110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Preparing to work on some of the cabinet internals, I disassembled the new starboard settee components.
First on the list was to convert one of the lockers into dedicated storage for several bottles of wine, which the owner requested, and the aftermost compartment seemed the perfect size for this. With plenty of storage space available in the new main cabin cabinets, use of this locker in this way--optimized for a specific purpose rather than kept as large as possible--wouldn't unduly limit critical storage elsewhere.
With a wine bottle on hand for measurements (I chose a bottle with a wider base, so that the storage slots would hold any bottle chosen), I prepared a simple plywood platform fitted with six holes, which I'd install 3" above the base of the cabinet to hold the bottles securely. There was plenty of headroom above to allow installation or removal of bottles. (We'll save the champagne for later...)
I held off on final installation pending some other details with the insides of the cabinet.
In the next (center) compartment, I fashioned a shelf, roughly halfway up the inside of the cabinet, and rested it on new cherry cleats that I secured to the sides. To allow access to all areas without artificially limiting the space to half the size of the locker opening, I set the shelf back a few inches from the cabinet front. During final installation, I'd also install a solid cherry fiddle/trim across the front of the shelf to cover the plywood end grain and also help hold items on the shelf, but I wasn't prepared to permanently install the shelf just yet, with paint and other final details remaining to complete.
Because of the shape of the hull the forward end of the shelf would be very narrow, I thought I'd leave the forwardmost cabinet shelf-free, so this locker might best be reserved for bulky or taller items.
The cabinetry on the port side would be similar to that on the starboard, though each locker would be larger since there was more room outboard of the backrest location there. The cabinets would also be longer.
Now that I'd had a chance to eyeball the way the new cabinet ended at its forward end, I decided to add an extension to close off the upper area of the footwell. My original plan had been to ceil this area, installing cleats and wooden strips to hide the ugly hull, but a simple plywood extension, running forward to the footwell bulkhead, hid the area well and streamlined the appearance. During final installations, I'd continue whatever trim from the settee onto this forward extension, and it would end up nearly seamless in appearance. The 5" settee cushion would hide the area beneath.
With the shelf temporarily reinstalled above the settee, I laid out and cut two small dividers for the upper compartments, scribing them to fit the hull and deck and cutting the inboard edge vertical to eventually accept the front panel; during final installation steps I'd also install interim shelves in the upper cabinets as needed. I left these loose-fitted for now until I could permanently install the lot.
The trim around the upper hanging locker shelf was begging to be installed, now that the beadboard and nearby trim was complete, so I made the final cuts to fit the two sections together, and installed them with glue and screws, bunging the screw holes.
Total Time on This Job Today: 6 hours
