Mostly done with the Galley refurb

[Barking Sands]

I did not want to break the bank redoing this 31 Senator galley. I thought about it for some time on ways to save money and do the refurb in ways that would be useful, but that I could do myself. As much as a wanted a Corian counter or other fancy things I just could not justify that much cost (for this boat). SO I opted for Lifeproof laminate tiles made to look like stone. Its all synthetic material and waterproof and very tough. Its also cheap. Material for the counter was around $60 plus the new wood underlayment which was $50. Added some Amazon products and it really kept the cost down. Total for the project was much less than $500 even factoring in the little things such as fittings, caulking etc.

I made this into a video. If you want to just see the finished product just skip to around the last third of the video. But I am very happy with how it came out. Its not perfect but for the cost it will be more than useable now.

My new motto for this Trawler is the 80/20 Trawler. Look up the 80 20 rule. It was discussed here several times. That rule also is expressed in axioms such as "Perfection is the enemy of good enough"
At least that is my new motto for things that are non mission critical. . But the 80/20 rule was thoroughly used in the refurb of this galley. I think its "good enough"

Unfortunately I have to occasionally battle my wife...who is a perfectionist.

Anyways I was real happy with the outcome and wanted to share with you guys who have all helped align and calibrate the path forward.

 

[ScottC]

Nice result!!

 

[Barking Sands]

Nice result!!

Thanks. I'm a decent mechanic...but a lousy carpenter. So I an happy with the results.

 

[Comodave]

Looks beautiful. In our last boat I made a counter out of Corian. It was very easy to do except it made a huge mess when I routed the Corian to size.

 

[ScottC]

Looks like somebody shook the snow globe ;-)

 

[Comodave]

Yes, it was hard to see when my wife set the dust collector down to shoot the photo. But solid surface works just like wood so it is easy to work with.

 

[Barking Sands]

Haha...that's quite a snow storm. I did look for Corian scraps but didn't find anything workable. Corian is really the perfect choice for a boat. But this was cheap and hides the imperfections. I'm not a good carpenter/woodworker.

 

[SaltyDogg]

Just watched the video, the Galley looks really nice. Great work!

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I went with Formica (or a competitor) for the counter. Propane stove and oven was pulled and the old stove area is now storage. I got a great deal on an induction stove top, so my project was also less than $500 for a galley remodel.

Wife is thrilled with new galley. Strange how that works. I could spend all day to re-torque the head and adjust the valves and get nothing. But a new toilet paper holder in the head -- that she really appreciates!

Barking Sands,

I see from your videos that you are a Ryobi One addict. Same here (but not to the same degree). I just bought the Ryobi 600 psi pressure washer. It has an attachment so that you can hook up a 2 liter pop bottle as the water source. I'm going to try it out to rinse the mud and guck off of the anchor chain when retrieving. I think 2 liters will be enough for 100' of chain. Might also work with Salt Away to quickly clean the windows. I'm drinking Pepsi for the first time in years to get my pop bottle.

 

[Barking Sands]

Just watched the video, the Galley looks really nice. Great work!

Thanks SaltyDogg. Much appreciated.

 

[Barking Sands]

I went with Formica (or a competitor) for the counter. Propane stove and oven was pulled and the old stove area is now storage. I got a great deal on an induction stove top, so my project was also less than $500 for a galley remodel.

Wife is thrilled with new galley. Strange how that works. I could spend all day to re-torque the head and adjust the valves and get nothing. But a new toilet paper holder in the head -- that she really appreciates!

Barking Sands,

I see from your videos that you are a Ryobi One addict. Same here (but not to the same degree). I just bought the Ryobi 600 psi pressure washer. It has an attachment so that you can hook up a 2 liter pop bottle as the water source. I'm going to try it out to rinse the mud and guck off of the anchor chain when retrieving. I think 2 liters will be enough for 100' of chain. Might also work with Salt Away to quickly clean the windows. I'm drinking Pepsi for the first time in years to get my pop bottle.

I studied your progress. It was one of the reasons I removed the stove. I am definitely a Ryobi Addict. Milwaukee too. Its ideal for boat work, which is mostly light duty. I have probably 20-30 tools. Only about three products I bought where total duds. The rest have been enormously useful. I have looked at that handheld pressure washer and thought about how I could use it. Boat washing is definitely one way. I had not thought of using it for anchor/chain washdown but thats a great idea.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

My latest galley improvement was a teak door on the cabinet panel across from the fridge. I have two shelves under the sink, but the top shelf is open clear up to the underside of the countertop. Wasted inaccessible space, containing only the backside of the galley outlet. The new door allowed me to put a surprisingly large waste can in there (by temporarily removing the shelf. The can is actually so large that it can't be removed through the door, only the full trash bag. No more garbage can getting knocked around on the galley floor. Another hit with the third mate.

 

[CharlieO.]

My latest galley improvement was a teak door on the cabinet panel across from the fridge. I have two shelves under the sink, but the top shelf is open clear up to the underside of the countertop. Wasted inaccessible space, containing only the backside of the galley outlet. The new door allowed me to put a surprisingly large waste can in there (by temporarily removing the shelf. The can is actually so large that it can't be removed through the door, only the full trash bag. No more garbage can getting knocked around on the galley floor. Another hit with the third mate.

Interesting with these smaller boats, garbage can placement can be problematic, and rewarding to solve.

I haven't solved it yet.....

 

[ScottC]

There was a galley sink project in my recent past, of which I'm particularly proud. I used Krion, which is similar to Corian. I designed the sink, but had a professional carpenter do the build in his shop...and then come install it, as I did not have the skills for this.


It was, in part, dimensioned to accommodate the plastic IKEA dish drying rack you see in the picture.

 

[Barking Sands]

Marco...the garbage can is something I'm mentally working on too. I think I have a solution. Convert a small undercabinet door to a straight pull out on tracks. I have a perfect sized door for that.


Scott...that sink and counter are top notch. Well above my skill level. I am always amazed at the kind of work a skilled carpenter can put out.

Love seeing all these improvements on aging boats.

 

[ScottC]

Trash Talk

Talking about trash made me think about sharing a strategy that might be useful for somebody (???) The solution below is delivered standard with Greenline 33's. I think it is a very clever way to handle the trash issue and make use of otherwise dead space.

If you have some dead space and a panel or removable drawer to access it, maybe this could be an option worth considering?

It's difficult to see in the picture below - but the red circle outlines a black "push-away" piece of counter top that reveals a "trash hole." There is a removable stainless steel collar under the push-away piece designed to hold very large plastic trash bags. I added the white knob to make it easier to access, but if done cleverly, you don't need a knob - you only need to push down in the right place to pop up the circular bit of counter top.

When we're cruising full time, this can hold about two week's worth of trash. In our case, we remove the filled trash bag from the access panel on the outside of the boat. The picture below showing the grocery bag is misleading. Where the grocery bag is would normally be filled with the large plastic trash bag.

While an exterior access panel may not be practical or simple for boats that do not already have it, perhaps there are other places, for example, in the galley where a panel or door could be made to access the dead space re-purposed to trash receptacle. Maybe it could even be something like removing a drawer to pull out the trash (???)


CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

 

[Barking Sands]

Scott...that's a great set up. 2 weeks worth of trash is crazy. Your boat is very very nice.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I looked at the through-counter trash hole, they didn't sit flush and I need all the counter space I can save. The one place it would really work with a big trash can would require cutting an access hole in the cockpit under the stairs. (Barking Sands will know where I'm talking about). My cupboard door was $75 and an easy project. About a "5 day" garbage can when we are careful not to take garbage on board.

 

[ScottC]

I looked at the through-counter trash hole, they didn't sit flush and I need all the counter space I can save. The one place it would really work with a big trash can would require cutting an access hole in the cockpit under the stairs. (Barking Sands will know where I'm talking about). My cupboard door was $75 and an easy project. About a "5 day" garbage can when we are careful not to take garbage on board.

Nice looking and clearly effective result!!