Galley Cabinetry assembly

The Galley is starting to really come together now and it is nice to see items going back into the boat, rather than out of it.

We put the new laminate surface on all the counter tops.  We chose a laminate rather than granite due to the weight and the desire to ensure we kept the practicality of having fiddle rails on the counters.  If we went with a granite or stone, we were not sure how we would have effectively mounted fiddle rails on the edges.

After the laminate was down, we installed a shelf under the galley sink that has an access panel from above for dry storage. 

We then veneered all of the lower cabinets in African mahogany.  This included the side of the cabinets (one facing the nav station in the walkthrough the other facing the salon, and all front drawer and cabinet panels.  The veneer was put in place using not only the Pressure Sensitive Adhesive that it came with but also the standard contact cement on both surfaces method (like a laminate).  All of the new veneer received a sanding with 240 grit sandpaper.  This will smooth out the surface, blend in the joints and have a smooth surface to put a finish on.

We installed the new front panel to the pantryWe still do not have doors on it as we are not sure if we want to go back in with sliding doors or opening doors.I suspect due to the limited counter space we will go with sliding doors to not have to move items on the counter if you need to open the pantry doors. 

The rear wall of the galley was laminated in Teak rather than Mahogany.  We are trying to keep the bulkhead walls in teak and really like the way it looks   For this we removed the Electric Propane control switch, cleaned the mating surfaces of all dust using a towel dampened with denatured alchohal.  This allows for a fast drying time and allowed us to then coat both mating surfaces with contact cement.  The new wall was cut out of a single large piece to fit the unique shape of the rear galley wall. 

The teak panel is 1/8^th inch thick and made installing a little bit of a challenge as you had to cut it with a saw to shape rather than a knife like the thin veneer.  (Tip:  When applying contact cement to an area this large, it was helpful to have 2 people, Deb applied it to the wall and I applied it to the back of the teak panel, this allowed us to install it when it just started to get tacky rather than dry.

A new GFCI outlet was installed at the first plug in the wire chain and mounted back into the face of the pantry. 

New wire was run to the ceiling where insulation (3/4” closed cell foam) panels were installed between the fiberglass and the new pine slat ceiling.  The installation of the ceiling always presents a unique situation in that the roof arches to some extent, additionally the sides are not square so it starts with a single pine slat run fore to aft on the center line of the boat.  It then works outward from that so that the angled cuts to align with the outer curve of the boat can be made.   We have 

decided to install all LED lighting in the boat and wanted to have that light being emitted from the ceiling for general lighting, and then add reading lights at locations that make sense.  To that end, we mapped out how we wanted to control the lights for the common central are of the boat (the Galley, Nav Station, Walkthrough and Salon).  We liked the idea of having control of those lights from a central location near the  companion way.  We decided on mounting 6 switches (3 on each side of the companionway) that each control specifc lighting.  For example the 2 most forward switches will control the led lighting on the salon ceiling lighting on the port and starboard respectively.  The center switch on each side turns on the general lighting across the galley and companionway.  The next switches back control either the lights down the walkthrough, and on the port side control lights to light up the galley including one that shines into the top loading fridge/freezer unit. 

We are pleased with the LED lighting we chose.  They have a brushed aluminum finish, are bright but still a bit warm (not that sterile white from some LED’s) and can swivel slightly to point in specific directions.   They do not each have their own switch on the base which is why we mounted the bank of switches.

When we were looking for LED lights we considered just getting the marine fixtures with LED’s in the, however we wanted a little bit more versatility and selection for our lighting choices.  After speaking to some marine LED vendors at boat shows, I learned that LED’s for marine use are not something special but are typically the same as the ones that you can buy on line that are not “marine” specific.  Armed with that information, we decided to look at all LED lighting options.  We settled on some LED lights from Ikea that came with an adapter that went from 110V AC to 12V dc.  Because the output of the device included with the lights was in the 2-4 amp range, we worried a bit about the potential higher voltage that would be going to the lights.  I have ben assured that the lights will only draw what they draw, regardless of how many amps the supply “can” provide.  That said, I suspect that I won’t see the same life expectancy out of these as someone might on a regulated 2amp output.  So in the end, if I lose 25% of the life expectancy of these, it will still provide some 7500 hours of use.   For the money saved and the selection, I am hoping that I made a good choice.  So far so good but it has only been a couple of months at this point.  We will keep some spares on board in the event we needed to replace these.  Because of that reason we made mounting and replacing them fairly easy if we need to.

After the veneering, sanding, ceiling, lighting, electrical, etc, the sanded molding was all wiped down with denatured alcohol and the dry fitted.  Because the new ceiling is a bit thicker than the old headliner, and because the rear galley bulkhead veneer is thicker than the original, we knew we would have to slightly modify (trim) some of the molding.  We made those minor adjustments and reinstalled all of the trim in the galley and along the new ceiling. 

At this point we still have to build a new fridge/freezer lid with the new counter laminate to match, need to have the compressor serviced (still can’t believe I dripped water on the control panel when taking the sink out), fasten the sink and install the new faucet in the galley.    The next step from there will be bungs in all screw holes and varnish as a last step.

Galley Rebuild Continues

It has been a little while since we provided an update.  I have been traveling a lot for work and Deb and I have been doing some traveling for pleasure, the down side of all that is that it takes us away from the boat projects and they seem to take longer than we hoped.

Since the last post, we have finished dis-assembling the majority of the items in the Galley.  We removed the cupboards and storage.  This included the galley length cupboard behind the stove, the ceiling cabinet above the refrigeration, the pots and pans storage under the stove and the under the companionway food storage cabinet.  

We rebuilt the new stove cabinets and the new galley length cupboard.  For all of the interiors of those cabinets we laminated them with white laminate so they would be easy to clean and reflect light.  On the outside of the galley length cabinet we veneered it with Mahogany so it matches the rest of the wood in the boat when we are through.

We made some new countertops and laminated them in formica that looks like granite.  On the new counter where the sink goes, we have fabricated an under the counter shelf and added an access panel in the top of the counter.  This will be great can, food and wine storage.

We have laminated all of the existing counter pieces with the same granite looking laminate as the counter tops so that they would match.  This includes sides and under the stove. 

The stove step (area that the stove hangs from it's gimbals) also was fabricated using the old pieces as patterns.  

We have rebid and sealed all fixed ports in the walkthrough and the galley and confirmed that they don't leak.  We have also fabricated new mahogany panels to go along the hull and ensure that the boat has that nice wooden look inside.  (The old pieces that were up were just completely delaminated from leaking ports over the years)

There is not a lot of room to add insulation here so we are only adding a thin insulating layer with a moisture barrier to help prevent condensation on the hull from getting to the wood panels.  We have chosen to use the high quality underlayment for laminate flooring.  It is closed cell foam with good insulating properties for it's thickness and has a built in moisture barrier on one side because it is design to be laid on slab flooring.

In addition to the counter tops, we have started to install the pine slat ceiling as well.  This is looking really good and when the whole boat matches the rear stateroom, it will look phenomenal as well as provide additional insulation for keeping the boat cool or warm (we are adding 3/4" thick insulation between the cored cabin top and the pine ceiling below.  

Plank Ceiling started (With Switches going in as well)

While doing this, we have continued to upgrade the electrical wires as we go, replacing 12v wire with Marine Grade wiring.  We are going with all LED lighting in the boat for primary lighting and incandescent only as backup.  One of the things we did, was found small "puck lights" that are LED and can swivel to direct the light.  We found these at Ikea and they came with a 120V AC to 12V DC adapter.  We simply throw the adapter away and connect these to the boats 12volt system.  I have wired them in such a way that we can have a switch on for ambiance lighting and enough to see, and then turn another switch to really light up the galley including one that shines into the refrigerator and over the sink and stove.  Here is where we will lose our nautical chops a bit.  We decided to wire these into switches at the companionway so they are all easily in reach.  That means in the ceiling we have mounted a household style bank of switches to control all overhead lighting forward of the rear stateroom.

The re-assembly is going good.  We still have half the ceiling planks to install, put the mahogany veneer on the lower bulkheads in the galley and install all the molding and plug (bung) the screw holes.  From there it is Varnish, Varnish and more Varnish.

I am thinking I am going to leave the nav station in a state of incomplete for a bit longer.  I am going to be making a new instrument panel for the new Radio, AIS, VHF, GPS and Secondary Screen.   I have been having fantasies about all the cool things I want to do with the nav station including the "screen" I mentioned.  I think I am going to set it up so that is can connect to the TV, Laptop, DVD and cameras mounted in the engine room and somewhere up top so we can see what is going on even if down below.    See... Fantasies :)

Galley Rebuild (More than we anticipated)

The plan has always been to completely refit the boat from Stern to stem and we did start in the owners stateroom and completed that.  The next section was the walkthrough, nav station and galley.  Lets talk about the Galley.

We planned on re-veneering the wood in the Galley and replacing the formica on the countertop top.  As we started the project we realized that there is always something you find that makes you think "Better to do it now while we have this apart"  

That is what happened to us, as we removed the old counter laminate, we found that around the sink faucet connections, it had leaked over time and the plywood countertop was wet inside.  It was still fairly sturdy but it made sense to remove it and replace it while doing this work.

As we removed that, we found that the back corner of the cupboard was also wet and so was the lower ceiling.  What we found was that after 30+ years of on and off leaking ports, the wood just had soft spots.

So we gutted it.  We have taken most of the parts to our garage and used the old ones as templates to cut and fabricate all new walls, counters, etc.  

Galley after gutting

This was our first time using laminate so we started on what will be the inside of the cupboard.  It turns out that is not so hard.  The first pass had a few small bubbles in it, but we adjusted and the rest looked good.  We ended up putting white laminate on the lower ceiling, inside of the cupboard (bottom, back and sides).   We chose white for it's ability to reflect light in those areas.  For the front of the cupboard (Which was originally white laminate) we fabricated a new piece and finished it in Mahogany Veneer.  

We still have work to do in the Galley, we have to fabricate one small wall that I ended up destroying removing it.  We must re-route several plumbing lines.  We will need to remove the laminate in the stove cavity and replace it with a nice laminate that will match the countertops.  

We also decided to add a top loading dry storage area behind the sinks, so some additional modifications will need to be done to the countertop to create the opening, lid and storage area below.  

As we continue to think out loud, and having all of this torn up right now, we are also considering modifying the rear cupboard to fit the microwave (and remove it from the countertop).  We are also now considering adding LED lighting in the new dry storage area as well as the cupboards with an indicator light to let us know when it is on.  We have kept a flashlight in the galley because it is fairly dark in the back corners of the cupboard so this will be a great improvement.  

Deb is quite the contributor to these boat projects.  We work together on the weekends and some nights that I am in town.  With my work travel schedule lately, I haven't been home during most weeks and Deb has continued to sand and prep for whatever the upcoming weekend work is.  She has been ensuring that we have what we need so when Saturday comes we can start early and work all day.  

As we were routing thin pieces of laminate, She even acted as a "Router Table".  She Freaking Rocks !!!!

Rebuilding the Fixed Ports

When doing our refit on Last Affair, we decided to rebuild the large glass fixed ports in the boat.  There is a story behind why, but for the purpose of this blog, lets just go with “we decided to”.

This blog and subsequent videos are not going to be about how to rebed the window and frame to the fiberglass hull, but rather once removed, how to actually remove the glass from the frame and rebuild that.

This started innocently enough, it was to take the ports home and clean them up (They had a bunch of residual silicone on them from years or caulking by the PO (Previous Owner).  Once home, I started thinking that I really didn’t know if they leaked from the bedding into the hull or between the glass and the aluminum frame.  One way I thought to check was to lay the port down on a flat surface glass side down.  On these ports, the frame is about an inch thick and the glass is on one edge almost making it like a 1” deep bowl when laid flat with the glass down.  So, I poured a quart or 2 of water into that little 1” bowl.

In about 20 minute almost all of the water had leaked out from between the glass and the frame.  The majority of that was from the spot where the rubber sealant that goes around the glass was sealed back together at the bottom of the port (the bottom, that doesn’t seem like good planning either come to think of it).

These windows are rectangular (about 9” tall and 23” long but they have angles on both the leading and trailing end of the window forming a parallelogram (?) with rounded corners.  The point is that there was not a replacement out there that you could just go find easily to fit this size and shape.

  

I removed the screws holding the upper and lower halves of the frames together and pulled them careful away from each other exposing the edges of the glass and the rubber spline that was around the glass and pushed into the slot on the aluminum frame to hold it in place.

This part turned out to be a challenge.  I have looked at many places on line and local custom glass shops and can’t find the same shape spline.  While searching for sources for the spline, I decided to clean up the frames.

I was able to get some supplies (from Home Depot) so you can likely get it from your local hardware store to refinish the aluminum frames.

I started with a wire wheel on a lathe (a drill would work, this was just easier for me).  I used the wire wheel to brush, scrape and scratch away all of the old silicone, and gunk that was in the grooves of the aluminum.  I also used the wire wheel on the facing side of the aluminum in the areas that had scratches.  The wire wheel actually sands down the surface and removed the scratches.

I then lightly sanded these with a sanding disc in the same drill/lathe.  I used 400 and then 600 grit to remove the scratches that the wire wheel left.  This got it fairly smooth and confirmed that there was not more silicone caulk left. 

After the sanding, I installed the first buffing wheel (I used a denim buffing wheel) with “Tripoli” that is the brown buffing stick.  You rub it on the buffing wheel and then buff the aluminum.  After that was complete they were really starting to look good.  I then put on a loose cotton buffing wheel and used the “White Diamond” that is the white buffing stick.  I rubbed some on the cotton pad and ran at high RPM’s (3000 or so) and brought the surface up to a nice shine.  These are not as shiny as stainless steel, but pretty darn close.

In this video, you can see the before and after, but also can see the construction of the window, and how the glass gets put into the frames.  Where the spline came together is where mine were leaking.

NOTE UPDATE:  I have read a few posts on the internet about being cautious in using a wire brush on aluminum window frames because small amounts of the steel from the bristles can lodge on the softer aluminum and while not seen by the naked eye, could cause issues with corrosion due to dissimilar metals in a salt water environment.  I will update this blog over time if there seems to be any negative results from this method described. 

Now that the frames are complete, lets get back to the assembly of the glass into them.  I tried for a week, Rubber Mallet, Clamps, Tie down straps, bench vise and even the lathe to try to compress the frame together.  Long story short, I was defeated.  I couldn’t get the frames all the way together (1/2” gap could not be closed).  I called a local glass glazier and brought the 2 ports (or parts as it were).  He was able to rebuild both of them for $175.  Money well spent because comparable sized ports were $700 each.

I did the same leak test mentioned above and all was good.  We took them back to the boat and rebedded them back into the fiberglass and tested for leaks. 

Galley Veneer Removal

Like many good ole boats, ours was starting to see the veneer peel off of the Marine Plywood used for several of the bulkheads.  In the galley, it was fraying a bit on the bottom of the cabinets.
We have found that Rockler (woodworking stores) sells manageable sized pieces of Mahogany and teak veneer.  We are going with Mahogany.
In order to prep for the installation of new veneer, we have to remove all of the old veneer, prep the surface, sand and then apply the new veneer.
In this case, we removed the fiddle rails along the galley counters, removed the stove, removed all drawers and cabinet doors.  We also had to remove an added on cabinet that we likely won't put back up and 3 shelves for storing spices, etc.

There was one piece of plywood under the stove that needed to be replaced.  It took quite a while to remove it and I will need to build a new segment of the wall.  While we have all of this down, we will likely also be putting new formica down so we can upgrade the look of the counters.

Here is a small video clip of the start of the veneer project and another one as we were wrapping up the removal of the old veneer.

LED Lights - Wow.

So like most people this has been one of those things that have been on my mind for years related to my boat(s). I have wanted to go to LED for the lack of heat as well as the they draw less power.
I didn't do it because the replacement bulbs for marine industry were still $20-$30 each.

I went online and saw cheap ones so did the research I almost always do, which means I went to Cruisers Forum. I saw posts from a few years ago stated that the non marine LED's were really dim and not a good replacement.

I was recently looking on eBay and found the replacement bulbs for $1.59 each. These were the type of bulb with the 2 small wire leads that go into the socket of most marine round lights. I ordered 10 thinking (What the heck, they are cheap). They took 4 weeks to arrive (from Taiwan).

There are many different variations of bulbs out there. The ones I ordered had 18 LED’s on each bulb. They projected light out of all sides like the conventional bulbs that were in the lights. These LED’s had 5 rows of 3 LED’s around the perimeter of the light and 3 on top of it. I also ordered the one that is “warm” light. It has a slight yellow tint to is so it doesn’t look at sterile as some of the very bright white LED’s look.

LED Purchased on eBay

I put them in the fixtures (simple process), but in a couple of cases I had to bend the wire leads slightly so that the bulb sat in the middle of the fixture.   They were wonderful and give off great light. 

So here is the best part.  Before I replaced them I turned on 9 of the fixtures with the old bulbs in them (2 in rear head, 1 in nav station, 2 in salon, 2 in forward head and 2 in v-berth.).  I went to my electrical panel and say 8.5 Amp draw.

I then replaced all of those bulbs, turned on the same lights, went to my panel and saw 1 Amp draw.  

WooHoo !!!!

Now I will be finding other bulbs to fit the different socket styles to complete all of the fixtures

90% complete on the Owners Stateroom

Work has continued on the Owners Stateroom, and we are thrilled with the way that the ceiling planks are starting to look.  We started with a plank running up the center of the boat on the ceiling and then started to fit each plank from the center to the outer edge.  Because of the angles, it was necesaarry to install the rear ceiling trim to hold the planks in place and screw them to the ceiling joists (fancy way of describing the small wooden cross beams attached to the fiberglass).

Once we made it to the corner (in the picture above and right) it was required that every piece be cut with an angle and then fit into the tongue and groove.  A few mistakes were made when I would cut them at the wrong angle.

Once the ceiling was in place, the trim was all screwed back into place. When we disasembled the stateroom, we drew diagrams and traced the screws and then stored the legend and screws in a zip log bag so when we were assembling, we could ensure the right screws went back in the correct location (didn't want any to go all the way through and poke through the cabin top.)

After the trim was all in place and secured, the bungs were installed.  I have a cheap set of bung cutters (under $10) that I picked up from Harbor Freight and using an old scrap of teak trim, I cut 160 or so plugs/bungs.  After removing all of those bungs, we found that the best way to assemble is to NOT glue them in place but rather hold them in place with varnish so that if they ever have to be removed again, a drill bit run into the center of the plug will break the varnish free and it will pop right out.   

After a 24 hours drying period the bungs can be popped one time gently with a sharpened chisel and then sanded flat and flush with the trim.    We were in the home stretch at this point so we cleaned up the mess we had made in the stateroom and vacuumed and cleaned up all of the saw dust.  We used tack clothes to wipe everything down really good so that it was ready for a first coat of varnish.  You can see in the picture to the right just what a difference that first coat of varnish makes on what looks like a rather bland wall or piece of teak trim.  This was the excitement shot we needed because at this point we wanted to see some victories after all this work.  Seeing that shine was it.

With 3 coats of Varnish on now, it is really staring to come together.  Here are some photos in it's current state.

We couldn't be happier with the knotty pine ceiling planks.  I hope they do last and don't cause an issue over time.  We were able to install the solar vent through them and there is enough gaps in a couple of small locations to allow a little bit of air flow in there as well.


The next Blog update that we post will be photos that have the new bulkhead for the vanity seat installed and the bedding back in place.  We do still need to install lighting and have held off right now because we just haven't found the ones that we both decided are the ones we really like.

Knotty Pine Ceiling