Galley again

Last weekend I cut out the worktop for the galley I used metal cutting jigsaw blades this time as the solid laminate quickly took the edge off the down cutting laminate blades that I used previously, in order to try and avoid chipping the top surface I marked out the laminate underneath and then cut from underneath effectively giving a down cut to the top surface. In order to make the pencil lines easier to follow I used masking tape they did not show up too well on the grey laminate. Once cut out I sanded the cut edges to improve the finish, I still need to make the cut out for the sink which will have to wait until I have it to hand. On Monday I fitted the worktop it just required a little bit of easing in the cut out for the bulkhead.

Once the worktop had been fitted I fitted some of the timber trim to the lockers which I had previously sanded and varnished at home, the lower locker will have to wait until the sink and worktop have been completed as the trim will need to be tied in with the fiddle rails also the internal arrangements for the crockery stowage  need to be completed before the trim can be completed in this area.

Worktop and some of the trim fitted

The next job was to address the fibreglass moulding which forms the galley area some of the fibreglass had been cut away to enlarge the opening which had left the top surface somewhat flexible as can be seen from the photograph most of the web along the front is missing. Also as refereed to previously the top of the moulding is not level either so I am aiming to level it as far as possible it won't be anywhere near perfect as the moulding is attached to the part bulkhead to which the port lower shroud chain plate is bolted and as it is securely fixed I have no desire to cut it all out and glass it all up again in any case the 12mm solid laminate is pretty rigid so it will be a case of plenty of thick adhesive to compensate.

The enlarged opening

To rectify the situation I decided to build up the web along the top with some 50mm by 5mm preformed fibreglass flat bar which I had left over from the cockpit locker project on Shuda, this material is extremely rigid but needs careful handling as the corners are a bit prickly good gloves are needed or you will be picking glass fibres from your hands all day, once it has been sanded it seems OK it is manufactured on a continuous moulding they call it a pullstrusion. The first piece was profiled to match the remaining part of the web and it was a tight fit length ways so it was just wedged in place and three pieces of fibreglass tabbing added to secure it. The piece of timber underneath the top was wedged into place to remove the sag from the top, and the break in the vertical web was held together until the resin had cured by the piece of wood wedged against the mast compression post. The boat must have been shaken a bit by storm Doris yesterday as when I arrived this morning the piece of wood holding the break together had fallen out it, didn't need to be very tightly wedged to hold the two parts in line, the strongest gust in these parts was 63 mph yesterday evening, fortunately the epoxy had cured sufficiently to hold it all together.  

First piece in place

Today I removed the remaining temporary support and glassed along the whole length of the new web and then cut out and profiled a piece of bar for the vertical web unfortunately this was not quite such a good fit so I had to clamp it in place while putting in three pieces of tabbing once that has cured I will glass along the whole length of the new web.

Vertical web clamped in place

The next decision is to decide on the material for the front of the locker and try and find some doors and a cutlery draw I don't have a large enough piece remaining  of the white laminate that came with the boat for this. Ideally I would have liked to put in a new vertical piece of the bar in the centre of the opening unfortunately the remaining piece that I have is about 30mm short and there was a minimum order for this stuff which if I remember correctly equates to three six metre lengths so it will have to rely on whatever I use for the front panel.    

I spent the rest of the day on bits of woodwork for the heads locker, bottle locker and cutting out the front panel for the wet locker which is on the starboard side of the heads no pictures I am afraid just ordinary boring bits of wood.

Even more galley

Last weeks cold weather meant that I did not get as much done as I would have liked on Friday I went over to the boatyard and picked up the switch panel and brought it home to work on It wasn't a lot warmer in the conservatory but at least I had somewhere close at hand to warm up. I soldered all the outgoing cables to the panel and also fitted and wired the digital battery voltmeter and installed the control switch for the night vision lighting in the saloon and heads. The milder weather this week meant that I could get back to work and the first job was to replace the switch panel and reconnect all the wires to the terminal strips. While working on the electrical installation I installed two twin socket outlets one above the chart table and one in the aft cabin these have both 12v DC and USB outlets yes I know the ends of the cable ties need trimming I will do that when everything is in and tidied up.

Switch panel reconnected

The lighting control switch is the one below the voltmeter I know that this panel does not look very pretty from the outside but it is functional I will probably upgrade it some time in the future and it still needs the switches to be labelled.

New socket outlets above the chart table

New socket outlets in the aft cabin

I have made the upper front panel for the crockery stowage and it is now fitted the internals still need to be made once I have finalised the design I just hope that I can find some crockery that will fit.

Crockery stowage

I spent some time on Wednesday producing some more timber trim for the galley lockers these will be varnished at home hopefully ready to fit next week. Before I can fit the trim I need to cut out the galley worktop It finally arrived yesterday It was supposed to have been Monday but I got a call on Saturday to say that it would not be delivered until Thursday B&Q screw up again.

Timber trim after first coat of varnish.

The main priority today was to cut a pattern for the galley worktop so that I can get the worktop cut to shape over the weekend the cut out for the sink will have to wait until I have the sink but the main aim is to get the lockers finished.

To finish up today I made a start on the starboard side of the saloon the forward locker is going to be for wine bottles etc I can't think why I had not started this priority job before. I managed to fit the base of the locker these always seem to take some time to fit as there never seems to be anything straight and square on a boat once the base was fitted I made a start on the front panel the aim is to face the panel with the same laminate and trim as the rest of the lockers. There will be a second part to the base with suitable holes to take the various bottles including the specially shaped one for the Gordon's Gin.

Base of the wine locker

Further progress on the galley

A bit of a rise in temperature last week enabled me to get a couple of coats of paint in the lockers behind the cooker and the backs of the front panels. Once it was dry I decided that bit would be a good idea to reseal both of the port side chain plates before assembling the lockers which once done would make them a bit more awkward to get at, no photographs I am afraid but it was all simple straightforward stuff, remove the deck plates. remove the bolts securing the chain plates to the bulkheads, clean up, generously anoint with Sikaflex then replace the bolts and tighten down the deck plates until the Sikaflex was nicely squeezed out all round then leave to cure. Once cured give the deck plates a final tighten up.

Today I assembled the doors into the front panels and fitted them in place eventually the locker fronts will be finished with varnished timber trim to match the panel above the chart table, see photograph in the post of 20/01/2017, but that will have to wait for some warmer weather its much too cold for varnishing at the moment.

Locker front panels

I have also installed the concealed light fitting above the front panel and connected to the bus bar within the locker.

Concealed LED strip light

Over the weekend I cut out the tee shaped slots in the front of the lower crockery stowage locker I hope that I can now find crockery that will fit. I am still thinking about the interior of the locker as it will require a means of restraining the crockery from sliding about, the thought at the moment is to have some vertical dowels secured into a board to suit the diameter of the plates etc.

Crockery stowage

As can be seen this locker still requires painting once the weather becomes a bit more conducive to the task, the upper section and the shelf is in hand. Also as can be seen the top of the GRP galley moulding is anything but flat so it looks as though I will have to fit some bracing underneath to try and straighten it up before fitting the worktop which should arrive on Monday B&Q permitting.

I have also made a start on the front panel for the locker behind the washbasin in the heads this has been recycled from the forward cabin locker front panel which the previous owner had fabricated unfortunately it had succumbed to the rainwater which had been leaking in through the holes for the deck fittings when I removed it to bolt up the toe rail I found that the bottom four inches or so of the plywood had rotted away. Fortunately all was not lost in fact I also recovered some of the laminate which once it had been cleaned up and the old adhesive removed was used for the locker front panels behind the cooker. As can be seen the openings for the doors still need to be enlarged the round holes are for the corners and indicate the extent of the openings and also the timber to take the door runners needs to be fitted. 

Heads locker

Further progress in this area is again going to depend on an improvement in the weather to allow the painting to be carried out.