1. Is the cabin big enough for two adults? I’d ideally like to cruise with my other half (who I don’t mind being cosy with) but also with friends.
2. What are your toilet arrangements? I can’t see anywhere obvious where a porti-potti would go?
3. Is the water ballast noisy when sleeping?
4. How do you cook onboard? I tried to use the search function for this but couldn’t find too many examples.
Thanks everyone!
1. "The cabin is big enough for two adults. But it's small - not small for sleeping but small for living in. If you take the bare minimum and are organised, it works". I agree with Jonno! Fine on my own, when my gear lives in the other half of the cabin, but not fine with wife who is not "naturally inclined towards camping". Imho, the BRe is camping in a small tent, not caravanning/campervanning! Depends on what you're after?
2. Bucket in cockpit. We abandoned our portapotti, as more trouble that it was worth. However our usual sailing areas are all open sea.
3. No noise from water ballast.
IMPORTANT. To be safe and fully effective, ballast should be "solid". Google "stability free surface effect" for detailed explanations.
To attempt to achieve this, i "burp" my tank by standing on the bow, at the stem head, with the fill plug open, and the tank access lid cracked open. Close the filler, while trying to keep the boat bow-down. I then insert an old fender (or maybe two?) So as to press up and overflow the tank. I believe that with its elasticity, the fender bladder will act like a hydraulic accumulator and help to keep the tank "solid". This also means it will be quiet too. Be aware that my fender method does however reduce tank capacity, and therefore "water-weight" and consequent righting moment marginally.
4. We cook on a cheap, semi-disposable, "brief case" type gas stove in the cockpit. Mounted atop an expensive waterproof all-alluminium flight case, modified as a galley box. The stove stores inside the case, this can then overnight outdoors, or is easily left behind in the tender to reduce weight/clutter on picnic-only days out. This setup also means any minor gas leaks are contained within the box, and should not find their way into the bilges.
