Around the Salon

If an image has a rollover image we will indicate it with Rollover
One of the main features of the Cobra 850 is the large amount of locker space

We are going to look around the salon area and lockers. There is a lot to see here so come back again to let it all sink in.
B is where the binoculars live. Also on this shelf lives the leg for the table and the flag we will see them again later.
The cupboard A is where we keep the cool box. It is powered and will keep your butter and beer cool. Rollover The shelf A inside is where the winch handles live. Also on the shelf in there is a bilge pump handle.

In the centre of the radio panel is a switch panel Rollover you will see the cool box switch at the bottom of the panel with a small green flashing light.
This is because the cool box is quite power hungry and it would not be a good idea to leave it running indefinitely as it would flatten your battery.
The green flashing light is just to remind you that the box is switched on.
We are in the habit of switching the cool box on when the engine is running and off when it isn't running. Build this routine into your engine routine and you will be fine.

While we are here notice there are three switch panels, top right, centre, and off to the left of the shelf, knobs just visible. We will cover them in more detail later.

Left to right. F in the box shelf in the steps we have a fire extinguisher, reefing ties, a dedicated preventer for down wind sailing, a can of WD40, don't ask why it just lives there it is very handy stuff.
G the controller for the heating covered later.
E under the white flap is one of two bilge pumps the handle for this one in a clip to the left. the other bilge pump is out in the cockpit just above F in this picture, the handle for it remember was in the cool box locker shelf A.

B the bosun's locker this is where you will find tools, spares, bosun's chair, oil, bits of rope and string, in fact everything for fixing things.
D we keep all the life jackets and safety lines in this locker.
C in this locker we keep gadgets, fog horns, auto pilot, batteries, hand-held radio, etc.
A Under the cushion is a large locker capable of taking two large hold alls. there is also a lee cloth in here. You can rig it to eyelets in the shelf above to prevent sleeping crew falling of the bunk.

Just to get your bearings 9 is A from the previous picture .
4&3 are the table leg and flag we mentioned earlier on the same self as the binoculars. 2 this was not our idea but works well so why change it. It is making use of two of the eyelets we mentioned for rigging the lee cloth in 9.
10 is a light. You turn it on by turning the plastic lens left or right for on/off. It will come off in your hand at some time just fiddle it back in. If we get the funds later in the year we may replace this type of light.
1 is the standard carrier bag waste bin hung on the handle of the cabin door.
5&6 have the same characteristics as the open lockers to their left. 5 we use for light stuff, snacks such as biscuits, crisps, choc bars, stuff you want readily available.

6 we use for bigger heavier food stuffs and cereal boxes, cans. It is a deep locker so things that only get dragged out for main meals.
7 this is one of three first-aid kits onboard. There will be a small one in the open locker/shelf below 4 and a specialist one in the locker below the nav seat. The specialist kit costs £50 and if you open it for one sea sickness pill it will need to be replaced at a cost of £50. So unless someone is having a baby or needs a limb amputating please use the small kit first then the kit 7 before the specialist kit.
A word about the open lockers here. The top one normally is home to books and the small first aid kit but tends to collect general stuff too as does any open shelf at home. The deeper locker below has the washboards in this picture but they don't normally live there. It's a great locker for general use.

8 below the cushion here is a locker with the heads sea cocks in it.
Because no one seems to like using a locker with heads sea cocks in, we store some big boat gear in it. There is a large cylindrical radar reflector. If you wanted to deploy it, haul it aloft with a spinnaker halyard attaching the bottom of it to the D bracket for the spare forestay just by the anchor locker.
Also in here is the spare kedge anchor if you need another anchor or loose the main anchor.

The heads are behind the bulkhead behind 8

B we mention the locker under the fore peak bunk here because it has a bearing on the water system, the water pump lives in there.
A the hanging locker, the bottom half is a good place for wellies.
Fb Fire blanket, there are a number of clothes pegs living on the straps from the fire blanket. Above Fb is a fire extinguisher.
T this is the tap for the sink, don't use the pump on the actual tap X the tap can be swiveled to either sink, but because we have pressure water using the pump X will only damage it.

C this is a safety strap for anyone using the sink or cooker in rough weather. It fastens around the wood post of the nav table p to the right of the cooker.
4 the sink bowls occupy much of this cupboard but it is useful for storing the carrier bags for the waste bin. There are two sea cocks for the sink in here too but they discharge well above sea level.
1 this is the cutlery drawer, knives, forks, etc. Corkscrew cheese grater, can opener, and so it goes.
3&2 are joined as one locker and we tend to keep bottled water and heavy stuff down here cans of drink etc.
There is another locker under the cooker you can just see the top of it here. All the pans are kept in here.
7 is the cooker no explanation other than you need to hold the knobs in when you light it until the flame sensor has got hot.

7a the cooker is gimbaled and swings free when the boat is at sea. The oven door opens out and down, but that unbalances the oven tipping all your oven contents onto the salon floor. To prevent this a simple chain arrangement at 7a which you can lengthen or shorten to stop the swinging of the cooker solves the problem of the tipping cooker.
Below 6 and behind the cooker is a large locker accessed through the work top. This locker is great for bulk heavy stuff like spuds, vegetables, etc.
Locker 5 is for tea, coffee, sugar, jars of jam, sauces etc. Matches, salt, pepper. You get the drift.

1 Fire extinguisher. 2 Not immediately obvious, but the pear shaped cover to the right of 2 slides up to reveal a hole to the engine compartment. If you look at the bottom right of the picture above this one you will see a large fire extinguisher with a hose attachment. This hose you shove in the hole behind 2 if you suspect fire in the engine compartment.
Under 3 in the nav seat locker is the flare pack and the specialist first aid kit.
4 the battery switch is down inside the quarter beth here. We will cover that later.
5 Not easy to see but there is a hook and hanging from it are a boat knife and multi key for the water and diesel caps.
Also 4 points to the quarter beth locker under the bunk. Because it is not often used we store the emergency tiller and emergency VHF ariel along with 10Lt of emergency water.