When I’d demo’d most of the rest of the interior of the boat and done my bulk surface prep and sanding early in the project, the narrow quarterberth had been inaccessible to me, behind a tall bulkhead at the aft end of the then-nav station.  So I’d left that area for some other time, and in the meantime, it’d been mocking me in its undone-ness, fairly defying me to put it off any longer.   Despite this, I managed to pretend it wasn’t there for quite some time.  But with new construction progressing, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the last vestige of peeling paint and despair, and now, with a short day on tap thanks to an afternoon commitment, I decided the time was nigh to get the job done.

I’d not been looking forward to getting in there, and I came close to putting it off for another time, but eventually I buckled down and got it done as I’d planned all week.  As it happened, it turned out to go more quickly and less messily than I’d feared (it’d been making a humongous mess that had been the most dreadful part as I imagined the job), as most of the residual dust ended up staying pretty trapped in the small compartment thanks to my own effectiveness as a dust-blocker by virtue of simply being in the space and bodily taking up most of the opening.  This space was to be utility only going forward–with a to-be-built propane locker located in the after portion, and storage (hopefully accessed from the cockpit) in the forward section–so the surface prep needed only to remove loose and flaking paint and generally clean up the space to be ready for bilge and locker paint, at best.  So as with many things in life, the anticipation ended up being worse than the work itself, and once I’d cleaned up I was happy to have the job behind me.  Sometime later (soon), I’d get in there and install some new wire mounts and relocate the wire bundle up along the gunwale somewhere out of the way.

For the remainder of the morning, I focused back on the settee upper lockers, starting with a light (hand) sanding of the new tabbing securing the dividers.

Next, I measured, cut, and began to install the support cleats required for the upper cabinets on each end.  Cleats can be time-consuming, especially when most of them, as in this case, required a 10° angle on their edges to match the angle formed between the main bulkheads and shelf, and these angles required notations first so I’d remember which orientation the cleat for each place had to be, since they were different on each side of the boat and often depending on which side of the dividers they were placed on–impossible to reconcile on the fly when making the cuts down in the woodshop.  The forwardmost vertical cleat, located on the main bulkhead just outboard of the chainplates, required an additional cleat thickness since I planned to hold the forward panel just aft of the bulkhead to allow chainplate clearance (which gap would later be covered by teak trim).

In the event, it took the remainder of the morning to install most of the cleats on the port side (excepting the two overhead cleats), and while I had the cleats cut for the starboard side, their installation would have to wait till next time.

To finish up my brief day, I mixed and applied 2-part epoxy primer to the shelf and upper bulkhead tabbing to prepare the areas for locker paint soon.  I only apply this primer as the final thing in any day, or at least if I plan not to be back in the cabin, as the fumes would otherwise drive me out anyway.

After a quick and light sanding of the newest tabbing securing the settee shelf, I was ready to begin layout and construction for the upper cabinets.

With the basic idea of two enclosed cabinets on each side, bookending an open shelf in the center, I studied the specifics of the spaces and ultimately decided that the center, open section should align with the edges of the center lower locker opening, which would make the two enclosed lockers a bit longer (but essentially symmetrical with each other).  The reasons this worked and ruled the day were several.  If I’d divided the space equally into thirds, the upper locker openings on the ends would he hard-pressed to align in a pleasing way with the openings below.  But by keeping the open section (which probably  didn’t need to be as large anyway) just over the center lower opening, this meant the end lockers’ doors could be centered directly over their lower counterparts, which would look the best, and frankly anything else would have seemed odd.

This placement also worked well to avoid–and ultimately hide/enclose–the backing plate and hardware securing one of the stanchions above, with the divider ending up clear of these by an inch or so.  I struck layout lines based off the vertical edges of the locker opening below, and, with a bevel gauge set to the angle between the fore and aft bulkheads and the settee backrest, drew marks on the shelf to indicate the position of the small dividers and supporting cleats.

Next, I cut and dry-installed cleats at each of the four layout locations, offsetting the cleats by the thickness of the plywood (so the edge of the divider would be in line with the locker opening below) and ensuring each was aligned at the correct angle, i.e. ultimately square to the boat’s centerline.  Then, with cheap plywood templates cut roughly to size, I went through the usual process of scribing/marking and cutting the templates to fit, aligning them plumb and installing hot glue blocks as needed to hold them so.

Next, I transferred the shapes to 12mm plywood and checked the fit, leaving the inboard edges wild for marking.  I planned to run the faces of the end cabinets past the edge grain of the dividers at each end, so I marked a 12mm offset from the edge of the shelf, then a plumb line up from there.

I cut the dividers to their finished lengths, each end angled to match the settee, and, satisfied with everything, permanently installed the cleats with glue and screws, and marked the hull and deck on each edge of the plywood for alignment during installation.

I secured the dividers in place with glue and screws against the cleats, and epoxy along the edges where they met the hull and deck, with just a dab of hot glue on the inboard upper corner against the deck to hold the panels in proper vertical alignment.  I formed small cosmetic fillets on the inside edges, which would be exposed in the open portions of the cabinets, and additional fillets on the outer sides, which I then covered with strips of 4″ tabbing to secure these bulkheads in place.

To start the day, I made an early trip to the machine shop to pick up the new chainplates and backing plates.

Over the weekend, the owner and I discussed relocating the fresh water pump from its existing location in the galley, which he said was hard to access, to the forward cabin, where the new water tank would be.  This would also simplify the plumbing, and extending the wiring would be straightforward.  In my mind I remembered enough room for the pump there, so I decided to go ahead first thing and move the pump to its new location.

First, I used a long level to mark the aft bulkhead in the v-berth with the proper level height, as the original had been several inches too low at the aft end.  I transferred the new mark across the bulkhead on each side to give me a reference point for how much room there was available.  There was enough room outboard of the existing washdown pump already located there to mount the fresh water pump, while still staying clear of the eventual berth structure and the other pump and maintaining access for hoses, filter changes, etc.  For now, I mounted the pump and its associated wiring terminal; I’d extend the existing wires forward another time.

Now I turned to the final installation of the settee backrests with glue and screws.

With those permanently in place, I made some basic measurements and cut rough patterns for the top shelves from 3/16″ plywood, then scribed and adjusted these as needed till I was satisfied with the templates.

I transferred the shapes to the 12mm plywood and cut out the shelves, leaving them a bit wide to overhang the backrests for now and making minor adjustments as needed till the shelves fit properly.  I marked the overhangs  for trimming.

Down on the bench, I trimmed the overhangs and enlarged somewhat the openings around the chainplate knees to allow room for the chainplates and bolting access, then installed the shelves permanently with glue and screws on all the support cleats I’d previously installed, and epoxy along the hull edge.  Then, I installed a strip of 4″ tabbing to help secure the shelf all along the hull.

This brought things to the end of the day; I’d continue next time with the upper cabinets.

In a short work session, I painted the lockers behind the settee backrests to prepare for the final installation (and additional construction) next time.

I’d hoped to make my first task painting the lockers behind the settees, the last task remaining before I could think about permanently installing the backrests and continuing the construction.  However, the primer I’d applied late in the day last time was still a bit tacky and was not yet ready for overcoating.  So I left it to cure the rest of the day and planned instead to come in over the weekend to do the painting, since I had to be out of the shop Friday.

In the galley, I wanted to provide a shelf beneath the countertop to provide some storage that would be accessible through a hatch in the back corner of the countertop to help make use of this otherwise-inaccessible and wasted space.  The shelf had to clear a discharge hose and skin fitting, and couldn’t be too far down lest it be too deep for the access provided.

I started with some support cleats on both bulkheads, an appropriate distance down.  Next, with a rough plywood template, I patterned the shelf, and cut the final shelf from 12mm marine plywood.  I added a fairly tall plywood fillet at the inboard edge, to hold whatever shelf contents there would be, and left space for the hose to run on its course.  Finally, I installed the shelf with glue and screws on the support cleats, and a strip of tabbing to secure it to the hull in the usual way.

I continued with some additional cleats to support the countertop, including one along the aft bulkhead, and one on the new stove bulkhead, which I kept short at this point since there’d be a support beam running across the boat that I needed to tie in with and secure to the aft side of the bulkhead.  I leveled the countertop line across the stove and reference cleat from the forward bulkhead, and checked its position with a long level run across to the port side of the galley, where the countertop height had originally been set earlier in the project.

Next, while the access was good and I was thinking about it, I installed some wire mounts in the space to help me start cleaning up the existing wiring that I’d removed from its original mountings in the old galley.

I’d considered adding an access hatch to the short bulkhead at the inboard edge of the stove compartment, but the opening would have been so small as to be nearly worthless, so instead I decided to make the whole panel removable for access behind if necessary, much like its counterparts on the port side.  I installed a support cleat along the top edge of the panel to help support the stove platform above, and secured the panel with screws.  I’d remove this later for finishing when the time came.

The final odd in a day of odds and ends was to glue-laminate several support beams for the galley structure, including a horizontal beam, vertical support, and a couple interim countertop support pieces.  I glued these from the poplar that I’d cut earlier, using waterproof wood glue and clamping securely till cured.

My first task, as is the usual way of things, was to lightly sand the new tabbing securing the settee backrest divider bulkheads.

I installed some pre-cut cleat stock to the upper back edges of the two plywood settee backrests with glue and screws, and set these aside to give the glue a chance to set up.

I’d used up all my cleat stock, so I took a few minutes to mill a new supply, as well as milling some wider pieces that I planned to use for support beams in the galley.

Now I brought the two backrests up into the boat for a dry fit.  The pieces fit well, with just a bit of minor, final reshaping on the starboard side.  I secured the backrests with several screws to hold them tightly to the support cleats for the next process, which was to fit and determine the positions of several additional support cleats:  one on each divider bulkhead; plus four per side along the top edges of the dividers and fore and aft bulkheads to support the horizontal shelf above.  I measured and cut these cleats to the sizes required, then, for the divider cleats, held them in place so they were tight to the backrest and marked the bulkheads accordingly.  For the short horizontal shelf-support cleats, I used a level and the cleats themselves to mark lines on the bulkheads for their final positions.

I removed the backrests for clear access, then installed all the support cleats–six per side–with glue and screws, aligning them to the marks.

With that, I cleaned up the area and applied epoxy-based 2-part primer over the tabbing inside the settee lockers, and also around the galley stove surround, my extra step to hedge against curing issues with the locker paint.

 

With the plywood blanks I’d pre-cut to the rough shape of the hull, I worked to finalize the four dividers/supports for the settee backrest and lockers.  For each location, I scribed and trimmed the blanks to fit, then held them temporarily with hot glue blocks so I could use a simple jig to mark the 10° angle to match the backrest, and also mark the height of the backrest so I could strike a level line for trimming.   Down on the bench, I trimmed each divider to its final size, keeping the cut lines just inside of the marks so I could make up the final difference later with a support cleat; I didn’t want the plywood to be over-sized at all.

I held the now-trimmed dividers in place with some dabs of hot glue, then applied small epoxy fillets and, finally, strips of 4″ tabbing on each side to secure the bulkheads in place.

During the afternoon, I worked on the final settee backrests, cutting them to match the templates from 12mm okoume plywood.  These would be ready for installation as soon as all the preparatory steps for the insides of the lockers were complete.

The next step for the stove compartment was to cut and fit the three panels to make up its interior.  I began with the base (floor) and the vertical back panel, using basic thin plywood templates to determine the size and shape, then transferring these to the 12mm okoume for the final panels.  I left the ends run wild for later trimming flush with the tops of the bulkheads (back panel), and the short vertical front panel (floor) later.  I secured the plywood panels with four screws each, which is how they’d ultimately be installed when all was said and done.

For the angled center panel, I cut two 6″ wide pieces  from scrap 12mm okoume, each piece slightly narrower than the actual width of the space, then beveled one edge to the angle required to mate with the other panels; the mating angle was greater than 45°, so first I cut the panels on the table saw at the maximum angle, then increased the bevel on the bench with a sander.  I secured each panel tightly with temporary screws, ensuring the beveled ends mated properly with the adjacent horizontal and vertical panels, then secured them together with several hot-glued sticks to hold the orientation and give me the finished length.  I marked the edges in the usual way–a 1″ metal ruler to provide the offset from the bulkhead sides–then cut the final panel from plywood, securing it in place along with the others.

With my stove template secured to each side in turn, I checked the swing clearance, which was fine on both sides.

To finish up the surround for now, I templated and cut the short vertical panel on the inboard side of the enclosure, then cut the base panel flush with the edge of the new panel, and marked and cut the back panel so it was flush and level with the bulkhead.  The sides of the enclosure, plus the three panels I’d just cut, would be faced with stainless steel for heat resistance and to complement the stove itself (24 gauge stainless with a #4 brushed finish), so I removed the panels and measured them (along with the bulkheads on either side) so I could order the sheet metal to complete the enclosure.  Then, I removed each of the support cleats in turn and permanently installed them with glue and additional screws as needed.

With the stove at a natural stopping point, I turned back to the settees, first scribing the plywood templates at the ends so I could make the final panels to fit.  Then, I removed the templates and permanently installed the six support cleats (three per side) with glue and additional screws, cutting the angled backrest cleats to their final lengths in the process.

To support the settee backrest and divide the storage lockers accordingly, I planned two small bulkhead dividers on each side.  Working from the templates and the layout for the locker openings I’d designed, I determined the positions of the bulkheads, and up in the boat I made some basic plywood templates to get me started on the hull shape for the final bulkheads.  At some point I got lost in my labeling of these templates and marked several in the same way–these things happen–so ignore the markings on the four templates.  Each template photo does show a different location, but the markings caused consternation when I was back in the woodshop trying to cut the oversized plywood blanks and every template seemed to say “SF” or “PA”.  We all get our lefts and rights and ports and starboards messed up sometimes.  Eventually I got it worked out and created four bulkhead blanks, each cut roughly to the hull shape at this point and oversized to allow final fitting and cutting to the necessary shape next time.  The angled cuts at the bottom would allow the panels to clear the lower support cleat for the backrest.

I continued work on the stove cabinet, starting with a quick sanding of the new tabbing.

Afterwards, I spent most of the rest of the day laying out and installing the support cleats for the stove enclosure.  It didn’t seem possible that eight little cleats could take so long, but so it was. The main complicating factor was transferring exact positions across the narrow space to ensure all layouts were identical; this was a bit of a challenge (and time-consuming) because the forward, original, bulkhead was not square nor perfectly plumb, and I had to build a custom square of sorts to fit in the space and allow me to transfer the positions across as needed, since my existing commercial tools were too wide or too narrow for the job in this 19″ wide space.

I started by repositioning the stove gimbal center a bit further inboard, after much consideration of the space and the various factors at hand.    The most salient limiting factors were, in order of importance from my perspective:

1.  Maintaining reasonable access to the space beneath the galley, where there were two through hulls installed and various other systems requirements, including the engine raw water strainer.  The new bulkhead would continue in its current plane across the boat and engine space, and despite current appearances there was not a lot of extra room available for a locker door access.  The original access had been uncomfortably small and I hoped to improve upon it.
2. Keeping the stove from impeding too far into the cabin when swinging on gimbals, and also to allow sufficient room beside the companionway ladder for access to the stove and countertop/sink aft.

I ended up moving the stove position 1″ inboard from my original layout.  This would give a bit more clearance for the enclosure, make the stove a bit more convenient to use, while not interfering more than necessary with the potential access to the under-sink area.  All things in small, curvaceous boats require compromise.  Once I’d located the aft gimbal point, on the new bulkhead, I transferred its position across to the forward bulkhead, double-and triple-checking the measurements in all dimensions.  Then, I used my pre-measured radius stick to draw the stove swing radius on both sides, and checked the overall stove fit with the stove template to ensure its proper swing and also mark the after limit of the enclosure (based on a 45 degree outboard swing angle).

For the floor of the enclosure, I roughed out a layout mark providing for 1″ clearance between the top of the eventual plywood and the gimbal arc, then measured and installed identical cleats on both sides of the enclosure, ensuring they were aligned and level.  For now, I dry-fit the cleats with just a couple screws, awaiting completion of the entire enclosure first before I committed to any positions with glue and additional screws.

For the vertical back side of the enclosure, I marked the location providing 1″ clearance from the point at which the stove was swung 45 degrees outboard, and installed identical cleats on each side, again laboring to keep the cleats in the same position, square and aligned with each other and properly plumb.  Apparently I took only one photo of this part of the process.

I had little spare room for the angled cleat to span between the floor and back of the compartment, at least on the aft side, so I made a hot glue template of the required angle and length of the cleat, positioning it so as to provide more than ample clearance for the 12mm plywood panel and some leeway, as this was the closest point of approach for the swing radius and the hull.  These cleats were  the most time-consuming as they had to fit just so, and the after cleat required various modifications on the fly to allow it to fit in the space and along the lavish fillets someone had installed beneath the bulkhead tabbing.

I finished off the basic cleat layout with two short vertical cleats to support the eventual panel beneath the enclosure, forming the front of the cabinet.

I reinstalled the stove template and checked it physically against the new cleats, using a scrap of 12mm plywood to ensure clearance as needed.

In other works, and because I’d need it soon for other aspects of the galley construction, I prepared and installed (temporary) a front cover panel for the refrigerator cabinet on the port side.  For this, I followed the usual steps of a rough cheap plywood template scribed and marked to fit, which I then used to cut the final panel from 12mm plywood slightly over-height for final marking against the floor of the space.  I planned this panel to be removable in the final analysis, so installed it with surface screws.   This panel would provide some support to the cabinetry extending across the engine room and center of the boat, details of which would be making themselves more clear as the adjacent elements came together.

I spent the first part of the morning continuing work on the new stove bulkhead in the galley:  remove the glue blocks, lightly sand, fillet the spaces where the glue blocks had been, and install 6″ tabbing in epoxy resin on both sides of the bulkhead.

Next, I turned back to the settees, ready to build upwards.  The owner requested that the berths be as wide as possible at both ends, which would dictate the position of the backrest/locker face, so to begin I cut support cleats to run as close as practicable to the fore-and-aft intersections of the berth with the hull.  I began on the port side, with a hardwood cleat cut and slightly shaped at the ends to fit into the tapered corners, and secured it temporarily with three screws for now.  Factoring in the thickness of the eventual backrest panel, this left a berth width of approximately 18″ at the forward end, and 27″ at the aft end.

I repeated the process on the starboard side, where the berth was just a touch wider:  these berth widths had originally been dictated by the position and widths of the two after bulkheads, as well as the opening into the head and forward cabin.  Here, the forward end was approximately 19.5″ wide, and the after end 28″.

10 degrees works well for a backrest angle, so with this in mind I’d pre-cut the bottom cleat to this angle along its outer edge.  From here, I struck layout lines up the bulkheads on each end, following the angle measurement, and temporarily installed vertical support cleats for the backrests.  I left these cleats over-long for now pending final decisions on the backrest design.  Because the bulkhead angled from forward to aft, these cleats also required a slight angle (10° worked well) on their edges to accommodate the panel.

Based on various factors, including desired backrest/locker height, cushion thickness, distance to the deck above, and aesthetic considerations, I settled on 22″ for the height of the backrest panel, and prepared 3/16″ plywood blanks as templates and mockups for both sides of the boat.  I drew in proposed locker openings:  three openings on each side, each opening 12″ high and 18″ wide.  These dimensions were predicated not only on the available space (i.e. these dimensions worked out symmetrically and in an aesthetically-pleasing way), but also considered possible storage of some of the plastic storage containers that the owner had originally stowed behind the original backrests, so regardless of the potential space behind the backrest itself, I wanted the locker openings at least to accommodate these items if possible.  In the final construction, I’d install two dividers/supports behind the panel to support the backrest and the cabinetry above, and divide the space into the three lockers designated by the proposed openings.

Other assumed/predicted dimensions that I took into account were a 4″ thick berth cushion (leaving 18″ of backrest above), and 2″ thick backrest cushions built into the locker lids.  I marked a rough outline of the backrest cushion on the center opening on each side (1″ overlap of the opening).  The height of the locker opening above the berth top also would allow the locker lids to open flat when all the cushions were installed (the bottom edge of the lid was 2″ above the top of the berth cushion).  I left 4″ above the locker openings to allow for the backrest cushion overlap, plus a fiddle/trim at the top edge where the backrest would transition to the upper cabinets, plus an appropriate amount of open space.

Port side:

Starboard side:

The 22″ height of the backrests left a minimum of 12″ above for the upper cabinets, which I’d mock up once the details of the lower section were finalized.  The upper cabinets would likely be a combination of enclosed storage lockers with at least some open shelving for books or other stowage, probably in the center of one or both sides.

Even in temporary/template mode, the new backrests started to bring together the future appearance of the interior in (I thought) a good way.