Date: 8 July 2015. Chaos in the Galley.

In a small boat it is necessary to stay neat and organized or chaos will reign. Occasionally however a Good Idea comes to the surface and I'll give it a go. That's precisely what happened in June. Now that I've recovered I'll tell you all about it.

The original set-up:

The second row in the back of the bookcase behind Skipper held the cruising guides.

The problem is detailed in the Heat Rises and Mildew Grows (finding discounts on Amazon) piece. To summarize, my bookcase originally was bolted to the galley counter top. A small cube refrigerator was beneath it. The heat thrown off from the reefer along with humidity caused many of my cruising guides to become damaged.

Additionally, I have been unhappy with my execution (and that is the proper word) of the canning jar locker. Cuts were perfect, except I didn't measure where the locker needed to be. That fiasco of my own doing I might add is detailed in the Building a Locker (Part 2) article.

So, I decided to fix everything all at one time. That meant removing the bookcase from it's spot atop the refrigerator. Mid-project, with the canning goods locker removed, I placed the bookcase against the bulkhead.

Stuff is everywhere, and it's a real mess. Ugh.

And too, there is another problem with the bookcase placement. It's not attached to the bulkhead, yet, so if the boat rocks it can move. There are rollers under it, hidden by a piece of wood trim.

Before, it was through bolted to the counter top. I didn't want it to move, and with six of these bolts it didn't:


 

Next I moved the refrigerator. It went on top of the galley counter where the bookcase used to be.

Then I realized I had no place to store my DVDs that had resided above the bookcase. So, using a couple of the boards leftover from dismantling the canning goods locker I put the DVDs up there. It's not a good spot though and I'm afraid with any kind of sea things will tumble.

Not only that, but I'm back with the same issue I am trying to solve. That being, heat and humidity destroying books. Well, DVDs mildew too, so the more I think about it, the less I'm liking this Good Idea of mine. Argh.

It's another thing to deal with, but not today. Today I want job finished. The mantra "Good Enough" is humming in the back of my mind. Still, I'm not satisfied with the results thus far.
 

It's better to have tried and failed than to never try at all.

And I still have to deal with the canning jars. I used the boards leftover from the locker and made shelves where the refrigerator had been. It's not pretty. It's not done, but this is Good Enough for the meantime until I can build proper shelf supports.
 

Without *fiddles to keep the items on the shelves when the doors open, this is a recipe for disaster. I'll deal with that later though. For now, using a couple of the old locker doors from the previous incarnation, I've got the jars put away. That's okay at least in the short term.

*Fiddles are small pieces of wood usually. They hold items in place when the boat rocks.
 

Having a decent quantity and variety of supplies helps. I was able to look in ship stores and reused the hinges from another project. The wooden twist gizmo on the upper right is simply a long screw with a piece of wood that holds the door from opening too far. It rotates.

My power supply for the refrigerator is under there too. That's what that black cord is. And no, I'm not happy with it's position either. Still in all, sometimes you have to live with something a few days before decided what next to do.

On the dinette side of the cabin I added some 1/8" thick rubber between the bookcase top and the dinette table. The weight of the dinette should help keep the bookcase in place.

Also because the table is now a few inches lower I needed to cut the support leg. Attaching it was problematic, however I had a spare pill bottle. Using a small screw I attached the bottle to the bottom of the table. This will provide a temporary place for the leg to attach. Simple, easy and it works.
 

And so I'll live with this for a time and see if I like it. Immediately, my first impression is, this won't work. But I'll give it a shot for a few days. Perhaps I'll get used to it. And if not, well, I'll put stuff back the way it was.
 

As for me, I am woman. I'm allowed to change my mind.  In the meantime, a lot of stuff migrated to the sink side of the galley and I've got stuff to put away. Followed by a treat: reading on my Kindle. Gosh it's good to have a Kindle.
 

Life afloat continues. Last week the mechanic was here. On the 3rd he said one more day is all it will be before sea trials begin. I'm excited.
 

With this hurricane season of course I'm more and more anxious to be mobile. If a storm comes I'm a sitting duck. That worries me.

Are you a furniture re-arranger?
And, do you ever change your mind and put it all back the way it was?

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Categories: Boat Talk, Characters, Galley, Organizing, Recommendations

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