Cruising World - June 2018

june/july 2018

cruisingworld.com

79

awkward drilling and jigsawing

to get the pipes through bulk-

heads and fl oors of plywood

and fi berglass of multiple

thicknesses. I fi tted shut-off

valves on the hot and cold

supply as a safety measure, in

case the washer’s internal shut-

off valves failed. I plumbed the

water discharge through a new,

above-the-waterline seacock

with an anti-siphon loop. The

dryer exhaust pipe was 4 inches

in diameter, which I angled

downward through the fl oor

and into the engine room,

near the aft blower outlet.

When the dryer is in use, we

also switch the engine-room

blower on, which sucks out all

the hot air. The washer also

needed a heavy-duty electrical

cable connected to a spare

breaker on the 120-volt AC

board. Installing this single

item took three days.

Fitting the washer where

the old fridge had been left our

new one without a home. How-

ever, behind the aft cabin door

was a large hanging locker just

right for it. The only problem

here was that the fridge would

then be in the aft cabin with a

door in the way, and who wants

a refrigerator in an aft cabin

anyway, unless it’s full of beer?

It is a well-known truth: On

boats, one simple-sounding

project usually leads to another,

and another. ...

I carefully removed the

complete aft cabin door frame

and bulkhead, which was a

project in its own right because

it was bonded to the side of the

hull. I repositioned the door

farther aft, thereby incorporat-

ing the locker as a continuation

of the galley. However, this was

complicated by the fact that

the fl oor in the aft cabin was 8

inches lower than the galley, so

I had to make an 8-inch infi ll

for the bottom of the door.

It was then only necessary to

remove the locker door, build a

platform for the fridge and cut

a hole in the shelf above it for

a vent. I wired the refrigerator

through two breakers on the

circuit board, one for 120 volts

AC and the other 12 volts DC.

There was no loss of space in

this alteration either because it

was all in the passageway to the

aft cabin, and there were still

plenty of hanging lockers and

drawers in that cabin.

The convection microwave

fi t neatly into a space on the

counter and just needed wiring

into the 120-volt AC system.

My wife found a very nice

twin-basin stainless-steel

sink online, complete with a

cutting board. But it was not

the same shape as the old sink

and also an under-mount in-

stallation, like modern sinks, so

it would not fi t in the existing

opening. To fi t this sink really

meant a new countertop, and

naturally, Kati didn’t want one

section looking different from

the other two.

As mentioned, one thing

leads to another. ...

I had to agree that the

countertops, with their faded

scratched-teak laminate, were

past their prime. So off we

went shopping for new ones.

Kati had a notion she would

like granite, but the thinnest

we could fi nd were 1¼ inches

thick, and very heavy. We

settled for much lighter Corian

material and found a local

kitchen-remodeling company

that could accurately cut the

three separate sections out of

½-inch-thick material. To make

it look thicker, they suggested

making it double the thickness

on the exposed edges, and

shaping them with a nice

rounded molding.

Before they could do any-

thing, however, I had to make

three precise cardboard tem-

plates. The sink section was the

most critical, because it had to

have cutouts for the sink, the

top of the freezer and a hole

for the faucet. I removed the

ornamental teak column at the

edge of the sink because I had

other plans for that end of the

galley. I took great care to make

these templates, and along with

assurances of accurate cutting

by the supplier, it paid off. All

the countertops fi t perfectly

over the top of the old laminate

and instantly transformed the

galley. I fi nished by adding

varnished teak fi ddles on all ex-

posed edges and also installed a

couple of extra power outlets.

The new stainless-steel

double sink needed to be

installed before the new

countertop. I enlarged the

cutout in the laminate and

caulked it in place, then slid

the new counter over the top

and caulked round the edges.

We had also purchased a new

single-swivel sink faucet with a

pull-out spout that I plumbed

into the existing hot and cold

pipes. Of course, a new sink

also meant new drains under-

neath, which is always a tight

scramble, even in a house. The

lid for the freezer fi t exactly in

the right place.

The four drawers at the side

of the range were repositioned

fl ush with the stove, along

with the locker below, making

them all level. All the teak was

stripped of old varnish, and two

coats of high gloss were applied.

There was no trash bin, so I built

one from ½-inch plywood with a

louvered front. It pivots outward

from the end of the galley and

holds a waste bag on simple fi le

clips for easy removal.

It took two months to

complete the remodeling, but

we now have a fabulous new

modern galley, as shipshape and

effi cient as any small apartment.

Maniacal do-it-yourselfer Roger

Hughes is a frequent contributor

to Cruising World.

Manual valves were installed in the washer’s hot and cold water supply in case the automatic shut-off valves failed (left).

We found a new double sink online, and also installed a new rotating faucet (center). There was no trash bin in the original

galley, so I built a new, pivoting one that holds a large garbage bag, held in place with simple fi ling clips (right).

SUPPLIERS

Sink overstock.com

Wa sher/dryer splendide.

com sailorman.com

Refrigerator indelwebasto

marine.com

Microwave panasonic.com

Stove whalepumps.com/

marine/seaward-ranges.aspx

ROGER HUGHES