Soon after buying this boat I decided it needed better access to the engine, primarily to service the starter and install a 6 gallon water heater. Short of removing the galley counter - a big job - it was nearly impossible to reach the starter.
I measured up an area of countertop where the galley sink was mounted, that could be cut out and still be structurally sound.
This cut out had to be big enough to fit the water heater through.
The cut out made, I designed a 'sink board' that would improve the galley sink. Simply, the old sink was cut into the new 3/4" marine ply filler piece.
Next I traced around the sinks rim, removed the sink from the plywood, and cut a gain (with a router) into the plywood so the rim of the sink would fit flush to the top surface of the 3/4" plywood.
Next a piece of L shaped trim (Fir) was milled and mounted around the perimeter of the sink board. This inverted L shaped trim forms the ledge that the sink board hangs in the cut out in the countertop.
Then inside the trim, I fit re-sawed some Fir T&G flooring (about 1/2" thick) and fastened from the underside of the sink board.
Trim and flooring were bedded in something (I can't recall what it was).
I thought of this as a mock up to try out for a few years, not thinking it would last. Surely something other than wood, would hold up better in this wet application. Corian perhaps?
So it got used heavily in the galley as a cutting board to slice and dice, a fiddled work area that was very handy underway, constantly. Another benefit was this gave us a deeper more useful sink as the whole sink board is a sink of sorts.
As it's primary function, access, I've used it constantly. All you need to do is loosen the lock nut (it's just hand tight) on the sink drain basket and the whole board simply lifts out. Installing and maintaining wiring, plumbing, water heater, FW pump and filter, even adding engine oil, it's made these tasks easy.
I wouldn't have believed it but 17 seasons later, the 'mock-up' is still in constant use. Here is my daughter this past season, chopping away on it. Just after, I washed all the dishes on this same stiff heel, with the drain board awash. No leaks.
I gave a face lift last spring which was a RO sanding with 80 grit. It looked so good I cleaned up the L trim, stained it a mahogany to match, applied several coats of varnish and oiled the fir flooring.
I sold an article on this to Good Old Boat back in 2004. I never heard of anyone building a sink board from that article. Maybe the idea is too crazy?
I measured up an area of countertop where the galley sink was mounted, that could be cut out and still be structurally sound.
This cut out had to be big enough to fit the water heater through.
The cut out made, I designed a 'sink board' that would improve the galley sink. Simply, the old sink was cut into the new 3/4" marine ply filler piece.
Next I traced around the sinks rim, removed the sink from the plywood, and cut a gain (with a router) into the plywood so the rim of the sink would fit flush to the top surface of the 3/4" plywood.
Next a piece of L shaped trim (Fir) was milled and mounted around the perimeter of the sink board. This inverted L shaped trim forms the ledge that the sink board hangs in the cut out in the countertop.
Then inside the trim, I fit re-sawed some Fir T&G flooring (about 1/2" thick) and fastened from the underside of the sink board.
Trim and flooring were bedded in something (I can't recall what it was).
I thought of this as a mock up to try out for a few years, not thinking it would last. Surely something other than wood, would hold up better in this wet application. Corian perhaps?
So it got used heavily in the galley as a cutting board to slice and dice, a fiddled work area that was very handy underway, constantly. Another benefit was this gave us a deeper more useful sink as the whole sink board is a sink of sorts.
As it's primary function, access, I've used it constantly. All you need to do is loosen the lock nut (it's just hand tight) on the sink drain basket and the whole board simply lifts out. Installing and maintaining wiring, plumbing, water heater, FW pump and filter, even adding engine oil, it's made these tasks easy.
I wouldn't have believed it but 17 seasons later, the 'mock-up' is still in constant use. Here is my daughter this past season, chopping away on it. Just after, I washed all the dishes on this same stiff heel, with the drain board awash. No leaks.
I gave a face lift last spring which was a RO sanding with 80 grit. It looked so good I cleaned up the L trim, stained it a mahogany to match, applied several coats of varnish and oiled the fir flooring.
I sold an article on this to Good Old Boat back in 2004. I never heard of anyone building a sink board from that article. Maybe the idea is too crazy?
Last edited:
