Galley Refit: Countertops Part 2

Time is short, let’s get gluing!

With the sink set in the area and the mahogany dry fitted onto the counter, everything was measured and fitted. Now it is time to glue up the four independent parts in place, but without getting glue on any of the galley components.

Like the old commercials used to say: “Plastics make it possible!” I cut open a large black trash bag and covered the sink with it, as well as the entire area that will live under the counter. Then the four independent pieces of the counter were isolated from each other with shrink wrap. Having everything in place makes the gluing process easier since I can assemble the whole counter top and just clamp the edge to the bulkhead, applying even pressure to the entire structure.

Titebond III was used to give a permanent and waterproof bond between the planks.

The pieces were allowed to cure overnight and then all the clamps and plastic could be removed from between them.

The inboard edge needed to have a rabbet cut into it to fit onto the edge of the counter’s plywood sheathing. The issue is I didn’t bring my rabbet plane to the Azores, so I had to use a table saw and carefully cut out the section of wood that needed to disappear in order to get it to fit flush up against the edge.

With the four pieces glued into solid pieces and everything test fitted, the next step is to glue the whole counter together, just like before but without the shrink wrap isolating the four pieces of wood.

Galley Refit: Countertops Part 1

Unlike the head, which had a nebulous plan of fiberglass and wood construction, the galley is much more straight forward. The counter top is going to be made out of edge grain sapele mahogany, the plan is completely thought out, and there is a much shorter amount of time available for the project.

Let’s get started!

I had previously ordered all the mahogany that I needed before I even started the head refit. Having a stack of lumber in a boat is always fun! The wood sat in the galley area waiting for me to get around to working with it for months.

The planks that run the length of the galley are simple and straight forward. The pieces that sit at the ends of the sink are a different story. There were the really small blocks and the longer blocks. It was easy to think of the wooden sections as four independent areas: the forward piece, the aft piece, the inboard piece, and the outboard piece.

With a chop saw, we were able to quickly make all the blocks uniform in size and fit nicely into the space available. With all the wood ready and organized, the next step was for Maddie to organize the grain patterns and wood colors into a pattern she found appeasing to the eye. The blocks were then marked and oriented so that we could glue each of the four groups up independently.

Plumbing/Pantry Divider

Fiddleblocks are wonderful. They keep things from sliding off of shelves and prevent many a mess from every occurring. Having fiddleblocks on the shelves in our pantry means that the pots and pans that will live in this area “should” never fly off their shelves and smash into the plumbing of the galley sink.

“Should” is a wonderful word. Everything should work and nothing should fail, but the truth is, in a heavy seaway during a storm, nothing goes as it “Should”.

To protect the plumbing from a flying frying pan, I installed a barrier made out of the same Cyrptomeria. This divider partitions the space under the sink into plumbing space and storage space. To gain better access to the plumbing, the boards can be pulled off with a few screws, but I can usually do everything through the tiny drawers that live under the sink.

These planks serve as a guard against a broken sink drain, or a damaged seacock. Plumbing is the routing of water and if something fails, it’s a leak. A leak the size of the galley drain could sink the boat, so extra steps must be taken to ensure that no harm will come their way; hence, the plumbing/pantry divider.

Pantry Shelves

With the proper door cut, it is time to give us something to rest the pots and pans on!

Using the Cryptomeria (Japanese Cedar) that grows locally on the island of Terceira, Azores, Portugal, I made shelves with proper fiddle blocks that will hold our pots and pans without adding additional weight to the boat.

It started off with a cross design, but shortly after, we realized we had created a large amount of wasted space! The bottom shelf soon became a full “L” that gives us plenty of shelf space for all our cookware and great access to the bottom area where we can store our cans.

Pantry Access

The dead space under the sink had gone almost 50 years without ever being used. This space existed but was just out of reach! The only thing that did fall into this space was a former trashcan setup where the trashcan was built into the galley counter top.

I never used this trashcan for a few reasons:
1. The smell gets kind of funky when you open the lid.
2. The lid can swell and get stuck when the air becomes more humid.
3. It was really cumbersome to empty the trashcan once it got full.
4. A plastic grocery bag hanging from the galley counter was so much easier to do and use!

Needless to say, this space went completely unused and the lack of use was all due to the lack of proper access.

While refitting the galley, one of the main goals of the project is to create a system that better utilizes that dead space!

I decided that the best way to gain access would be to cut a hole in the bulkhead and let us reach directly into this void from the salon. This would let us store our pots and pans, as well as our mason jars in this area without creating any disturbance in the galley. Best of all, reaching the bottom won’t be a chore because the door is mounted low on the side of the void, so everything will be in easy reach!

Now, how do you cut a hole in the bulkhead without destroying everything? The answer is: “Carefully”

I first marked out a section that seemed proper on the salon side of the bulkhead. Once I measured and remeasured, I found that a door 30cm wide x 40cm tall would be ideal. It would allow for us to fit our largest pots and pans through the door with ease without disturbing all the structural parts that happen in this area.

Once i figured out where the door would go, I then drilled 7/64” pilot holes through the bulkhead and marked on the plywood where the drill bit emerged. This would be my guide to cut the door out from inside the locker and not risk damaging the interior woodwork of the boat.

With the door clearly marked, I set the depth of cut on my skill saw to 3/4”, the thickness of the plywood bulkhead. I then cut along the lines and fully severed the door plywood from the bulkhead without harming the pine strips that make up the interior furniture. I want the door to fit right back in, so that means I need to have the grain perfectly match up with the planks that are there.

I labeled the planks with numbers and a series of lines, and with the descriptors of outboard and inboard so that I could then reassemble them properly once the door is cut out.

The pine planks are 3/4” thick as well, so I set the depth of cut to be just shy of 3/4” that way the saw would not harm the finish of the wood.

After almost cutting the planks, I then set the depth of cut to the full 3/4” and cut just the middle section so that the blade would pop out into the salon. From the salon, I inserted a handsaw into the kerf of the skill saw and cut the last little bit by hand. This kept the wood from splintering or getting damaged too much during the cutting phase.

The plywood got cut beyond the ends of the door because it was cut entirely with the circular saw. The pine planks were not cut in this manner because they are furniture and I cut them squarely with a handsaw.

Now we have proper access to the void of dead space and can properly use it as a locker for the pots and pans that need a new home (The new oven is going to occupy their old storage location).