The tag line for our website is "Sharing the lessons we learn on our journey".
Having spent over 3 months onboard last year and over 2 months so far this year, we have learned so much about LADY ROSLYN, what works for us and where we have felt there could be improvements.
We have made a list of a few of the improvements we have made and lessons learned, which we plan to share over the next few posts. Hopefully other Saba 50, as well as Helia and Saona, owners might find some of these ideas useful.
Without further ado, here's our improvement #1 for 2018.
The navigation station on the Saba 50 offers great forward views through the front windows. However, at 56 years old and having lived a very active life, mountain biking, snow skiing and trail running, my back aches if unsupported when sitting down for any length of time.
I love to write this blog from the nav station and it's my go-to place when typing emails or spending time on the computer. However, I found the angled seat, without any back rest particularly uncomfortable when sitting for extended periods.
A chance visit to IKEA, together with us meeting a fantastic canvas and upholstry craftsman in Athens, Greece by the name of Babis Lempesis provided us with a solution which we feels greatly improves this area.
Part 1: We bought an office chair from IKEA called the LANGFJALL (If you are interested, please click Babis' name or the name of the chair, to be taken directly to the respective websites).
We bought the dark grey with black base and black wheels option. This matches the Fountaine Pajot dark grey leather look upholstery we have on LADY ROSLYN perfectly. It has castors so that it can roll easily out of the way, but we have screwed a large cup hook under the VHF speaker and attached a black rubber stretch cord from the hook, around the chair pillar and back to the hook. This way, the chair stays securely in position when no one is sitting there, but still has sufficient spring to allow movement of the chair when sitting down. The castors also allow for easy movement of the chair to gain access to the food storage hatch cut into the floor.
Part 2: We marked the angled cushion with masking tape so that the foam could be cut and cover adjusted by Babis. The cushion is now rectangular in shape, which allows the chair seat to overhang the base but still hides the hatch leading to the airconditioning unit built in below the seating area.
I cannot tell you how much this has improved this area for me. The back support and ability to swivel to look forward out the front windows while underway has vastly improved the seating set-up.
Please note though, that my knees do glance against the vertical panel below the nav station when seated on the chair. I am 1.82 metres tall (nearly 6ft 1") and sit with my legs slightly apart when in the chair. This feels very comfortable, as well as secure, both at anchor and underway.
That's it for today folks. Hopefully you find the information about this improvement useful.
