No I am not playing the Erik B and Rakim hip hop anthem "Paid in Full" from 1987 whilst getting funky with my bad self in Nike Jordan's, jeans hanging low so you can see my Calvin's (not a euphemism) and a whole lot of gold and general swag on display (for those unfamiliar with such seminal works of music and have entirely missed the reference, my apologies - read on). I am in fact thinking of the master plan for the barge. This is easier said than done. Being a small space you have to be pretty clever about how you use the space and there will always be a compromise somewhere along the line.

We aren't going to touch the skipper's quarters just yet although there will have to be some work done to incorporate the sewage system, central heating and so on, but essentially this will be a space we can use while we do the work on the main living area. I have been using a piece of software which is free to download and although basic, does give the opportunity to look at how a space will work, adjust sizes and walls etc and it's pretty good. It is called "Sweet Home 3D"and is available on that there t'internet. It has saved me hours of scribbling although I did start with a pencil and paper thrashing out a few basic concepts.

A quick screen shot below shows the basic structure with a plan view which includes accurate dimensions, a 3d view and then at the side you can select items you want to include like doors, fireplaces, bath, sink etc. If you are considering doing something like this then I would recommend having a play with the software - it's pretty easy to use (hell, I can use it, that says a lot for its simplicity) and gives you a good basis for a plan.

This was one of my early stabs at setting out 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and large living area into the area of the main cargo hold. What you can't see if that right at the front running across the bedroom and bathroom is a low shelf of the deck at just below my shoulder height which protrudes in about 1.2m over the head of the bed and the bend of the bath. It's not a total nightmare but isn't great. We also lose a bit of dead space in the companion way heading down to the bathroom. However, this was as good as it got so I thought, "Good enough, I can live with that".

My early attempt and what I considered was a decent layout. Just the toilet thing was causing me concern...

However, something has been nagging at me (not the girlfriend) and that is the positioning of the biodigester sewage system. For the uninitiated, when you poop, normally in boats it gets pumped into a big tank where it waits until you visit a sewage outlet on a marina, pay your £6 to £12 fee and then stick an enormous hosepipe into a hole in your hull and suck all the "black" water out and it goes to a land based sewage farm. "Not for me" I thought, "I shall not be a slave to the mighty poop sucking machine, I shall find a solution to treat my own faecal matter...". Enter the Headflusher AT-6T biodigester. No doubt much more on this in the future but essentially a 3 chambered plastic box which bubbles air continuously through the black water encouraging naturally occurring bacteria to feast on all that loveliness until it comes out the other end as pretty much clear water which can be safely vented over the side. There are lots of rules and regs about this but that's for a very tedious blog post when I feel like punishing my dear readers.

Anyway, back to the positioning of the sewage system. I could have put it in the bow (out of the way, close to one toilet) but the problem is the other toilet in the skipper's cabin. I'd have to pump my dump about 20 metres against the lie of the boat (she sits bum down due to the 7 tonnes of iron in the engine room) and there isn't enough space in the engine room. I thought about putting it under the floor under the kitchen but if there were any mishaps that would be horrendous. This has been bugging me for some time....

So today I decided to go back to the drawing board and move stuff around. The end result is below:

Although the smaller bedroom has 2 beds in it, I suspect it will only be one and tucked away in a little cubby hole of its own under the deck level. We have gained the dead space from the companionway back but not sacrificed much else. The only downside I can see is that the bathroom is not directly accessible from the bedrooms, meaning an awkward walk from the bedrooms to the bathroom. The big advantage from my perspective is that the bathroom is now much closer to where the final position will be of the sewage treatment system. This will be located underneath the steel floor of the skipper's cabin with the aerator pump in the engine room in an acoustic housing. This means one toilet empties almost directly into the sewage system and the other has only an 8'-10' distance to travel with the natural fall of the barge. It also means if there is a catastrophic failure with the sewage system, it will drain into the bilge where the prop shaft is and not anywhere close to the living area. We have put a door in between the main living area and the stairs to stop any major losses of heat to the wheelhouse and just in case there is a curry/real ale boys night out, it will stop any gaseous effects reaching the living area.

Overall I think this is a better use of space with only minor compromises. I'd be interested in people's thoughts (and also to see if the Disqus system is working on the blog!).