Forward Cabins
Down the forward companionway are the additional cabins. Initially, as you can see on the drawings, there were three cabins. Just forward of the engine room were two identical port and starboard stateroom, each of which had two bunks. Joe Coberley (the first owner of Island Eagle) had four daughters and these were their staterooms. There is also an engineroom access door in the starboard stateroom.
Forward of these two staterooms, at the bottom of the stairs, is a very roomy bathroom. It's larger than some apartment bathrooms, with a nice big shower and lots of stowage. Going forward from there it's up two steps and through a door to the forward stateroom. This was initially the crew's stateroom, and normally they came down a ladder from a hatch in the foredeck. The forward stateroom also has a small head.
The layout as built was very practical when there were a lot of people onboard. You could easily have six in the forward cabins. However, there was a real downside in that the only double bed on the boat was in the master stateroom. Complicating this was that none of the other cabins were quite large enough to fit a double into.
So, in 2011 we decided to take out the wall between the port and starboard midships cabins to create a new full-width VIP suite. Scott Nattrass did the work to his normal high standards and the results are beautiful. We converted the port bunks to a beautiful full-sized double, and we left the lower berth to starboard for use as a settee and also for when we have kids on board with their parents. All in all this is a beautiful change, and best of all we can still fit 6 down below in a pinch, with one person on the floor in a sleeping bag. Underneath the double is extensive storage, including a DeWalt mitre saw.
Forward of these two staterooms, at the bottom of the stairs, is a very roomy bathroom. It's larger than some apartment bathrooms, with a nice big shower and lots of stowage. Going forward from there it's up two steps and through a door to the forward stateroom. This was initially the crew's stateroom, and normally they came down a ladder from a hatch in the foredeck. The forward stateroom also has a small head.
The layout as built was very practical when there were a lot of people onboard. You could easily have six in the forward cabins. However, there was a real downside in that the only double bed on the boat was in the master stateroom. Complicating this was that none of the other cabins were quite large enough to fit a double into.
So, in 2011 we decided to take out the wall between the port and starboard midships cabins to create a new full-width VIP suite. Scott Nattrass did the work to his normal high standards and the results are beautiful. We converted the port bunks to a beautiful full-sized double, and we left the lower berth to starboard for use as a settee and also for when we have kids on board with their parents. All in all this is a beautiful change, and best of all we can still fit 6 down below in a pinch, with one person on the floor in a sleeping bag. Underneath the double is extensive storage, including a DeWalt mitre saw.
