Destiny's Bounty (70618) - Building the Wheelhouse

Perhaps the most important space aboard the ship is the wheelhouse. This is where the captain navigates and sails the ship and everything he needs to do this is located here. Below, you can see a map on the navigation table. Of course, with the tight confines of the ship, every spare inch of space is used, so there are more vegetables growing in planters up here as well. These look like they might be chives - a favorite of Asian cuisine.

On the opposite side of the navigation table is a sextant.

And of course, no wheelhouse would be complete without a wheel, which sits in a prominent location in the center of the ship. A feature we really liked about the wheelhouse was that the bamboo shutters can be rolled up to allow for fresh air and natural light to permeate the space. You can see below that the shutters on the right side have been rolled up.

More lanterns adorn the vessel to provide light when sailing in darkness.  The lanterns are quite intricate and not what you would expect aboard a typical vessel. The tassel that hangs from the wheelhouse lantern gives a little frivolity to the area as it swings whenever the ship moves.

Below is a shot of the stern when all the bamboo shutters are fully deployed. They provide protection from the elements while maintaining the Asian theme of the vessel.

Along the sides of the vessel hang buoys - presumably to be used if someone goes overboard. These were mom's favorite things to build. All build long, she has been waiting to build these and she positively shrieked with delight when she got to this step.

 Here is a view of the stern of the vessel. It has more fashionable lanterns as well as a flag that flaps in the breeze (it's hard to see in this shot). It also has 2 pipes - they look like exhaust pipes but I am not sure that is the case as this ship has no engines.

 The flag the rear of the vessel is more easily seen in the below shot. It pivots freely on its support, depending on how the wind blows.

The next and final step is to put the sails on the ship and then she can head out on her maiden voyage!