table with a short piece of stainless steel piano hinge. I also put a rubber furniture bumper on the bottom of each leg to keep from scratching the gel coat on the transom.
I cut the front support out of a scrap piece of 2 x 4 lumber. The center notch fits the tiller and the ends are curved for a more finished look. If you calculate better than I did, it can be a single piece of wood.
A short piece of 1 x 2 hardwood acts as a cleat to tighten the table support onto the tiller. I used a hanger bolt on each side of the notch to hold the cleat. A hanger bolt has a wood screw thread on one end and a machine screw thread on the other. I drilled pilot holes in the support and then screwed the hanger bolts into the support. If you double-nut the machine thread (tighten one nut against the other) you can easily screw the hanger bolt in place without messing up the threads.
A couple of wing nuts and washers tighten the cleat on the tiller. Be sure and use stainless steel for all the hardware. I also added a screw eye to the leg and the back side of the front support. A short bungee cord keeps the leg folded flat while the table is stowed.
So, after a great day on the water, with enough wind for some spirited sailing but not enough to overwhelm your guest, you ghost into a secluded anchorage with the last of the dying breeze, You drop the anchor off the stern as you drift up to the wooded shore. You get close enough to a tree to past a line around it. Pulling on the stern anchor line, you move the boat back out into the quiet cove away from the shoreline insects.
You tie off the tiller so it doesn’t move and pull out your cockpit table. In a few seconds it’s rigged and you are ready to prepare tonight’s repast. There is room for the stove, the fixing’s and a level place for both of you to enjoy your meal. The perfect end to a fantastic day.
Capt’n Pauley
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