First thing, I removed the port engine room panel, releasing it from the tabbing on the aft side.  The part came away cleanly, leaving only some tape residue on the fiberglass.

On the starboard side, I lightly sanded the epoxy-filled seams between the plywood, then laid out and cut a large 11″ x 22″ opening for the locker access, the largest I could fit in the space.

To support the final panel for the front of the galley/engine room, I planned two vertical posts, one on each side of the opening.  Earlier, I’d glued up two blanks for the purpose, each from two pieces of 2-3/8″ wide stock.  Starting with the starboard side, I cut the post to appropriate length, leaving it a bit above the bottom of the cabinet and cutting an angle for clearance and appearance.  With a couple temporary screws, I tacked it in place, leaving 3/4″ exposed inside the engine room opening, and determined where the removable longitudinal engine room panels (running from the aft bulkhead forward to close the engine room off from the sink area) would land on the new post.  Then, I removed it and, down on the bench, eased the two inside edges, then installed a support cleat for the removable panels before reinstalling the post permanently with glue and screws.  The top of the post butted against the base of the countertop support beam above.

The original plywood panels that had formed the removable bulkhead were too short now, so I cut new ones from some 9mm plywood I had on hand.  These panels slipped into the existing cleats on the aft end of the space, and rested against the new cleat at the aft end of the new post, secured with screws.  As with the original, I left access at the forward end for the raw water intake hose to lead to the water pump.  With the panels cut to fit satisfactorily, I removed them for safekeeping and for some paint.

I repeated the post installation on the port side of the engine room, first installing the port panel with screws into the support post on the refer compartment, and a single removable screw through the tabbing at the base.  On this side, I did not use any glue on the post, securing it only with screws so the port panel could remain removable.  I did decide to hide the screws behind bungs, however, as I felt the circumstances requiring removal of the panel would be few and far between, if ever, and if necessary bungs could be removed with minimal impact.  I ran the bolt securing the main galley cross beam to the port post through the plywood as well; this would be covered with trim later.  I installed bungs in all the screw holes surrounding the engine room opening.

With a template panel cut just shy of the width of the opening, I scribed as needed so I could size the final panel. At the base of the opening, I installed a final cleat across the space to secure the base of the removable panel.   While I gave the glue time to set up (I used no screws in this cleat), I chiseled flush all the bungs around the opening, then went down and, using the template, cut the final panel from 12mm plywood.

To secure this panel, I used six threaded inserts set into the vertical posts, eventually to receive thumbscrews for tool-less access to the space.  For now, I used a few short machine screws to hold the panel while I marked the top edge for final trimming.

To finish up the day, I applied two-part epoxy primer to the new tabbing inside the engine room.

To begin, I finished up the remaining three settee locker door assemblies that I’d started last time.

In the galley, I had a couple small jobs in the refer compartment to take care of.  Over the past weeks, I’d been thinking of how to secure the portable refrigerator in place, and with sturdy handles on the case it made sense to strap it down to the base platform, so I’d ordered some stainless steel straps for this purpose, and planned to use them with some strap eyes that I recycled from the previous battery storage trays on this boat.  I bolted the strap eyes to the platform near the edges, installing the nuts and washers in recesses on the bottom side so the platform would still sit on the support cleats, and test-fit the straps; it would be tight clearance against the bulkhead on the forward side once installed, but I thought it would work itself out, as there was reasonable access on the aft side.  For now, I did this work in the cockpit, where I’d stored the fridge, but once I had countertops underway in the galley I planned to set the unit in place for good.

Making the port section of the galley removable for access to the fuel tank and surroundings had proved to be an ongoing challenge, since the entire space was something that I was conceiving even as it was built.  It’s the nature of this work.  So it wasn’t surprising that I found myself wanting to make a small change to the longitudinal panel defining the refrigerator compartment.  As it stood, the panel was removable, but it was a tight and awkward process around my vertical galley support beam and with the overhanging bridgedeck,  and as things had come together I decided to split the panel into two sections, with the post as the divider.  This would make removal much easier in the future.

With the panel still in place, I marked the position where I wanted to make the cut–just aft of the two machine screws from the engine room securing the post to the panel–then removed the panel and cut it down on the bench.  While I had it there, I plugged the bolt holes leftover from my initial galley cross beam concept, then cut and installed support cleats on the inside upper edge to help support the countertop above.  Then, I reinstalled the panels as before, except for adding three new screws into the forward side of the small after panel where it met the vertical support post.  The end result was just as rigid and strong as it had been before, but now it would be easier to remove these sections when and if necessary.  Finally, since I thought I was done with access to the wiring chase beneath the area, I reinstalled the refer floor.

Using the thin plywood patterns I’d recently made for the front of the engine room, I cut two new panels from 12mm plywood:  the starboard panel incorporated the short section traversing the engine opening itself, with a separate, smaller panel to port.  To support and secure the seam between the new panel and the existing bulkhead on the starboard side, I installed a wide cleat with glue and screws from behind.  Then, with temporary fasteners, I secured these in place to check the fit; I’d left the top edges intentionally long so I could mark the proper height in place.  In keeping with the removable port galley concept, the narrow panel on the port side would also remain removable should the post and lower section of the refer/wiring compartment ever need to be removed for access.

After marking the proper height of the panels, and making marks on the hull for alignment later, I removed them for final trimming and preparations for installation.  The L-shaped starboard section would be permanently affixed, but the port section would remain removable (though actual need to remove this panel would occur seldom, if ever).  To help secure the lower edge of the removable section, as well as tie it in with the bottom section running across the engine space, I planned to install tabbing from the engine room side, but in such a way that it wouldn’t bond to the plywood of the removable section.  For this, I applied masking tape over the edges and back side of the panel, which would give me the mold release needed.    At the flush seam on the starboard side, I sanded a small chamfer on each piece to form a little V-profile when the sheets were abutted, which would give a place for epoxy filler to smooth the seam.  Just before installation, I coated the bottom edges of the plywood with epoxy to protect them where they met the hull.

For final installation, I secured the starboard panel first, with epoxy to bed against the hull and waterproof glue and screws to secure it to the cleat on the vertical seam.  I put a couple temporary screws in the section where I planned to cut the access door later (the door opening would be somewhat larger than my mockup, as large as possible in the given space), and some permanent screws as needed to secure the piece to the cleats.  I installed the port panel dry, with just a couple temporary screws.

Once the panels were firmly in place, I applied epoxy fillets to the joints where they met the hull, then installed tabbing set in epoxy resin to finish things off.  (I’d previously sanded and cleaned the faying surface on the hull for this.)  I applied the fillet and fiberglass right over my tape-protected port bulkhead, trusting that the part would release later once the epoxy had cured overnight.

With the engine room/galley front finally in place, I took a moment to re-secure the wiring through  the engine room, which mounting I’d partially disconnected during the installation of the support beams earlier.  I also led the wiring for the AC outlet and propane controls–which in the original galley had been mounted in front of the stove–back up to the aft end of the engine room near some existing wiring for eventual installation in a new upper galley cabinet face there when the time came, as the galley as it had finally come together didn’t leave adequate or user-friendly room for these installations in the panel beneath the sink, particularly since increasing the size of the locker door opening was paramount, and actually the new location would probably be better in all ways anyway.  I also mounted a terminal block feeding the engine room light to the aft bulkhead; the light would get installed on the underside of the countertop once complete.

To round out the day, I chiseled away the excess bungs from the settee cabinets.  These cabinets would soon be sanded in preparation for priming and painting.

Starting the day on the early side with a planned early departure for an appointment, and with some detail questions at large regarding the galley, I decided to finish up some work on the settees in the meantime.  To support locker door catches on all the locker doors, I needed to install a backer block along the top edge of each opening–something I never think to do before installation–so now I cut a series of blanks from 3/4″ square stock (offcuts from previous milling operations) to span the top edges of all the locker openings.  Over the course of the morning, a two or three openings at a time because of the number of clamps I had immediately available, I glued these cleats in place at the top inside edges of each opening, choosing to cover the entire length to give me options for mounting hardware later.  When the glue cured enough, I removed the clamps and moved on to the next set of openings, ending up with the final three by the end of my day.

I began with the upper cabinets purposely so I could work on the locker doors in the lower cabinets without clamps in the way; as I worked through the locker doors, I continued gluing those cleats on all the other settee locker openings.

Previously, I’d cut the two blanks required for these doors:  the 12mm plywood “inserts” forming the basis of the doors, and the larger, overlapping panels which would be upholstered and form the visible component.  Now, with hinges on hand, I wanted to hang the inserts, then work on installing the upholstery panel blanks.

To hold the blanks in place in the openings, I installed some scrap wood spanning the openings, temporarily tacked in place with dabs of hot glue from behind.  Then, setting the blanks in place, I installed the hinges to both parts of each opening.  With a simple plywood template to align the position of each hinge consistently, I worked my way through the six locker openings.

I removed all the locker doors to bring them down to the bench for the rest of the operation, but while I was still in the boat I installed hardwood bungs in all the fastener locations on the settee backrests and upper cabinets.

Down on the bench, I prepared to install the two sections of the locker doors together.  For this, I used threaded inserts installed in the “insert” part of the door (the hinged sections), to which I installed the upholstery panels with machine screws and 1/8″ spacers between the two parts, which would hold them apart to leave room for the thickness of the upholstery and backing that would eventually wrap the panels.  I used a simple alignment template to drill pilotholes, then installed the threaded inserts and secured the pieces together for storage.  I completed three of the assemblies before I had to depart for the day.

 

The brass adapter fittings I’d ordered for the stove connection had arrived, and I checked them to ensure they would do what I needed.  There was one threaded adapter to convert the female 1/2-14 BSP threads on the stove fitting to 1/2 NPT female, then a second fitting adapting between the NPT threads and the gas flare fitting required to mate with the hose.  After I’d ordered these last week, I also heard back from the stove manufacturer, who also suggested that the only way to adapt between the stove and the US hose ends was with the very pieces I’d ordered, so this was good confirmation that this was the most efficient (and only) way to make this connection.

Over the weekend, I purchased a plastic trash can that I hoped would work in the port galley, and now I proceeded with some of the installation details.  The can needed to pass through the lower shelf I’d built, and extend into the open space outboard of the fuel tank to the point that the top of the can would be below countertop level.  After confirming that the can would indeed, fit, I began the day working on its installation details.  I’d eventually configure the countertop to allow access from the top for normal disposal.

The initial cross-beam arrangement I’d worked out last time wouldn’t allow the port section of the galley to be as removable as I’d planned, so next I removed the cleat I’d installed to support the aft end of the beam and turned to the beam’s new location just inboard of the edge of the port aft galley bulkhead.  I squared the beam to the transverse cross beam, and made layout marks at each end.  I planned to support the beam with a cleat at the aft end, and inside a notch in the transverse beam at the forward end.

Similarly, I laid out for a second cross beam on the starboard side of the engine.  The original engine room layout had a pair of removable panels enclosing the engine on this side, which helped provide access to that part of the engine for maintenance, and I intended to replicate that arrangement in some form, so for that and other reasons, such as sink placement and general support needs, it made sense to align the beam with this bulkhead location.  There were two pair of cleats mounted to the after bulkhead that supported the aft ends of these removable sections, so they easily demarked the correct location.  As with the port beam, I squared the beam location to the transverse beam and made the necessary marks.

Next, I removed the cross beam and, down in the shop, notched it to accept the longitudinal beams.  I also cut back the starboard end a bit so the beam would take up less space in way of the sink location, so the sink could be mounted closer to the edge of the countertop.

Next, I installed the port beam, cutting and fitting it as needed between the beam notch and the aft bulkhead, where I installed a support cleat and one screw to pin the beam to the cleat below.  At the cabin end, I secured the beam with an additional support timber below, and some screws driven in from the transverse beam.

I repeated the process with the starboard beam.

The sink fit nicely in the space aft of the stove, and with the slight modification to the cross beam nudged up fairly close to the edge of the countertop for ease of access.  Final sink placement would eventually account for faucet and drain location, particularly since there was an overflow drain at the upper edge of the sink (against the forward edge in these photos), installation details of which I was as yet unsure, but might require a bit more clearance.  This was a substantial sink bowl and would offer good access from all angles, with much of it inboard of the bridgedeck overhang (this is hard to show in photos but is most visible in the final photo below).

With the basic galley layout and construction now established and complete, I moved on to the vertical panels to enclose the space at the forward end.

My general plan for this was fixed panels on each side of the engine room (the starboard side being a continuation of the stove bulkhead already in place), with a removable center section for engine room access.  I’d initially (last time) thought of making a single pattern for the space, then dividing it up, but not only did this now seem unnecessary and undesirable, the large single template panel was too large to fit into the boat.

With the edges of the engine room now logically and conveniently divided by virtue of the longitudinal countertop beams above, which I’d just installed, it made much more sense to template the pieces separately.  So I cut template pieces slightly oversized to use on each side of the engine room, then, through the usual means of scribing and recutting, trimmed them down to fit against the hull beneath, and tightly against the vertical bulkheads on either side.  I dropped plumb lines aligned with the centers of the countertop beams above and cut the templates to this mark to define the edges of these panels and also the opening into the engine room.  I temporarily secured these templates with a couple screws into the support members and, in one instance, to a temporary support stick I glued to the back of the adjacent bulkhead.

Next, I templated and then cut a “final” template to demark the lower edge of what would be the fixed portions of the bulkhead, running across the forward end of the engine room between the two vertical panels.  This left a large opening for engine access, and a panel to which the companionway ladder could be secured (or the ladder could perhaps be a separate piece running past the countertop to the base of the companionway itself, conceptually like the construction ladder I was using now.  In the final construction, I planned vertical supports on each side of the opening, largely to accept and support the removable panel.

On the starboard side, I laid out for a locker opening, shown here as a 10″ x 14″ opening.  In this iteration, I located the opening to account for the depth of the sink above, as well as potentially space for the propane controls and an AC outlet that had been mounted in the original galley, though these might also make sense to relocate to a new vertical locker panel above the countertop somewhere for better access depending on their space requirements behind the bulkhead, vis-à-vis the sink.  The locker opening shown could be enlarged somewhat in the vertical direction, and somewhat less so in a horizontal direction.

Now that the new cleats were secure to the hull, I could go ahead and install the new bulkhead across the old quarterberth, after first painting the small area just aft of the bulkhead location to fill in the section I’d previously left unpainted.  I secured the bulkhead to the cleats on both sides with pan head screws, as the entire bulkhead would remain removable should major access be required to this space.

Next, I cut and installed a support cleat for the lower shelf, running across the bulkhead from the existing engine room cleat/bulkhead to the cleat located on the hull.  For now, I ran the cleat in a single piece across the space, but I marked it where it passed over the seam of the access panel in the bulkhead so I could cut it later and keep the panel removable.

Using a cut-down section of the original platform as a template, I cut a new panel to fit the space.  The new panel required a bit of trimming on the inboard edge, and afterwards I marked it roughly at the edge of the fuel tank so I could cut the panel into two pieces to make removal easier for access to the fuel tank and other spaces in the future.  I installed a support cleat (not shown in the photos) on the underside of the inboard shelf panel to support the seam, and secured these panels with screws to hold them in place, while maintaining easy removability/  I also removed and cut the support cleat on the bulkhead, then reinstalled the three pieces permanently with glue and screws.

At the owner’s request, I planned for a garbage can beneath the countertop in the outboard section of this space, where the can could conceivably extend down into the open space adjacent to the fuel tank.  I’d find a can somewhere to fit, then make any cuts accordingly a little later.

Now I reinstalled some of the support structure around the refer compartment so I could lay out and install support cleats for the countertop.  After making some initial layout marks, I dry-installed a full-length cleat across the space, and as far inboard as the edge of the similar cleat on the starboard side that I’d installed earlier.  I’d initially determined the countertop height starting with the port side, some weeks earlier, as I worked to enclose the refrigerator, and this height, which at the time I determined was roughly an inch lower than the original counter, drove the rest of the layout, including the stove enclosure and that aft cleat on the starboard side.  That cleat never looked quite right after the fact, but I’d checked its level across the boat a number of times, and from the supports on the port side, and it didn’t help that the ghost of the original cleat on the bulkhead was clearly out of whack, making the new cleat look odd, and also higher than expected, though I knew from the port side that I’d lowered the original height.  This bothered me, but it was level athwartships, and seemed to coordinate correctly with the other layout, so I figured it would work itself out.  And indeed, it did.

When I laid out and installed the new cleat across the port side, double- and triple-checking the level across in as many dimensions as possible, it turned out that the new cleat met the old one approximately 1/2″ lower.  This led to some additional detailed checking of the starboard cleat’s position, which I eventually determined was indeed level athwartships, but was mounted just that bit too high.  This explained everything–the impression that the countertop was higher than I thought it was, and the idea that the cleat had never been quite right in (till now) undefinable ways.

After confirming that everything else was still in proper agreement with the initial early height reference points and every which way, I determined that my layout was correct from the onset, but somehow I’d installed that cleat just too high.  All I could do now was blame the 4′ level that I had used this cleat’s installation, which level had started seeming wonky when I was laying out the settees around the same time too (that level had since been discarded and replaced with a new one).  In any event, fortunately the fix was an easy one to remove the cleat and reinstall it at the correct height, which happily was the same as the new cleat I’d just installed (as well as everything else).  Once I’d reinstalled the cleat correctly, everything tied in well, which I checked with every level I had and in as many directions as I could across the boat and fore and aft and athwartships.  Using the bottom edge of the vertical panel that once defined the edge of an upper galley locker, above the engine room, I determined the new cleat was just under 1-1/2″ lower than the original countertop, meaning the new countertop (at 1/2″) would end up 1″ lower than the original, which was what it should have been all along.

Once I’d determined that the new aft cleat was correct, and had puzzled through the other inconsistency, I removed the new cleat as well and cut it as needed at several places to allow removal of the entire quarterberth bulkhead (if needed) and the smaller access panel above the fuel tank, then reinstalled the now-four pieces with glue and screws.  This completed the basic layout and position of the countertop.

Next, I installed the refrigerator panel, then installed the support beam across the engine room opening, double-checking its position with all the other supports before bolting it in place at both ends.

I’d prepared two smaller laminated beams to help support the countertop across its width in some way.  Since I wanted to make the countertop aft of the refer compartment (across the former quarterberth) removable individually, as part of the removable aspect of that section of the boat, I determined one of the beams needed to be located there, so I pressed on with the installation details.  I cut it to length (leaving space around the bolt securing the main transverse beam ahead of it), notched the aft end to fit around the after support cleat, then bolted the forward end to the refer panel (these would be easily accessible to maintain the removable qualities of this area).  To support the aft end, I fashioned a little cleat that fit beneath the beam; I had to split this across the seam of the access panel as well, because of where the beam had to end up, but this was of little matter.  In the end, the access panel remained removable with ease, as shown.  I also included a photo showing the large ventilation opening I’d previously cut in the section of the refer panel facing the engine room.

(Actually, reviewing this for publication I realized that maybe this beam wasn’t in a workable place after all, as the bulkhead wouldn’t be removable if the main countertop extended past the bulkhead seam.  I might have to change this–a problem for a new day.)

I expected to install a second longitudinal beam somewhere to starboard of the engine, but where and how, exactly, depended on a couple other things, such as sink placement and some existing removable panels defining the starboard edge of the engine room, so for the moment I waited on this.  Instead, I started work on the forward panel to enclose the space, which would be partially fixed and partially removable to access the engine.  To begin, I removed a section at the aft end of the cabin sole, so this wouldn’t be in the way of the new cabinet, then, with some basic measurements, began a simple plywood pattern to template the space.  This brought me to the end of the day.

Overnight, I got thinking of the propane lines and connection to the stove, and wanted to check the old lines I’d removed to see if they were of appropriate length and condition to be reused, since the new propane locker would be further away than the original.  This got me into briefly removing the regulator and valve assembly from the old plastic locker, as well as removing the two hoses, neither of which would be long enough in the new installation.

I also checked the connection on the back of the stove, and as I’d feared, it was something different than the normal US standard, which normally would have a male 3/8″ flare connection to mate with the female ends on all standard hoses.  The connection on this stove featured female 1/2-14 BSP threads, as indicated on the plastic shipping plug.  This led me down a rabbit hole of searching for an adapter fitting that would be appropriate, as most standard adapter fittings found at the usual sources were all intended only for the standard thread profile.  I eventually found and ordered one possible candidate (requiring a combination of two fittings) so I could check the threads on hand, and also contacted the stove company looking for their suggestions (as of this writing, I had not heard anything back yet).

With that situation at least moving towards resolution, I spent most of the rest of the day working on the port aft corner of the galley.  I needed to close off the old quarterberth, while striving to maintain reasonable future access to the fuel tank for service and even removal.  My first step–I thought–was to replace the existing warped plywood quarterberth platform with a new piece of plywood, and I started down this road, but soon realized that what I actually needed first was the vertical bulkhead/divider, onto which the platform would eventually rest.  This would give me several possible avenues to maintain the access as needed.

With the old platform in place just to help with layout, I extended the plane of the existing bulkhead across the space to the hull on the port side, and made some reference marks for use during templating.  Then, I cut and installed a support cleat on the edge of the inboard bulkhead.

In the usual way, and starting with basic measurements of the space, I created a rough plywood template, which I used to scribe the hull and overhead as needed, then transferred these to another piece of template material to better ensure the final fit before cutting the piece out of the 12mm plywood.  I left spaces for some of the existing wires to run, and, in the center portion of the fuel tank space, let the bulkhead hang down a bit to provide room for a support cleat for the new platform/shelf to be installed.  With the bulkhead in the proper position, I marked the edge where it met the hull so I could install some support cleats there, which I did next, securing them with thickened epoxy adhesive and a dab or two of hot glue as insurance while the epoxy cured overnight.

Though I planned to keep this new bulkhead (and things being built using it as a basis) completely removable if needed, to provide more route access I built in an access hatch over the fuel tank, which, when removed, would allow access to the cleanout and fittings at the aft end.  I cut out an appropriate section of the plywood, then installed hardwood support cleats on the aft side.

With a bit of time left in the day, but no immediate way to progress the galley construction while awaiting the epoxy cure time, I prepared several prefabricated fiberglass panels that I planned to use to build the new propane tank locker, so they’d be ready whenever I was ready to start building the locker, perhaps during future slack moments like this.  The first step with this material is always to sand the factory finish to prepare the fiberglass for additional bonding and paint work, which sanding I completed now and set the pieces aside.

I cleaned up the edges of the new battery compartment base, removing any epoxy squeezeout left from lamination, then trimmed the aft corner at 45° along the line I’d drawn during the initial layout.

Finally, using a scrap of teak I cut a large number of bungs to use in the settee construction, and eventually for trim work going forward.

To prepare for “final” installation of the newly-painted panels for the refrigerator enclosure (these panels were built to be removable for service later), I had a couple tasks to complete first, starting with leading a 2/0 negative battery cable for the house bank, running from an engine room shunt forward towards the eventual battery compartment.  I recycled one of the cables that had once led to the starboard battery bank, and snaked and secured it through the wire runs as needed, leaving the end in the forward port settee locker for now, along with other wires awaiting final and additional attention once the batteries were in place.

The electrical connection for the refrigerator was located on its aft side in this installation, and to prepare for this I installed a 12-volt receptacle in the vertical panel (I’d cut the hole earlier, before painting), and led a new wire from the existing terminal block, which was mounted on the forward end of the backing panel, around to the aft side, leaving enough wire there to allow the panel to be removed and the wires disconnected if needed.  Then, I installed the vertical panel, as well as the floor of the space.

While I was doing electrical-y things, I cut an opening through the galley countertop support cleat and led three existing wires through, and secured them to the aftermost bulkhead out of the way; cutting through the cleat meant the wires would be tight to the bulkhead and taking up less space when the countertop was installed. These would eventually be hidden inside an upper galley locker.  I also reinstalled a wooden cover panel for the engine panel and shore power outlet in the forward end of the cockpit; I’d removed this earlier in the project, thinking I might need access, but there was nothing in there that was related to anything I was working on in this project.

I test-fit the new inboard panel for the refer/engine room, and marked and cut the top to the correct (countertop) height.  Sometime later, I’d figure out how the forward end would interact with the bulkhead trim and corner handles and finish it off appropriately.

The additional bronze bolt and washers I needed for the chainplates had arrived, so I finished up the installation of the main chainplates on both sides.

This meant that I could also do the final installation of the forward upper settee locker panels with glue and screws.

I spent the afternoon in the galley, working on the main support beam and post to define the remainder of the galley and engine room lockers.  I clamped the 4′ laminated beam I’d built across the space so its end was tight and square to the new panel on the refer compartment (all level as it should be), and made a reference mark so I could strike a plumb line down to locate the support post, for which I measured, then cut the blank to the appropriate length so the horizontal beam could rest atop.  I temporarily secured the post to both the upper and lower sections of the refer compartment with some screws from the back side (having first removed the refer floor), ensuring it was properly aligned and plumb.

To secure the post to the top (removable) section of the port galley, I planned to use machine screws and threaded inserts.  Through the top section of the post, I drilled two 5/16″ holes, just far enough to dimple the plywood beneath for reference, then removed the panel so I could drill for and install the stainless steel inserts to accept 1/4-20 machine screws.  While the top panel was out of the way, I completed the final installation of the post to the lower panel (which was still intended to be removable, though would likely rarely or even never need to be) with glue and two 5/16″ bolts.

While I had the panel out, I laid out and cut a large ventilation opening in the section aft of the support post, which would communicate with the business end of the refrigerator compartment.  I forgot to take a picture of this, but it will show up the next time this panel makes it into the description.

Meanwhile,  to capture and eventually secure the horizontal beam, I installed a board on the aft side of the post, flush with the countertop height, with glue and screws, bringing me to the end of the day.

I had several jobs underway that couldn’t be “finished” just yet, whether because I was awaiting parts (additional fasteners for the chainplates), or inability to complete one thing was holding up completion of the next thing (i.e. the forward upper settee locker panels awaiting the chainplates’ completion, and the pending galley construction awaiting the paint completion in the refer compartment), but that hardly meant there was nothing to do.

I started with a couple small items, first lightly sanding the last coat of white paint on the galley parts to prepare for another coat later in the day, always my first task when in a finishing mode.  Then,  I re-routed a wire (for the CO detector) I’d recently led into the port upper compartment, where it had been led in the original interior, to the aft end above the galley, as the owner told me he didn’t think it needed to be where it had originally.  No time like the present.

I also used my plywood template to cut the actual upper panel for the refer compartment in the galley, and test-fit it (it fit well, though the after vertical cleat was out of the boat for painting, and the top edge would later be trimmed to the correct height in situ).  I set the panel aside for now to await its next step.

The clearance between the starboard mid chainplate and the new locker panel was a bit tight at the top, so I trimmed back the panel a bit as needed; this area, including the chainplate, would later be covered with trim work.

Down at the table saw, I trimmed the laminated posts and beams I’d glued up earlier to square and clean up the edges and prepare the pieces for use in the project.

Continuing at the table saw for a while, I prepared six plywood blanks, all from plywood offcuts, to fit the locker openings in the settee backrests.  I sized these so they’d fit inside the openings; these were the bases of the locker doors, which would also be cushioned backrests, and would eventually be hinged at the bottom.  Next, I cut six additional panels 1″ larger than the opening on three sides (the bottom side remained flush), which panels would later be cushioned and upholstered and  attached to the hinged base panels.  This project did a good job using up most of the leftover plywood pieces left from cutting some of the larger interior components.

To complete the upholstery panels, I cut a 2-1/2″ radius into the four corners, then rounded both sides of the panel and sanded smooth.  I ordered hardware to secure the two pieces together and set things aside for now. Note that the small exposed corner of the inset (hinged) panels, where the upholstered panel curves into the base, would be hidden in the final analysis by the bulk of the cushioning and upholstery wrapping the corner.

That all took quite a bit of time, so once complete, and since I had to leave the shop early for an appointment, it was time to apply the next (final) coat of semi-gloss white paint on the galley parts.

I used the time left in the day to start work on the battery locker, which would be built inboard of the forward end of the port settee.  I’d done some preparatory and layout work earlier, and now, with that basis in mind, I laid out the four battery mockups on a new sheet of plywood and, leaving a bit of additional room around them (using some thin plywood as a spacer between each “battery: and along the edges), as well as enough room around the inboard/aft edges for some support cleats for the sides, I cut two identical rectangles from the plywood, which I laminated together with epoxy to form a strong 1” thick base to support the batteries’ weight.  I planned to cut the inboard/aft corner at an angle, as I’d done in the mockup earlier, but would cut that only once the laminated panel was cured.

My first task was the contorting one of getting the wire bundle in the quarterberth secured to the new wire mounts beneath the gunwale, now that the paint was finished.  I also painted the small bulkhead at the aft end of the space, which had been tough to get to with the wires in the way before.  At the forward end, I still had to see where the wires would end up leading themselves and how the galley work would tie in, so I left that part of the bundle unsecured for now.

With most of my new bronze hardware on hand for the chainplates, I decided to install the after four, leaving the two new forward lowers for another time (none had ever been installed before and I’d need to cut slots through the deck).  Installing the two aft lowers wasn’t too bad, though on the port side, where the alignment of things was a bit different, it turned out to be awkward getting the lowest bolt in, as it was more or less aligned with the settee shelf, so I had to open up a new slot in the shelf on the fly.  I’d come back some later time to install the deck plates and bedding.

The main chainplates, or uppers, were a bit more difficult to install.  Though there was a substantial set of fiberglass knees for the chainplate forward of the main bulkhead, the original installation had bolted the chainplates through both, with wooden spacers to fill the 2-1/2″ gap between the bulkhead and knees.    I had no desire to change the original, so I installed the replacements the same way.  This ended up taking some time because the tiniest misalignment on one end, with spacers, backing plates, and five, 5″ bolts, turned into something more difficult at the other end, and it simply took much longer to get the bolts in place (particularly on the starboard side, which was the first one I tried) than one would think.  Otherwise, the process went smoothly enough, though I did end up ruining the threads on the end of one of the bolts, so I had to order a replacement since I’d ordered only enough for the job, as these bolts were expensive and otherwise unneeded stock around the shop.

I had to order 6″ bolts for the port side because of latent differences between the two sides, and these came from a different supplier, but later in the day they arrived and I had better (and faster) luck with this side–though I’d miscalculated the number of washers needed, perhaps because I didn’t account for using flat washers on both sides of each bolt, so I couldn’t finish the installation with what I had on hand. But all the holes were aligned, and I hoped to be able to finish the installation quickly with additional washers.

I’d hold off installing the forward set of upper cabinets till the chainplates were done, but now I could install the after set, after first taking a moment to cut an opening for an outlet box on the port side, to replicate what was in the original interior.  I also re-led the wiring for this box through a new hole into the electrical locker, as the originals were outside of the new locker.

In the galley, I decided to temporarily remove the bilge pump switch and two related gauges below from a small, original panel so that I could eventually reinstall these in the new galley cabinet.  I removed the wiring from each, labeling as needed, and removed these installations so I could remove the face panel as well; I planned to leave the adjacent battery switch panel in place, where it could be easily accessed through the new lockers once built, and since relocating it at all would involve more re-wiring work than it was worth.

Meanwhile, I started to clean up and secure some of the wiring run through the galley, which wiring had originally been secured beneath the old countertop.  Now, I resecured it to the new wire mounts along the aft bulkhead and elsewhere to direct various portions where they needed to go.  I spliced a new length of wire to the original fresh water pump wiring so I could extend it forward to the new location.  All this work was leading up to the continuation of the galley construction presently.  Additional work remained as the process progressed.

To wrap up the day, I prepped and painted, this time with white semi-gloss finish paint, the bulkheads and panels from the refrigerator locker.

The upper panels for the settee lockers were ready to go, but for now I held off installation to allow the paint a bit more time to cure (it was still a bit tacky), and I also planned to install the aft lower chainplates (at least) before the lockers were complete; although access would be possible and even easy afterwards, it was still easier now.  But I’d ordered the wrong size bolts for the chainplates, delaying their installation a bit till the proper size arrived.  In any event, not installing the settee panels wasn’t holding anything else up at the moment, so there was no harm in waiting.

Back at the quarterberth, I cleaned the surfaces and installed a series of wire mount bases along the gunwale, eventually to hold the wire bundle leading aft that had been beneath the old platform.  I cleaned up this bundle and removed the old wooden supports from the aft end, which had fallen off the hull earlier, then temporarily secured it near the forward end to hold it as much out of the way as possible while I painted the locker, from the aft end to the fuel tank.  I left the forward end as is for now pending some decisions and installations in the galley.  Once the paint was dry, and the adhesive securing the wire mounts had had adequate cure time, I could secure the wiring up along the gunwale out of the way, leaving the locker clear for the new propane locker and cockpit access, and for finishing off the galley at the forward end.

Speaking of the galley, it made sense now to paint most of the locker on the starboard side, aft of the stove and beneath the sink area, leaving a bit of it unpainted near the forward edge and in way of the new stove bulkhead where I would soon be installing the remaining bulkhead across to the port side.

On the port side, I removed the two panels forming the refer compartment so I could attend to some small details and prime and paint these panels.  This gave me a chance to re-secure an AC terminal block and junction box cover to the inside vertical panel of the space; this box had originally been installed on the forward bulkhead, and had been loose and awaiting a final home since.  I added a support cleat to the lower edge of the back (vertical) panel to help support the floor panel, and another cleat on the inside edge of the inboard panel for the same purpose.  All these panels would remain removable if needed, but worked together for mutual support.  At the inboard edge of the floor panel, I installed some small cleats that would provide support for a to-be-built front panel that would enclose the space.

Next, I added a vertical cleat to the aft end of the space, this cleat needed to capture the eventual front panel, and also to help support the countertop and lid for the space.  Eventually, through several steps that made themselves clear as each additional piece came into being, this cleat assembly grew to include a horizontal support for the aft end of the lid to the refer compartment, with an additional cleat behind for the fixed portion of the countertop, and all designed to be removable in a single piece for access to the fuel tank should it be needed.   I also wanted to leave the aft bulkhead at least partially open to promote additional ventilation for the refrigerator.

I glued what I could, including the 90° joint at the inboard corner, which I also secured with a through bolt for strength.  Once I’d built this support, I removed it again for the moment, to allow for some painting and to keep it out of the way till I was done in the quarterberth, but before I did I made a quick plywood template for the enclosure panel along the inboard edge, to be built soon and which would eventually incorporate additional open ventilation, plus a support system for the remainder of the galley/engine room construction.

This would be an at least partially visible, “finished” space (though the refrigerator would take up most of the space), and as such I planned to paint everything with the white paint intended for other parts of the cabin.  To begin, I applied white primer to the bulkheads as needed, then to the floor and back panels as well as the aft support cleat  I’d continue with a couple coats of semi-gloss white to finish these up before reinstallation.  This process would also give me time to finish up a couple wiring reinstallations through the space before I buttoned it up (though again, these components were designed to be removable for access with as minimal effort as possible).