A wet cold spring has most everybody's boat still hunkered under cover here on the coast of Maine. What can you do under a cover? Quite a lot if it's below decks. The trick I find is don't spend too much time under there (you'll go batty), an hour or two is about all the time I'll spend.
I've just completed a little project chronicled in our Alden forum
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/i...n-plate-hatframe-backing-plate-repair.196104/.
Forget the details though. This work had to all be done in the head. It makes me think that any interior should be easily removed.
My old boat is 'stick built' below. It's not exactly easy to remove 'furniture' below in a boat; lockers, storage cabinets, lockers, counters etc. But if it's stick built removal means fastenings mostly.
The problem with a boat that is nearly 60 years old, those fasteners are no longer easily removable. Old bronze slotted screws, nicely nickel plated 60 years ago, no longer turn, the heads fall apart.
Forgetaboutit. I use a Fein multi tool with a metal blade for most of them(a sawzall if I must). You can usually cut from the hidden side of the wood screw to cut the fasteners off.
There was one point - some Saturday or Sunday past - when I went into the cave (rain pelting the cover), and cut the facade of the linen locker in the head. Mounted between two structural bulkheads, it took some wizardry before I finally found a way to take the whole facade out in one piece.
An alarm went off in my head. STOP. Take a pic with your phone. You'll be re-installing this piece in a few weeks, no way you'll re-solve this rubics cube in the future.
So I remembered this pic on my phone when I wrestled with the facade yesterday. It may not look like much help,....
but the pic solved the riddle.
Good thing because I had removed this piece from the boat - sliding doors and all, the original THOR head sink, the salvaged faucets (salvaged from a Brooklyn NYC brownstone thanks to a BIL), the counter and taken most to my warm dry shop.
There I re-furbished a few pieces; removed and quickly sanded the linen cab. doors and applied 2 coats of varnish (no stripping needed since 1961: Varnish below is the lazy man's finish). Then a couple varnish coats on the original ceiling inside the linen locker, a coat of white enamel (hardware store white) to the rails and stiles of the facade.
During more rain I disassembled the ancient head fixtures and installed new washers, stem packing(simple - just like a stuffing box!), etc.
With more rain time; metal cleaner and polish to the fixtures and sink, might as well do it up, you can't work outside on a boat in the rain.
It all fitted back together( a little touch up with hardware white still to do). New SS fasteners (I add trim rings to the wood screws for even easier removal), will make removal easy.
Everything has to come out of a boat, eventually and inevitably.