Topless Dancer Table and Compass

Because Blewtooth is so beamy she has a great little cabin. The settee can be turned into quite a comfortable double bed and the sink/galley arraignment has turned out some pretty good meals. But the one problem has always been where to eat. There is a fold out table of sorts on the port side but I think it was originally meant for charts and only one person could sit there in a very uncomfortable way. Besides it is too close to the main hatch and just isn’t practical. So most meals have always been picnic style.
I had mulled over the idea of buying or building a table for quite a while and finally I came up with a solution.

Blewtooth has what I like to call a topless dancer pole. Here is a picture of it and you can readily see why I call it that. There it is on the right hand side of the picture:

You might notice that it is dead center in the middle of the cabin and is excellent for hanging on to in the rough and I assume that it adds a good deal of structural support to the cabin top. Because of it’s location it stymied my plans to simply purchase and modify some kind of little café table that I could take down and put up as necessary. So, what to do?

I had just gotten the video "Storm Tactics" by Lin and Larry Pardee. Great video! Lots of good information and entertaining. I am now a solid Pardee fan. In it they have what I guess is a second compass mounted on to their topless dancer pole. They had it clamped on and that is what gave me the inspiration to build the table in the same way. I also have an old Airguide compass that I wanted to mount and so I am stealing their idea for the compass as well.

So off to my Dad’s old wood shed I went and rummaged around for something to make it with. I had helped him install a new dishwasher and remember tearing out a plywood shelf that had served for years for pots and pans. It had support rails underneath it that gave me an another idea. I would make it so that I could flip it in both directions; one side to be used for a table and chart table and the flip side could be used for a rough weather dining table. (From my experience, I will probably use that side when on anchor on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to help keep the food in place because of all of the boat wakes. When I'm cruising off shore I probably wont bother to set it up too often)





I used some pine because the oak was adding a lot to the weight. I am not the best wood worker and fitter but I think this will be sufficient. Here are the clamps. I used SS carriage bolts and screws.



And then I put the saw to my last bit of precious teak to make the mounting for the compass


The teak compass mount of course I won’t paint but I guess I’ll have to paint the table. I hate sanding or finishing wood and painting anything. Maybe I could take it to some cabinet shop to have them do it for me or maybe I’ll just sand it up a little and slap some white paint on it. I will think about that later.
Anyway, here it all is mounted on the shinny topless dancer pole.



And compass



And table flipped upside down for rocking and rolling days:



I wish I had a real topless dancer instead. But if I ever do get one I can unbolt this stuff in an instant!

And that is that.



My next project as you can see will be some sewing. (And saving up for a new bimini. I have sewed and patched this old thing a hundred times)

Good Sailing,
Rocko