New Refrigeration

This will be a long post detailing a long project.

If you want to replace your refrigeration I would recommend you first empty all the galley lockers, put tape over all the seams in the floor so gunk doesn't fall into the bilge, protect the floor with towels or rugs, get a Sawzall, a pry bar, lots of big garbage bags.....and get at least a case of beer, or, better yet, a big bottle of vodka. Next take everything else out of all the other lockers and throw it on the floor because that's where it will end up eventually. Then pour yourself a drink and start sawing.

This is how the galley looked before we started. We are hoping it looks this good again soon. The two doors on either side of the stove access the original boxes; freezer on the left, refrigerator on the right.

First we removed the stove and the refrigerator doors. Then the Captain started sawing chunks of wood and fiberglass out like this:

It took us two days to cut all that stuff out and pry out all the insulation. Tillotson Pearson did a great job on these boxes. There was 4" of insulation on the sides, front, and bottom. There was 8" of insulation against the hull, and 6" on top.

The old Grunert cold plate system had a remote compressor under the cockpit, so there were several copper tubes running back and forth through lockers. We used cable cutters to cut those, then pulled all the pieces out.

Somewhere along the way we decided that the counter tops had to come out too, so we carefully removed the fiddle rails and saved them, then removed the countertops. About here is where I was reminded of that time we Sawzalled 2/3 of our house down for the big remodel. Through the haze of sawdust, you just have to keep the faith, baby!

By the third day we had cleaned out both holes, and gotten the new freezer box up onto the boat. Because the doors in our boat are only 16" wide and the galley is not in the aft cabin, the new freezer had to come down the large overhead hatch in the main cabin.

To make the freezer smaller and lighter, we removed the drawer and mounting flange, and taped the remote compressor to the side. With it arranged this way, we were able to lower it all down into the galley area through the large hatch that you see beneath the Captain's feet.

After figuring out the height of each unit, we installed shelves for them to sit on and started working on the new cabinetry. Our boat's interior is all cherry, so after calling several places we found Florida Southern Plywood in Jacksonville. They sell not only plywood, but solid cherry, walnut, oak, and maple for cabinet makers. We selected two small pieces of cherry and a sheet of 1/4" cherry plywood and got out the door for about $120.00.

Now the Captain cut the cherry to make the faceframes and doors, and I started staining and varnishing. Today, after almost two weeks of solid work, we set the two units in place to see how it will all look. The freezer, on the left, is a little smaller than the refrigerator. That gave us room for a garbage bin underneath. We've cruised all this time with the bin wedged in the corner. Yes, sometimes it tips over or slides around; this will be so much better!

Of course, the compressors will be installed below the refrigerator units, there will be cabinets doors below, and there will be new Corian countertops, but it's actually moving along!