While Tigris (ex Tripletime) was out of the water for its annual antifouling in 1999, I removed the two units of wooden deck slats that are normally located behind the front mast between main beams 1 and 2. These are supported and bolted to four cross bars as per the design with their ends fitting into slots in three longitudinal support webs located between the two beams. Removing the slats with the attached cross bars and the central support web left an open space in the bridge deck measuring 2.0 X 1.37 m, which is a reasonable size for a small cabin. I then placed four new cross bars across this space to fit into the slots as above. Two pieces of 9 mm marine ply (each approx. 2 X 0.6 m leaving a gap of about 170 mm down the middle between the two halves) were screwed down to these bars to make a firm base for the pod. This base was then removed, and taken home on my car's roof racks (the slats were replaced on the bridge deck of the yacht so I could continue sailing). The real work of building the pod now commenced in the comparative comfort of my house's courtyard.

My design of the pod is shown in the plans. I went for the boxy look, mainly to match the rest of the yacht, but also to make construction simple. I first added solid wooden sides (18 X 90 mm) to give some rigidity to the base (glued with thickened epoxy only), then removed all the screws from the cross bars (one bar at a time). After gluing each bar to the ply base with epoxy, I screwed the screws back in to hold the bars in place. When the glue had set, all the screws were removed and the screw holes filled with epoxy. The base was then turned over and the footwell and locker constructed using 9 mm ply, thickened epoxy and copper stitches (no screws were used in any of the following construction). A keel-like strengthener was glued to the bottom of the footwell, and two central pads added for supporting the front and rear ends of the pod (corresponding supports were already on main beams 1 and 2 as per Wharram's design for holding the central support web in position). All joins were filleted with thickened epoxy, then taped with 6 oz fibreglass cloth.

Afterwards, the whole bottom was glassed with 6 oz cloth. Upon filling and sanding (and filling and sanding and......), the bottom was sprayed with two part undercoat and then turned over. Those portions of the cross bars and ply over the footwell area were then cut with a jigsaw and removed, and construction of the cabin's sides and roof commenced (the internal surfaces of the footwell and locker were first filleted, taped and then glassed). All external sides of the 9 mm ply panels for the cabin sides were glassed with one coat of 6 oz cloth before fitting, but leaving a wide unglassed margin along all borders to be taped with glass later. The internal sides were given two coats of epoxy. After gluing in place (making use of numerous clamps as well as copper stitches), the internal joins were filleted and taped with 6 oz cloth. The external joins were then taped with glass. Ply vertical supports (150 X 9 mm) were added to the middle of each internal side to strengthen the cabin walls. Also the opening in the rear bulkhead was strengthened by adding solid wooden supports, to be later used as slides for holding the wash boards in position. Finally the cabin inside and out was faired, and then sprayed with two coats of two part undercoat, followed by two coats of two part polyurethane paint. Spraying the inside of the pod was an especially difficult job and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy (or my mother-in-law). Fortunately I was wearing a full spraying mask connected to the blower hole on a new barrel vacuum cleaner by a very long hose, which worked extremely well for a home made contraption, producing dry clean air.

The hatch unit with its sliding perspex cover was then screwed into place (so it can be later removed if the seals need replacing). This new design of mine works beautifully and has not allowed one drop of water into the cabin, which must be a world's first for a sliding hatch (the hatches on the other cabins, as per Wharram's design, leak something fierce in storm conditions at sea).

The pod was then placed on a standard box trailer and returned to my cat, which was again out of the water for its annual antifouling (yes! the pod took me a year to build and fit out). The pod was lifted into position using the halyard block on the front mast, and then after a few minor modifications, the pod was dropped into place. After it was fastened in place with rope tie-downs (as the deck slats had been), I drilled a hole centrally through the front main beam into the front of the cabin and a similar hole through the second main beam into the rear of the cabin. After sealing the holes with epoxy, and re-drilling a slightly smaller diameter, I placed a 16 mm stainless steel bolt in each hole, thus bolting the pod on its central axis to the two beams. Even though the pod is fully supported on four sides by the wooden support webs and central blocks on the two main beams as designed for the slat units, it is further supported by the bolts around which it can rotate when the rope tie-downs stretch. So far it has worked perfectly (well at least in winds to 30 knots).

The yacht sails very well, and is not affected by the small additional weight forward (I built the pod using gaboon ply and white meranti), or the additional windage. The foot of the sail drags a little across the top of the pod, but this doesn't affect its tacking ability (I plan to raise the mast slightly to overcome this). The bottom of the footwell is about 600 mm above the water so pounding is not a problem. The view from inside the pod is exceptional, and when the sea conditions are rough, it provides a fantastic shelter for navigating, resting or just a chat with the crew.