Several things I want to say here, firstly thanks again to Dawntreader regarding the removal of the linings forming the forward end of the fore cabin on my B36. I spent yesterday and today onboard my boat where it is laid up for the winter in Beaumaris in North Wales, and I had a closer look at those panels and found one more screw on each that I'd not previously noticed. With the screws now all removed the panels were quite easy to take out, but I was horrified by what I found, more about that later.
For Steven, (K the B) here in the 1st photo below you can see the arrangement for the filling and breather hoses for the forward water tank. The filler connection is fitted into the aft starboard corner of the shelf on which the windlass is mounted, and this allows (just) for the filler cap to fit in that corner, and internally for the filling and vent hoses to connect to the filler cap. It may seem difficult from the earlier conversations, but getting every one of the screws out of those two panels made all the difference. A bit obvious of course, but lighting in the forward part of the forecabin does not exist and the unnoticed screws were just below the inboard edges of the line of cupboards and had not been noticed.
Next point was the cable joints for the windlass wiring. Some of you may remember that after I bought my boat from a yacht charter firm, that two groups of people, all friends and acquainted with each other hired two boats, mine and another owned by the charter firm, and they proceeded to play silly beggars while enjoying a stag party, but at the expense of the charter firms and my boat. The resulting collision damaged the bow of my boat such that the whole bow and chain locker area had to be rebuilt. And in answer to your unspoken question, my boat does not go out on charter any more !!
Once the repair was completed, a yacht surveyor (waste of space) confirmed that the repair had been carried out satisfactorily, and so I paid my money and took the boat home to North Wales.
For the bow and chain locker to be repaired, it would have been necessary for the windlass to be removed to allow access to the inside of the locker, and the shelf on which the windlass stood was partially removed, namely that part of it which projected forward from the sloping aft bulkhead of the chain locker, and this would have required the windlass electric cable joints to be undone so that the windlass could be moved. I had not seen inside the hollow area consisting of that part between the forward linings within the forecabin and the aft bulkhead of the chain locker before because I'd missed those screws referred to earlier and had not been able to remove the linings. So you can imagine my surprise and horror to find that the electric cable connections for driving the windlass had not been insulated after the work that the repairer had done. Indeed the cables were relatively loose and the bare connections were just millimetres apart, see the second photo. This was a fire waiting to be started in anybody's language, and was completely missed by the surveyor who complained when I asked questions of the work he'd done that I was impugning his character and knowledge. Yeah, right !! A repair is not just a rebuilding of what has been broken, but of ensuring that all parts of the repair are put back correctly and that the end result is as safe and as properly done as it should be.
As for that partially removed shelf, well when it was put back, the join was such that after a few years it has separated and hence the need to access the area and to beef up the joint.
The cable connections will also be properly insulated now !!
Good luck Steven with your installation.