The Ballad Exchange

Does anybody know what the white plastic thing between the top of the large bulkhead and the underside of the deck is called? I'm looking to replace mine. Any suggestions of what material to use are very much welcome

I replaced mine with Vinyl Welting which I found in a shop that makes awnings, boat tops, etc. Make sure to use stainless steel staples or tacks to fasten it (they are hidden between the bulkhead and the cabin top), not like the ones Albin used that rusted away.

Why they didn't use brass tacks, I have no idea. The heads were all rusted away, but the nails themselves were quite resistant to pulling out! We're planning to skip the vinyl trim, mostly for aesthetic reasons. We're also re-shaping the header itself, to follow the curve of the cabin top (and provide more headroom). For a boat with such elegant outside curves, the interior is rather angular and graceless. I'll try to post a photo tomorrow of the new bulkhead arch. I feel it's an improvement to the original.

prjacobs wrote:I replaced mine with Vinyl Welting which I found in a shop that makes awnings, boat tops, etc. Make sure to use stainless steel staples or tacks to fasten it (they are hidden between the bulkhead and the cabin top), not like the ones Albin used that rusted away.

Thanks, that was exactly what I was looking for. I'm fast running out of items on the "oh my, what to do or where to purchase such an item"-list

Bob McGovern wrote:Why they didn't use brass tacks, I have no idea. The heads were all rusted away, but the nails themselves were quite resistant to pulling out! We're planning to skip the vinyl trim, mostly for aesthetic reasons. We're also re-shaping the header itself, to follow the curve of the cabin top (and provide more headroom). For a boat with such elegant outside curves, the interior is rather angular and graceless. I'll try to post a photo tomorrow of the new bulkhead arch. I feel it's an improvement to the original.

Looking forward to seeing your bulkhead arch I'm going to "refurbish" the old one in order to keep the scope (and price) of the project to a minimum. I would really love to go sailing next summer

Still some refining & transitions to smooth out, but this is the idea. There will also be some extra structure added to the back; but this isn't the Vega, with its compression arch. All the header does on the Ballad is prevent the bulkhead halves from flexing toward each other at the top. In fact, the only thing tying the deck to the header on our boat was one screw thru the mast collar, piercing maybe 2cm into the wood (and leaking, of course). So the header doesn't really carry any beam loads; no need for it to be boring.

We like the bright and organic interiors of Hallberg-Rassy; curvy bits blend saloon elements & make the interior feel bigger.



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