Replacing them with shelves created more storage space
Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017
When our youngest son, David, his wife, Hannah, and their toddler, Ashleigh, began the transition to being liveaboards two years ago, their primary concern was finding a boat with a quarter berth for the little guy. Having grown up on a boat, David knew that the rest of the boat would evolve as their son grew and their requirements changed. After two years, our grandson has indeed grown, and our son is following in his father’s wake, making ingenious alterations to his boat to accommodate his crew.
Now 4 years old, our grandson is in the do-it-myself stage. This presents a problem for his parents living in the limited space on their 1981 Hunter 33, First Light. For example, he wants to pick out his own clothes and dress himself in the morning. The only space that they could give him to store his clothes was a stack of three drawers, but age, constant exposure to salt air, and years of misuse had combined to make those drawers nearly impossible even for an adult to open and close. Hannah suggested shelves in place of drawers, but David is hesitant to make visually obvious changes that might affect the boat’s resale value (this is not their forever boat). She wanted shelves. He wanted to retain the appearance of drawers. A compromise was born.
Saving the faces
David started by removing the faces from the drawers, using a hammer, chisels, a metal putty knife, and “a lot of four-letter words,” destroying the drawers in the process. This became the point of no return. With the drawers removed, he was left with easy access to the three shelves that once supported the drawers. (The shelves are plywood stiffened with stringers screwed to their undersides.) To make the shelves more usable, he unscrewed them, pushed them all the way back against the hull so that items would not fall behind them, then screwed them back down.
David had previously purchased a 4 x 8-foot sheet of PVC foam board ($60) for making repairs and alterations to the boat in places where wood had rotted. From that, he used a jigsaw to cut a piece of board to fit flush with the cabinet face inside the hole that the drawers formerly occupied. He used a wood plane and a de-burring tool to smooth the inside edges of the door so it would open and close easily.
Next, David aligned the three drawer faces on the front of the door, spaced just as they had been when they served their original purpose. They overlap the door on all sides (as they did the original opening), except the hinged side, and only the smallest sliver of the foam board is visible between the drawer faces. He fastened the wooden drawer faces to the foam board with screws, starting the screws from the inside of the door so they are not visible when the door is closed. Because he had a length of piano hinge on board, David used that on the door, but thinks cabinet hinges would look better and work better.
A barrel bolt near the top holds the door closed. The tricky part of fitting this was finding where to drill the hole for the bolt to slide into the door. To mark the right spot, he marked the tip of the bolt with a spit pencil, then pushed the bolt against the edge of the drawer face. This is where he drilled the hole, using a bit the exact same size as the bolt and “wobbling” the drill a little to enlarge the hole just enough for the bolt to slide smoothly. He completed the entire project with a jigsaw, a wood plane, a de-burring tool, a cordless drill, and sandpaper.
Bonus storage space
At first glance, that area of the boat doesn’t look any different. However, when Ashleigh opens the door to get out his favorite Cars undies, the benefits of the alteration are obvious. The area is cleaner, it’s easier for him to access, and the clothes get more airflow on the shelves than if they were enclosed in drawers. But the main benefit gained from shelves over drawers is that they made the storage space much larger. All of the items that were previously crammed into the three drawers now fit easily on two of the shelves. The young family was amazed when they realized just how wasteful drawers are, especially on a boat, where space is a precious commodity. They are going to need all that extra room as their little crew member continues to grow.
Connie McBride and her husband, Dave, raised three boys aboard their 34-foot sailboat, Eurisko, while cruising the Caribbean. After 15 years, they now divide their time between enjoying being empty-nesters and visiting their grandson, the third-generation McBride cruiser. Follow their adventures at www.facebook.com/simplysailingonline.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
