Hints and Tips

 

 

Galley Worksurface Upgrade - SO37

Refurbishing the countertop

 

When we purchased our Ex-charter 2000 Jeanneau SO 37 I assured my wife that I could refurbish the boat to her standards. (Sort of like - yes Mom I'll walk the puppy every day - I promise..) One thing on her list was the galley. The stove was corroded and the countertop scratched in places. The "backsplash" piece of wood by the cupboards was weathered from moisture exposure. The white factory arborite over plywood was not approved either.

 

New Seaward princess stove with new "crash" bar in front of it. The bar actually helps keep the bulkhead perfectly straight and the aft cabin door now closes perfectly.

 

In this picture you can see the new Seaward Princess stove that is the full sized version. It seems the European Eno stoves are smaller. I removed the wooden shim that was used for the Eno and dropped in the new stove. I also removed the flimsy factory grab bar and installed this custom one. I had my local stainless shop fashion it out of 2 stanchion bases and 1" pipe. It is very sturdy and also serves to dry towels on.

 

Another alteration was to replumb the sink drain. I put the Tee lower - close to the through hull so that draining one sink won't bubble up in the 2nd sink. This configuration drains much better than the original.

 

Removing the old top - First I removed all screws from underneath, then used a chisel to pry the top from the upright furniture. It was a slow process as the butyl glue substance did not want to let go. Eventually I was able to lift the inboard end of the countertop enough to insert wedges below and it all lifted off. The ice box lid was well glued to the plywood top and I used chisels to remove it as well.

 

Icebox lid This is the fibreglass and foam separated from the old plywood top, ready to be glued to the new corian top.

 

I removed the old plywood top from the teak fiddle. I sanded the fiddle down to bare wood and applied multiple coats of varnish. The fiddles all came off in one piece - I screwed a bit of plywood across to keep it together.

 

Fiddle - I removed the wooden trim from the old plywood / formica top and stripped it, sanded it, then varnish.

 

Varnishing the fiddles. They are in one piece and the plywood keeps them square and intact.

 

Then we went to shop that specialized in Corian. We mulled over different materials but many newer factory boats are installing Corian, so that's what we picked. Ann picked out a colour that was speckled and matched the new cushions. The shop essentially duplicated the old top in Corian with a couple of changes. The existing sink is now under mounted. (an easy thing for them to do ). The hinges on the ice box are recessed and I supplied a new grab ring too. I also asked for an extra piece for the back splash.

 

A week later it was done. I glued the fiddles on and cut a hole for a new tap. We put in a black plastic tap with pull out shower head. The ice box area needed a bit of shimming and excess sealant to make the lid level and flat on the ice box. I put in a new arm to hold up the lid too. I cut the piece of Corian to make the backsplash, it's not a perfectly straight edge, I had to use a caliper to follow the slight taper. Cutting and drilling Corian is quite easy with carbide bits and blades.

 

Topless cabinet - Here's what the galley looks like with no counter. New hoses and thu-hulls.

 

Sinks - Original sinks were polished and undermounted to the corian counter.

 

Seafrost evaporator - We removed the seized engine mounted refrigerator and put in a 12v compressor and evaporator by Seafrost. Very efficient and very nice. The Compressor is mounted under the settee bunk.

 

Corian counter, new tap, grab bar that is now the entire width.

 

Then I had a tempered glass piece cut at a local shop to match the newer Jeanneau's. Ours did not come with a glass piece. I had the local stainless shop (Klacko) fashion the stands (actually from the old stove grab bar ) and I drilled holes in the new counter (measured 8 times first) and installed it.

 

Glass detail

 

I used the old grab bar from the stove to make the uprights and I made a wooden template of the shape that I wanted. The glass store was able to duplicate the template and drill the two holes. We used the sink a few times without the glass and found water splashed on the cushions. The stainless upright is through bolted with a nut under the countertop. The "button" on this side has a thread of a bold welded to it. It screws into the nut - which is welded into the other side.

 

Finished Countertop - I like the black tap and the sink covers. The covers work because the original sink is undermounted to the countertop and there is a small lip exposed.

 

Voila.

 

Dennis Angle - SO37 Chumu