THE near DEATH AND RE BIRTH
OF A
1979 HUNTER 37 CHERUBINI CUTTER

HUNTER 37 CUTTER
Galley
Original galley.

One large flip down shelf that covered the storage area. Three drawers and one outlet. My main goal was to incorporate a Microwave oven into the cabinet.
New Layout:

The new layout is more accessible. the microwave is handy and the sliders allow much easier access to the dishes and glassware. I purchased this stove top  but later on came accross a marine Canyon stove top with stainless cover and installed it in its place.
Original galley was falling apart. All glued joints were loose. New layout. Centered the outlet, removed one of the drawers and added a microwave space.All was done with the existing materials.Fitting the microwaveoven. Re lined all shelving with ne white formica.Work in progressInstalled smoked lexan sliders to update the look.
Decided that an electric stove with oven was not for me. I needed to cook underway and on the hook. New stove was pulled out and sold. I decided I could use all that storage I had found. Cleaned the space, lined it in white Formica for the clean look. Added a shelf and ordered a set of teak doors.  Teak doors did not come close to matching the 30 year old existing teak. tried several stains and found the Cabot's Australian Timber oil in mahogany was a perfect match.
After removing the cabinet, I noticed that all the joints were loose. 30 years of moisture had eaten all the glue at the joints. That made it easy to take apart. I decided to loose the shallowest drawer as it was useless and gain a microwave oven. After much measuring, I was able to shoe horn it. Works great. Plenty of clean storage since it is all lined in Formica. Smelly wall carpet is gone
Installing the sink:
I always liked the undemount sinks, however granite counter slab top would be  1.5 inches thick. looked at Corian, LG, Gibraltar, etc. Also about 1/2" thick. Since I did not have the room, I had to stay with Laminate. After much research, I found that several shops were installing undermounts in laminate counter tops.   The trick is to recess the sink lip into the plywood substate, lots of epoxy and a special router bit at 8degrees to route the laminate edge without gouging the stainless sink.
Fitting the rear cabinet to counter topRemoving the existing laminate from the old counter topLayout of items to be re laminated in new FormicaThe new sink must be flush with the counter top so I routed a grouve for the sink lip to sit in.Checking for flushChecking for flushA 25 pound bag of thinset applies weight into the sink to make sure it sits properly.Sanded the sink lip flush with counter top.
After prepping the counter tops, We did a quick layout on the laminate sheet since we could not get it into the companionway in one large piece. After cutting it down to size, we applied the contact cement and took a beer brake. Afetr 20 minutes all was dry and we slowly dropped the laminate onto the counter top using dowels as spacers. all went well and we were able to rout the openings that after noon.  Sink looks great. I installed the LP stove I had purchased but decided later on to replace it with a new Canyon LP stove top with stainless lid.
Boat had a new princess 2 burner electric stove. Great for cooking not not usuable while underway .Galley space available for my new storageCabinet after stove removalLined with new white formica and build a new shelf. Now I have plenty of accessible storage for food, pots and pans.New doors in raw teak.New doors after they were stained to match the existing teak
Counter is clean and all gouges are repaired with filler. Surface sanded and clean.My helper Jeff layoing out the cuts to be made to the laminate sheet.Contact glue applied to the laminate and to the counter tops.Looks great alreadyI decided that if anyone was to screw this up it would have to be me. So I held my breath, plunged the router into the sink and gave it a go.Was not hard at all, specially with the correct router bit.Did not touch the sink.Looks great, in own humble opinion. ;-)
There are 27 screw holes on this galley bulkhead. I guess it is a popular place to install kitchen items. I made a double wide dish rack in order to cover as many screw holes as possible and also store my dishes.
This is the fridge cover. After using it I have decided I need two additional improvements. Firts, I need a hinge. Tired to look for a place to store the lid while rumaging inside. Second, the pull is too small. Looks good tho. My fatty little fingers cannot always gat hold of the flip up ring.The original thermostat was loose and the knob missing. I made a box to receive the thermostat, secured all the wiring, made a new knob for itMade teak rails to hold a plastic cover over the deep part of the fridgeMade a teak rack to keep the food from the bottom of the boxI need velcro to attach this fridge thermometer to the bulkhead
This is the original layout after cleaning the teak with stripper. Notice all joints are coming apart. The glue was long gone.New layout after re working the face of the cabinet. All was done with the existing teak on cabinet face. Did not have to buy any additional teak for this.in progressDry fitting the microwave and drawers
The interior of the cooler area was old and rusty looking. After cleaning it I spayed the interior with new epoxy paint. Secured the thermostat and made a tray for the storage of food. I also have a remote sensing thermostat showing the temperature inside the box.
The ADLER BARBOUR unit is located in the starboard locker. I starts up and works properly. It is fairly old but still works. After 12 hours, the evaporator is 2/3 covered with frost. I will keep it as long as it runs. I have looked for a good used one but to date have not found anything worth buying. I guess I will bite the bullet and after this summer if the unit does not really keeps up with my need, I will replace it with a new one.
New galley storage accessed via a sliding plastic door.The teak box the plate rests upon covers the water tank filler hose and ventAdded a grab bar at the stove area.New gas kenyon stove. Removed the other new cooktop unit I had alredy installed as it was not recessed. The most important piece of equipment in the galley.
This is the new Kenyon stove I purchased to replace the new cooktop I had installed. This unit has a cover and allows for more counter space.
New stoveSpace used by old Princess full size stove with oven.New space lined with white formica. Added a shelf for storage. Since this picture, I have made some Teak fiddles to keep items from sliding out. I also found some plastic boxes that fit perfectly inside and I have all the pots and pans in order without clanging all over the place.New doors installed