To begin, I quickly and lightly sanded the fresh fiberglass tabbing on the settees, readying the area for whatever came next.

With the actual stove, I confirmed various measurements from the drawing and to ensure my layout so far would fit the actual stove.  I also measured the additional height of the stove grill, which fitted over the burners, and the removable pot clamp holders that fit in all four sides of the stove.    These added 1-3/16″ and 2-15/16″ respectively to the height of the stove itself.  Consulting with the owner, and looking at various images of these stoves installed in other boats, we decided that the stove should be mounted with the top of the box itself flush with the countertop.  This gave me information that I’d need to work out some initial layout.

I trimmed the bulkhead blank to the level and plumb lines I’d marked when it was in the boat–the outermost of the two plumb lines, which was in line with the edge of the forward bulkhead.  I could trim this further back later, though since the face of the cabinets was likely to continue in this same plane all the way across the engine room and to the port side, ultimately the location of this seam wasn’t that important, unless I incorporated it into a fully-removable panel.  These unknowns would make themselves clear enough in the near future.

From here, following the information in the stove measurements, I worked out an initial layout, keeping the entire stove–including the oven door handle (2″ proud of the stove front) behind the second vertical line demarking the original cabinet front.  One has to start somewhere.  I measured and laid out the gimbal center, along with the dimensions of the stove itself, and used a shop-made “compass” to strike the swing radius (just over 18″) on the panel.  In this location, I quickly found that the radius ran out before the outboard edge of the bulkhead, meaning the stove would hit the hull long before it reached an adequate swing.  The pencil in the final photo points to the spot where the radius ran out.

This posed little problem.  I sanded off the layout marks I’d made so far and started anew, this time with the front of the stove (not including the handle) moved out to the initial vertical layout line.  I wanted to keep the stove as far outboard as possible to allow plenty of room to work between the companionway ladder and the stove, and to allow swing room inboard when underway.  In this new location, 2″ further inboard, the stove fit pretty well.  The swing radius cleared the hull at the outboard edge of the bulkhead, with just enough room to build some supporting cleats and panels to close off the space.  To figure these locations, I made a simple template of the stove that I “gimbaled” at the pivot point, and swung it to 45° in each direction, which seemed a reasonable maximum gimbal to provide for, and used this mark to locate the outboard vertical bulkhead of the space.  When the stove was swung to the max in the inboard direction, the base of the unit stayed nearly within the limits of the space defined by the forward bulkhead face, which would keep the stove clear of the companionway and even allow some access to the galley countertop beyond.  This layout confirmed that the stove would fit and swing properly in the given space (the forward end of the space, in the boat, was a bit deeper so no issues there), and while I might slightly manipulate the final location once the new bulkhead was in place and it was time to finish off the opening, I knew that it would fit as hoped and intended, and this basic layout was easier on the bench.

The stove template would come in handy later for locating and mounting the actual gimbal hardware, so  I made some layout marks on the template, as well as on the new bulkhead, using the actual hardware.

Now I brought the bulkhead into the boat and set it up in its final position, secured with hot glue blocks as needed, and level and plumb as required.  Once the position was finalized and repeatable thanks to the glue blocks, I epoxy-coated the edge grain of the plywood and installed it with epoxy fillets on both sides, leaving space around the glue blocks for now.  I stopped the fillet short on the forward side as the remaining section of the bulkhead would be exposed, and I didn’t plan to tab that portion (the back side, however, would be fully tabbed).

With a bit of time left in the day, I cleaned up the two panels from the refer space on the port side, adding an additional ventilation slot to accommodate a duct on the battery charger behind, then permanently installed all the support cleats in that space with glue; I’d set them up dry till I was happy with the overall configuration.  I added a short vertical cleat on the aft side to support a new vertical panel that would close off the bottom of the space and also provide some support for the transverse galley bulkhead extending across to the stove.  Then, I temporarily installed the floor and back panels with exposed screws, as both these panels would remain removable in the final construction to allow access behind.  Sometime later, I’d remove and paint these panels, but for now I wanted them in place so I could continue the galley construction.

I masked off and covered the settee tops to protect them during the various upcoming constructions, as well as (immediately) during the fiberglassing of the seam at the hull, which was my first task.  I cut 6″ tabbing to fit, then applied a thickened epoxy fillet to the seam before wetting out and installing the tabbing on both sides.

I planned to continue work on the settees–backrests and upper cabinets–soon, but for now, while the epoxy cured, I turned to the galley and the new bulkhead required to support the new gimballed stove.  The owner selected this specific stove because it was narrower than most, and would fit better in the existing galley space without compromising the settee length.  It also seemed like quite a nice, well-thought-out, stove and oven unit.

The width clearance required for the installation was 19.2″ minimum according to the stove diagram.  I added a bit of clearance to allow for metal sheathing inside the opening, and, with a square, roughed out a mark on the hull where the bulkhead needed to go.

I started with a piece of cardboard cut to somewhat oversized dimensions and cut by eye to an approximate curve, then fitted it and scribed the cardboard to match the shape of the hull.

Satisfied with the rough pattern, I transferred the shape to a piece of 3/16″ pattern plywood and cut it out.  Then, over a couple fittings, I scribed and cut this template to fit the hull in the required location.  I left the template over-height and over-long so I could eventually mark the bulkhead for its final height and transverse width in place, level, and plumb.  I held the template in place with some hot glue blocks and clamps, and cut a measuring stick to 19.25″  to ensure that the bare minimum space for the stove was provided in all areas.  The forward (original) bulkhead in the galley was slightly out of plumb and out of square, so the width of the space increased as one measured closer to the hull, which provided a bit of additional room in the final analysis.

Next, I transferred the pattern to a piece of 12mm okoume and cut it to fit before setting it up plumb in the boat, clamped to the glue blocks to hold it.  To help with layout and measuring, I leveled across the boat from the port bulkhead, where there was already a countertop cleat installed, and installed a temporary cleat on the stove side; this cleat was only to give me a solid reference point from which to mark the proper height and level on the new stove bulkhead, as well as set the course for the remainder of the galley construction.  From this reference, I could get a tick mark and then arrange a level on the new bulkhead to mark its final height.

The plane of the new bulkhead would likely extend across the center of the boat to form the engine room and remainder of the galley before intersecting with the port side, but as of yet I’d not worked out the final details of where one panel would end and the next begin.  There were various considerations, including how and where I planned to make access into the area beneath the galley and the engine room (though I planned substantial and easy access for both to the extent possible within the confines of the space).

For now, I made a few marks on the new bulkhead:

First, a plumb line even with the edge of the starboard forward galley bulkhead (furthest on the right in the photos below).

Then, a second plumb line, further outboard, to represent the location of the original longitudinal cabinet front, according to the ghost of the old cabinetry supports still visible on the aft side of the bulkhead (next line to the left in the photos below).

Finally, I made a mark closer to the hull, just at the top edge of the panel, to show the furthest-outboard point with enough height clearance for the stove, not necessarily accounting for the gimbal action; because the height of the stove itself was just under its width, I simply used my 19.25″ marking stick to provide an easy reference for this, though it was only a maximum-reference and wasn’t necessarily indicative of the back side of the eventual space (small mark closer to the outboard (left) edge of the panel in the photos below).

Next time, I’d work through some of the remaining questions, starting with the actual location of the stove mounts to ensure that the stove fit properly in the space and could gimbal as designed.

After installing new planer blades, I finished up the planing with three additional planks.

In the settee lockers, I cleaned up the wire bundles and secured the wires along their final routes on each side.

Next, I reinstalled the battery switch panel in the port after settee locker, then spent some time reconnecting all the wires that I’d removed and labeled earlier in the process.  Several wires run into the forward compartment would ultimately be connected to the battery banks, once I’d built the new battery locker at the forward corner of the settee.  I straightened the wire runs as much as possible and secured the various wire bundles around the panel, and in the space beneath the refer compartment in the galley.

With the wiring connections complete, it was time to finally install the settee berth tops.  I installed these with glue and screws.  It was too late in the day to finish the installation along the hull on each side, but next time I’d install tabbing to secure the plywood along the outboard edges.

 

With a pile of rough teak in my way in the shop, I decided to get a head start on planing and dimensioning.  During the morning, I planed 11 boards (various widths and lengths) down to the finished 3/4″ thickness, and straightened one edge to prepare for final dimensioning into whatever trim parts I needed as the project continued.  I still had several boards to go, but but the planer blades needed to be changed out so I left that for next time, when I’d also finish up the last three boards.

To begin, I moved the wire bundle in the port settee so I could access and paint the remainder of the locker, mostly the inside face of the plywood front face.  I forgot to take pictures of this.

I spent most of the day continuing work on the refer compartment in the galley.  I started with determining the position of the forward cleat at the back (outboard) edge of the space, using a square to figure out where the plywood panel needed to pass before the battery charger and inverter, then marking and installing a hardwood cleat on this line.  Then, I installed the horizontal cleats to support the “floor” of the locker, starting with the aft end and placing this cleat as low as it could go on the bulkhead to give the required width (i.e the same as previously determined on the forward bulkhead between the two vertical support cleats) before running into the curvature of the hull.

I transferred this height to the forward bulkhead with a level and a flat board cut to just shy of the overall width of the space, then installed a horizontal cleat there.  I finished up with the vertical support cleat on the aft side, tucked beneath the wire bundles exiting the after bulkhead.  All these cleats were just dry-fit at this point, till I was satisfied with how the whole space turned out when all was said and done.

Now I measured for and cut out a 12mm plywood panel for the back side (outboard) of the space, allowing cutouts for the existing wire bundles at the aft end as needed.  The panel passed closely by the charger and inverter, but I planned to provide ventilation holes in the panel. I also left the top edge a inch or so lower than the eventual countertop height, also to help promote ventilation.  This panel would be removable for future access to these components when needed.

Next, I prepared a plywood panel for the floor, after which I could test-fit the actual refer in place to ensure it fit as intended.  The aft (business) end of the unit featured ventilation grilles for the compressor, and I planned to accommodate these as needed with ventilation into adjacent compartments, including through the back (outboard) panel of the locker itself.

The owner reminded me that the fuel tank was located beneath the quarterberth, in the space just aft of the galley, and that he wanted to maintain access for tank removal should it be necessary.  Though the details had yet to work themselves out, there’d be adequate space for the tank removal through this part of the galley, especially if I continued making these immediate components removable, which was my intent.  There also remained access to some screws though the bulkhead (beneath the aft platform cleat) that secured the forward end of the tank in place.    It would also behoove the refer (and the engine room) to perhaps leave the top part of the aft bulkhead at or near its current  lowered height for better ventilation and access.  Answers to these issues would work themselves out as the other parts of the galley and engine room came into being in the coming days and weeks.

I made some reference marks and notations on the vertical back panel of the refer locker, and cut various access and ventilation openings in the panel as needed to accommodate the refrigerator venting and the electrical components.  There’d also be ventilation possible over the top of the panel, as well as beneath through the wiring space located under the floor of the compartment.

For the floor of the compartment, for extra strength and stiffness to better support the refer unit, I chose to laminate with epoxy a second, identical, layer of 12mm plywood to the first.  I secured the two panels together with a few temporary screws and some weight atop while the epoxy cured.

Finally, I coated the undersides of the settee berth panels with epoxy to prepare them for installation and provide some moisture resistance once installed.

I picked up where I left off last time, continuing work on the engine intake replacement.  I’d ordered a plug to replace the old intake valve at the top of the drive unit–316SS, since I could find no source for a bronze plug in the correct thread type (1/2″ BSPT)–and now I removed the old valve (this came out easily) and replaced it with the plug, which I coated first in thread sealant in part to help act as a corrosion barrier between the plug and the housing.  I set the valve aside for the owner’s parts box as it still functioned correctly, at least in a visual sense that I could confirm the valve closed all the way.

Moving on to the other part of the conversion–the new through hull–I cleaned up the backing pad and mounting hole as needed, and removed the bottom paint in way of the new installation.  Then, I secured the through hull from beneath, and threaded on the flange base from above to find out how much (if at all) I had to trim the through hull neck to allow proper installation.  The base threaded nearly all the way down, but I’d need to remove 3/8″ or so of the through hull threads, which I did next with a cutoff wheel down on the bench.

With the through hull cut to length and the threads cleaned up as needed to ensure the pieces mated correctly, I reinstalled the mushroom fitting from below and threaded the flange base into its final position, then, from above, drilled the through-bolt holes.  Removing all the hardware, I finished up the new holes from below with a countersink to allow the bolt heads to mount flush or below the surface.  After final cleanup, I installed the through hull and base permanently using 4200 sealant on the fitting, mounting bolts, and beneath the flange inside the boat.  I started outside the boat with the through hull well-coated in sealant, pressing it into the hole and securing it with tape, then, from inside the boat, threaded on the base till I could install temporary place-holder bolts from above, after which I returned to the outside to install the final bolts (bronze flathead machine screws), well-gooped with sealant, and thread in the through hull the rest of the way with a special tool.  Then, back inside once more, I secured the bolts with nuts and washers before cleaning up all the excess sealant in all areas and, finally, threading on the shutoff valve and hose barb to complete the installation.  Sometime later, once the adhesive sealant was fully cured, I’d come back and flush-fill the bolt holes on the outside.

After receiving an order of rough teak stock to be used for interior trim later in the project, I turned to the settee lockers, ready now for their final coating and the final steps before I could install the berth tops and continue construction.  With just a single wire on the starboard side, I could paint all surfaces inside the locker, but on the port side, with its large wire bundle secured as much as possible up at the top of the settee front, I’d need to complete the painting over two days, starting now with the hull and as many other surfaces as I could do while the wires were out of the way.

With the settees slowly coming together, one of the next focuses in the interior was going to be the galley construction, and to that end I spent some time going over the installation details for the new propane stove/range, to be installed in gimbal mounts on the starboard side of the galley, and the “portable” refrigerator/freezer the owner purchased to go in the old nav station to port.  I’d get to the stove and its required construction soon enough, but for now decided to cogitate the enclosure required for the refer on the port side, in part because it was a more (relatively) straightforward conception and also because I wanted to confirm beyond all doubt that the unit would fit as planned.  I’d done the measurements earlier to approve the fit in concept, but with the unit on hand and unpacked, it was time to find out for real.  The measurements all fit, but there wasn’t a lot of extra room in any direction.  The refer also needed some space around it for ventilation, some of which could be enhanced by openings in the panels when possible.

I started with the proposed countertop height off the existing sole, 36″, and made a level mark on the forward bulkhead in the space.  From that reference, I could start to work out the size of the space actually available, between the curvature of the hull, the height required to fit the refer, and the existing wiring and other installations in the space, and from there determine the other fixed points from which to work.  Matching the settees, I dry-installed a vertical cleat 1″ in from the edge of the bulkhead (so the face of the new cabinet would end up roughly 1/2″ inset, like the settee), then dry-installed a cleat at the countertop height.  All this work brought me to the end of the day, but next time I’d continue with a full dry-fit of the cleats and panels in this space before committing to the final installation.

In my habitual way, I started the day with a water wash and light sanding of the new tabbing around the main bulkhead and head.

While I was thinking of it, I installed hardwood bungs in the screw holes securing the settee fronts to their cleats.

Before finalizing the settees, I wanted to mock up the battery location so we could decide how best to proceed with that.  The owner wanted the batteries moved to a new location just aft of the main bulkhead to improve weight distribution, so I’d build a new locker to accommodate.  With a plywood template representing the battery width and overall height (including terminals and attached fuses), I first checked the available space in the intended area, against the main bulkhead outboard of the settee.  There was ample height in this location even with the “battery” held up above where a finished floor would be, plus some extra room for wiring and adjustments.  I planned to keep the bottom of the locker as low as possible, which, because of the curvature of the hull, would start right where the settee front met the hull and the main bulkhead, just below the edge of the template.

During construction to date, I’d held out a bit of hope that one battery might fit inside the settee, to save space in the main cabin.  To this end, I checked the battery height inside the port settee, just outboard of the location above.  With the curvature of the hull, however, there was nowhere near enough clearance for the battery and terminals in this location, unless the battery was tipped on its side (or somewhere off-vertical).  With all the existing wiring running through this space, this was not an ideal location unless the battery might fit easily.

The four batteries could fit in two different orientations in the space in the main cabin.  In one option, I aligned the batteries  in a longitudinal orientation, side by side across the beam of the boat, with the fourth turned 90 degrees at the aft end.  This configuration pushed the potential battery box out to about centerline, and the eventual box around the mast would tie in fairly well with this when all was said and done.

For the second possible orientation, I placed three batteries in a transverse direction, with their long sides parallel to the bulkhead, and the fourth battery closer to centerline along the short edges of the other three.  This used less space across the width of the cabin than the first option, and the batteries were less intrusive into the cabin.  In a last-minute eureka moment, I thought it might be nice to clip the aft corner at an angle, reducing the footprint, assisting in securing the batteries in the space, and making a cleaner overall look.

In either  option, the battery box would become an additional cushioned seat at the same height as the adjacent settee.  After discussions with the owner, he chose the second option, which I also thought was the far better alternative, with the angled corner as shown in a few of the photos just above.  I’d work on building this box in the near future.

The new battery location meant that two of the existing cables connected to switches on the under-settee switch panel needed to be lengthened, as these cables had originally run just to the old battery bank located beneath the port settee.  Because the switches were bolted through the panel and needed to be removed to access the terminals, now was the time to make a change, while I could easily work with the panel out and on the bench.  Using a long length of battery cable recycled from the original installation (a jumper that had led from the port bank to the starboard bank by way of the forward cabin), I prepared two new sections, leaving one end raw for now but long enough to reach the new battery locker, and installed these in place of the two short originals.  Now this panel was ready to be reinstalled whenever the locker paint was completed, so I could reconnect all the wires while access was at its best.

The owner asked me to replace the existing spin-on type fuel filter with a new turbine/cartridge filter.  With galley construction coming up soon on the list, there was no better time than now, with access as good as it would ever be, to make the switch.  The existing location seemed like it would work fine for the new filter as well, with ample room for the filter, bowl drainage, and no better nor more accessible location likely to make itself known with time.  The swap was straightforward, and the existing hoses reached the new filter nicely.  I secured the filter through the bulkhead with machine screws and nuts.  I planned to build an overhead access hatch in the galley counter/lockers when the time came to provide access for removing the filter element when needed, since overhead clearance was otherwise tight.

Continuing with the engine intake replumbing, now was also the time to install the new intake through hull.  I cut a backing plate to fit from 1/2″ G-10, then determined the mounting location in the engine room, a bit forward of the existing sink drain, and drilled through the hull.  Then, I installed the backing plate in epoxy adhesive, leaving it to cure overnight.

Finally, I made final preparations in the settee lockers, temporarily securing wire bundles out of the way and cleaning the surfaces as needed, then applied a coat of epoxy-based primer to all the fresh tabbing throughout both lockers, something I do as a matter of course to avoid curing problems with one-part paints over fresh epoxy and the final step before I could paint the lockers with their final coats.

With an unavoidable absence planned later in the week, I worked on New Year’s to make up the time and keep making progress.

To begin, I cleaned and sanded the recent work on the main bulkhead, removing paint from the aft side of the bulkhead to prepare for tabbing, and lightly sanding the epoxy fillets and filler left from when I installed the small plywood bulkhead patches.  The small bulkhead beneath the marine toilet needed some attention also to close a large gap and weak tabbing, so I prepared this area too.  Afterwards, I cut tabbing to fit as needed, applied some additional thickened epoxy to clean up the earlier filler and fillets, and to make a new fillet at the head platform, then wet out and installed two layers of tabbing (on each side of the main bulkhead) and a single layer on the head platform.

Next, I used the battery switch panel that I’d removed from the port after settee locker earlier to mark its own outline on the hull so I could install new hardwood blocks for securing the panel.  I secured the new blocks with epoxy adhesive.

Continuing with a punch list of work required before I could paint the settee lockers–itself a job I had to complete before I could install the berth tops–I installed a series of wire tie mounts throughout the spaces on both sides, both to eventually secure known wires, as well as for future possibilities.  These mounts are best installed before paint, as otherwise the paint has to be spot-removed at each location.

That was about all I could do with the settees for the moment, so, changing tacks, I turned to the engine intake.  The owner had requested that I install a new through hull fitting for the engine intake, as its current setup brought cooling water in through the Yanmar SD20 saildrive drive leg.  I planned to do the through hull work before I started building the new galley, and with that coming up soon, now was a good time to get into the cockpit locker and access the hose connection at the drive leg, and also see what exactly the situation was there so I could block off this intake as needed.  First, I had to remove some gear from the locker, along with the mostly-disconnected small LPG locker that would no longer be needed (and was also on my list to remove), leaving a stub of the LPG drain hose attached to its skin fitting for now (it would require a plug later).

The engine intake hose connected to a valve fitting on the top of the drive leg.  I removed the hose easily enough, and contemplated the fitting.  The T-shaped handle suggested a valve, but it was too tight to turn by hand.  Tentatively, with a wrench, I was able to turn the fitting, but, not versed on the specifics of this particular water cock, I wasn’t sure at first whether it was working correctly, so I did some research to satisfy myself.   Apparently the fitting is such that it requires a large number of turns to close (it’s a gate valve), so what I had experienced was normal, and the fitting could be closed completely.

In any event, I had a better idea what I was dealing with, and a start on how to secure it going forward.  I’d return to the locker soon to finish up this part of the job and also clean up the sanding dust from earlier parts of the project.

Getting started, I lightly sanded the tabbing on the settee divider bulkheads.  Then I marked and trimmed the port settee top to its final size.

With both settee tops cut and fitted, I laid out a pair of large access hatches on each side, then cut out the openings. (Top row:  port side; bottom row:  starboard side)

Next, I cut and installed, with glue and screws from beneath, hardwood cleats around each opening to support the hatches.

Back in the boat, I installed a pair of hardwood support cleats on the divider bulkheads–one cleat on each side of each bulkhead to provide a wide and secure bearing surface.

A few details remained to complete in the locker areas before I could think about installing the berth tops permanently.  I’d address the list in the coming days, but for now I turned to a small repair at the main bulkhead, where earlier I’d cut away the lower section for better access while working on the new mast step structure.  Now, I prepared a plywood patch (made from two laminated layers of 12mm plywood) to fill in the opening, and also cut circles of plywood to fill in a pair of old holes above leftover from (it looked like) an old foot pump for the head sink.  I installed these plywood patch pieces with a thickened epoxy adhesive–you can’t see the plywood in the circular holes, but it’s there, covered with a skim of the adhesive.  I filleted around the base of the bulkhead patch, but these areas would require a bit of dressing up before I could tab over the whole repair in the near future.

I started off by giving the new tabbing a quick wash and light scuff with sandpaper, which prepared the area for whatever was next.

I continued by gluing and screwing the top support cleat to the port side, along with the vertical cleat to support the port side divider bulkhead.  I’d already cut the basic template for this bulkhead, so now I scribed the base to fit the hull and, after a satisfactory test-fit with the template, transferred the shape to the final bulkhead, which I secured to the support cleat with screws so I could mark and trim the top edge level with the rest of the structure.

Once I’d trimmed the top edge, and cut a large opening in the panel to allow for wire runs from the battery selector panel that would be mounted aft of the bulkhead, I permanently secured the bulkhead with glue and screws to the support cleat, and epoxy fillets where the bulkhead met the hull.  I originally installed a hot glue block on one side of the bulkhead, to hold it in place, but determined I could remove the block and hold the bulkhead successfully with just a bit of glue at the very top corner where it met the hull, which meant I could finish off the fillets now.  On the starboard side, I used leftover epoxy to finish off the fillet where that bulkhead had been supported temporarily with a glue block.

I cut strips of 6″ tabbing to fit, then installed them on both divider bulkheads–one layer on each side of each bulkhead.

I recycled the template from the starboard berth top to use on the port side, flipped over as needed.  I scribed a line to match the hull and cut the pattern to fit.  Then, satisfied, I transferred the pattern to 12mm okoume and cut out the actual berth top (leaving a bit of extra to overhang for later trimming), catching the port side up with the progress to starboard.