Upgrading a galley sink with an unconventional but practical alternative
Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023
It’s often said that the galley is the heart of a vessel — making the galley sink the central artery that carries water in and out of the boat and supports the endless flow of dishes, cups of coffee, and pots of grains.
When COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect, I was living aboard my Pearson 365 sloop Azimuth with my partner, Scott Racette, in Alameda, California. We had spent the previous five years living aboard around San Francisco Bay, but the boat had been more of a crash pad during the week as we spread our time between office jobs, outings with friends, racing on other people’s boats, and other “third spaces” like the gym. We often yearned for more time on the boat to sail, relax, and address the ever-present project list. Suddenly we had it in spades.
The original galley layout of the Pearson 365 included a small, 9-inch sink and adjacent deep storage cabinet.
The start of the stay-at-home order held plenty of uncertainty and concern, so we leaned into what was right in front of us. Lingering projects were crossed off the list in quick succession as we more easily paired time and effort with materials and skills. We lightened the mood with a daily tea time before heading back to the V-berth and navigation desk for our Zoom calls and other office work.
The dishes seemed to continually pile up in our 9-inch sink. We were eating every meal on board and it seemed like dirty cups, plates, and bowls were self-generating while our backs were turned. Washing the dishes was our least favorite chore, and we seemed to be washing them constantly.
Scott marks the cut and drill locations for the new faucet.
During this time, the saying “creativity loves constraint” became a constant refrain to keep us looking on the bright side of things when so much normalcy was cast aside. We put on our thinking caps and turned to the U-shaped galley to reimagine it.
One of our first projects on board had been installing an Ikea drying rack in the space underneath the companionway stairs and over the engine. But we discovered that the increased frequency of washing dishes was allowing fresh water to drip from the drying rack, through the hinges, and onto the engine. A new location was needed, unless we wanted to add drying dishes to our routine as well.
A jigsaw came in handy for cutting the countertop open to fit the dimensions of the new sink.
Both corners of Azimuth’s galley are difficult to fully reach from my 5-foot 1-inch frame, and the aft corner was particularly persnickety. It housed a top-opening cabinet that had a tendency to collect water runoff from the sink. We often used the counter space on top of this cabinet, so items stored there were infrequently used and mostly relics from when we lived on land and had larger kitchens. During one of the countless brainstorming sessions about optimizing our vessel, it occurred to me that we could turn the entire aft end of the galley into one big sink.
Measuring ensued. Then I turned to the internet to find a stainless steel sink, slightly deeper and wider than our existing sink and about five times longer. We landed on a 42-inch-long sink from Overstock and arranged delivery to align with a week when we were housesitting for a friend. We knew the installation would take over the cabin and were fortunate to have some extra space during that time.
Drain hardware for the new sink lined up nicely with the previous sink’s drain plumbing.
Sourcing a new faucet was a little trickier than a simple Google search. The new sink’s size left limited countertop space, and the faucet height was limited by the liner and cockpit bench above. We also wanted to switch to a faucet that had one knob with temperature controls, rather than two for hot and cold. I scoured the internet, but ultimately found one at a kitchen and bathroom supply house in Oakland. The Franke faucet had a steeper price tag than I’d hoped but seemed to be the only suitable option. I drove over to the plumbing supply store in East Oakland the next day, and the clerk said this was one of the first orders he’d seen from an individual, rather than a large condominium developer. Oh, the places we go for boat parts!
The installation was a fairly straightforward process, aside from the nerve-wracking feeling of cutting such a large hole in the boat. Removing some soft wood from years of small but steady water droplets was a relief, and we re-homed most of the items in that cupboard to friends or the free pile at the marina. After one touch-and-go moment, we finagled the sink into its final resting spot and caulked it into place. The faucet was also a simple upgrade, after widening the hole from the previous faucet and connecting the hot and cold lines.
The new sink, drying rack, and cutting board shine.
The sink came with a sliding cutting board and strainer that we used to dry dishes. This gave us more usable countertop space and a larger area to do dishes, give our cat baths, and do laundry while cruising farther afield. The extra capacity also allows dishes to pile up a little bit more before the sink becomes unusable for other galley tasks.
As our plans to untie the dock lines and go cruising intensified, the extra space under the sink created by removing the leaky cabinet helped house a new compressor for the fridge and a 1,500watt inverter. This reconfiguration completely reimagined the space while also providing more ease for meal prep and dishes. The larger capacity sink also allowed us to stow loose items when the going got tough out at sea.
While this type of sink was designed to be under-mounted beneath granite or some other countertop surface and is somewhat unconventional in a sailboat’s galley, we can confirm that it has held up after over 9,000 miles under Azimuth’s keel.
Ashley Gremel is a writer, maker, and problem solver. She recently completed a voyage from San Francisco to the Chesapeake Bay with her husband, Scott Racette, and their salty cat, Cypress. The trio is settling down in Richmond, Virginia, and dreaming of the next cruise. Ashley writes weekly at cloudsformoverland. substack.com.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
