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The Galley Refit
The original galley had a layout which was unusual, but understandable:
The biggest problem was the hot water tank, which was right smack in the middle of the galley. Originally, this had been a propane hot water heater, and had required a direct vent up through the ceiling. Later, when an electric tank had been installed, they just used the same location.
The next problem was the refrigerator. It was a massive 20 cubic-foot household model, and it took up most of the space when you walked in. It also completely blocked any sightline from the door to the galley.
Beside the refrigerator was a broom closet that was basically useless, in fact "hated" would be a good word for it. Forward was a locker/panty with flimsy doors and flimsier shelves. The other cupboard doors were also pretty rough, and looked every day of their 40 years.
The counters were tile, and though we understand that in certain areas of the world tile is considered an acceptable counter material, we both can't stand tile. It's dirty, it stains, and it's brittle.
Finally, if this was not enough, the freezer had been cleverly located up on the deck aft of the pilothouse.
The Solution
The galley refit started with a few basic ideas: We'd replace the doors and drawers with new ones of mahogany. We'd replace the countertop. And we'd do something about The Fridge Problem.
First, the doors: Here are a few samples, in the new style, showing some hardware possibilities (we chose the small handle on the right-hand door):
Next was the counters. After many hours of discussion, we decided on Corian counter tops. Although I am not particularly fond of Corian, the practicality (a single sealed surface, an integrated sink, a raised drip lip all around) was too hard to beat. We picked a colour which we really liked, Green Tea. We went with a stainless steel backsplash, which is funky but also practical. The sink is an undermount stainless steel one, and the faucet looks very expensive but is actually from IKEA. We got Randall from Countryside Designs to fabricate and install the counter, which was a very interesting process:
The first thing we did was to completely clear the counter of all old finish, tiles, etc. Next, we installed the stainless backsplash. At that point Randall came in and made an exact template of the counter space, which he then too back to his shop and used to fabricate the counter.
Here he is, arriving with one of the pieces about 11:00 AM one morning:
They set it in place, then set the second piece in place as well:
They then carefully scribe the fit to the wall, and then use various tools (sander, planer, files, rasps, sandpaper) to perfect the fit:
The next step is to glue the two pieces together. But how to do it? The answer, temporarily glue some small blocks to the surface and use those as clamping blocks:
And here we are, 2 hour later, with the blocks knocked off and the joint sanded perfectly flush. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it is impossible to see the joint:
The Refrigerator Problem
As mentioned above, the previous refrigeration system was pretty sucky. The fridge was big, ugly and bulky (not to mention downright dangerous in a seaway). The freezer was located outside on the upper deck. And the space the fridge occupied was very valuable for other purposes.
Now, when we actually started to think carefully about it we realized that we had 4 (four!) refrigeration needs: A freezer, an icemaker, food refrigeration, and drink refrigeration. Our solution had to ensure that all of these needs would be met.
We decided to remove the old fridge and the broom closet, and in the newly-created space we'd install two undercounter refrigerators, one dedicated to drinks and one dedicated to food. Opposite (forward) from the new counter, we would install a half-height freezer with built-in icemaker.
The only question remaining at this point was which products to choose. We first decided that 110 VAC products would be fine, so we did not need "marine" stuff.
For the freezer, a quick bit of investigation found that while many manufacturers make undercounter freezers, and many people made undercounter icemakers, there seemed to be only one manufacturer who made an undercounter freezer with a built-in icemaker, and that was Sub-Zero. Actually, their name should be "Add-Zeros", because they are outrageously expensive. But hey, they were the only game in town, so we chose the Sub-Zero 249FFI. One nice thing is that the door panel is customizable, so it will match the other
galley doors.
For the refrigerators, we initially thought that it would be very nice to have drawers, rather than a door. Searching on the internet, we found that drawer-style undercounter fridges were made by Sub-Zero, but were even more outrageously expensive. Looking further, we found some reasonably-priced units from Summit Appliances. But: They were not available in Canada, the shipping was very expensive, and warranty would be a nightmare.
So, we finally decided to go with standard door refrigerators, and after looking at the various manufacturers we chose U-Line, For the food we got a U-Line 2075R, and for the drinks we got a U-Line Beverage Center.
In the pictures below on the left you can see one of the U-Line fridges in place, the counter top will be a big maple butcher block. On the right is a shot showing the new Sub-Zero freezer installed at the bottom of the pantry:
January 2005 Update: Everything is looking fantastic, and after spending two weeks cooking in the new galley we are very, very happy with the new design. The butcher block/fridge area is very roomy, and one person can stand there and make drinks / do food prep / make coffee / etc. without getting on the way of the main cook:
There are dedicated locations (and outlets) for the espresso maker, blender, toaster and bread maker. The microwave is up above, very solidly mounted, and there is good cookbook storage space inboard. Although you can't see it in this shot, the freezer and pantry look great.
The rest of the galley is also looking good. All of the new mahogany doors have been finished and mounted, and they look like a million bucks (especially once Scott mounted the snazzy new handles from Lee Valley):
Lighting
As you have probably gathered, we like funky lighting. The galley is no exception. For under the counters, we found a very cool product called Ambience, from Sea Gull Lighting. This consists of thick copper wire, which is then placed in a holder on the underside of the cupboard. You then push-fit little fixtures like this  right into the wire. Normally, this requires a transformer to convert 110 VAC to 12 or 24 VDC, but in our case we could operate it directly from the 24 VDC ships battery. Here's what it it will look like at night:
Flooring
We installed natural cork flooring in 2" X 24". The results are beautiful, resilient, warm, and even inexpensive. Who could ask for more? The finish is a water-based urethane, and it's a bit slippery, but we'll be installing some clear 3M SafetyWalk tape to solve that.
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